Rockaway Little League Champs Crowned
By Tim Harkins
And that’s a wrap on the Rockaway Little League 2024 season…
On Saturday, June 15, the Major Girls division played their championship softball game on Field 3 at the Rockaway Little League complex at Fort Tilden. The game was much anticipated as the two teams that were ranked #1 and #2 by the end of the regular season. They squared off on a beautiful Saturday morning. The two teams were NF Beauty, coached by Liz Gatto and Lou Bruzzese vs NY Medical Skin Solutions, who was coached by Frank Naccarato and Phil Maguire. The well-balanced game was tied 8-8 going into the fifth inning of a six-inning game. NF Beauty’s two windmill pitchers (Ella Gatto and Cadie Pomerantz) were throwing heat missiles at the girls on NY Medical Skin Solutions, but the girls kept their composure and kept battling. It wasn’t until the bottom of the fifth inning that the girls from team NF Beauty pulled ahead and never looked back. The final score was 12-8 and the NF Beauty team were crowned champions for the 2024 Major Girls division! The Champions are: Vienna Calemine, Charlotte Daly, Maggie Chasnoff, Cadie Pomerantz, Angela Bruzzese, Giuliana Argiro, Ella Gatto, Caroline Minson, June Casserly, and Audrey Gaynor.
On Tuesday, June 18, the Minor Girls division played their championship softball game on Field 3 at the Rockaway Little League complex. This division consists of girls from second through fourth grade. It is truly amazing how much progress the girls have made from Week 1 to the championship game. The coaches did a fantastic job educating the girls on how to play softball the correct way. This game was also a matchup between two teams that were ranked #1 and #2 by the end of the regular season. The two teams were Rockaway Beach Athletic, coached by James Conigliaro, Diana Mattison and Guy Salerno vs Bergen Basin Realty, who was coached by Katie Henry and Mike Vitale. The final score was 5-0 and the Rockaway Beach Athletic team were crowned Champions for the 2024 Minor Girls division! The Champions are: Sienna Mattison, Cassie Corvi, Krissy Lawler, Georgia McHale, Maisie Adaszewski, Ryleigh Conigliaro, Lily Mattison, Hailey Reilly, Grace Egan, Francesca Nocco and Milania Salerno.
On Sunday, June 23, the season ended for the Pee Wee Senior boys on Field 2. An excellent game was played between the number one ranked Class Act Photo team vs. the number two ranked Paul’s Bicycle Shop team. Paul’s Bicycle Shop jumped out early in the game and never looked back winning decisively by the score of 4-1. The championship team was coached by Ed Dennis, Jay Youngberg, and Curtis Borgstede. The championship team consists of Brian Kelly, Henry Wilson, Justin Youngberg, Connor Reid, CJ Borgstede, Emmanuel Cruz, Sean Henry, Avery Lind, Rory Daly, Sean Dennis, and James Bulloch.
A HUGE thank you goes out to Matt Piccione for maintaining the ball fields (all year round). Without Matt, Rockaway Little League would not exist. He is basically a one-man show performing multiple tasks so that the children on the peninsula have the opportunity to be able to play baseball and softball at Fort Tilden.
CONGRATULATIONS to all of the boys and girls who played this season!
