Pawcatuck Little League Seniors Eye World Series

Scrambling to find motel accommodations on short notice, the Pawcatuck Little League Senior All-Star Softball Team thought it had  secured rooms Tuesday for the Eastern Regional Tournament in Worcester, Mass., July 30 to Aug. 4.

Then the Worcester motel called a team parent and apologized for a scheduling mistake, stating the rooms were unavailable.It's about the only setback the 14- to 16-year old team has encountered during a dominant post-season run.

The locals were 4-0, outscoring three teams by a combined 77-1 score en route to the state title. Pawcatuck quickly found a new motel, made possible by a spectacular couple of days of around the Westerly-Pawcatuck area.

"Amazing!," team parent Ani Hoops said. "The girls and some of their siblings spent three days canning in front of Stop & Shop in Pawcatuck, and Dunkin Donuts in Pawcatuck and downtown Mystic.  allowed them to put a can in their store.  The team went to a concert on Wednesday evening in Misquamicut and "passed a helmet." They raised over $4000."

Already state champs, Pawcatuck looks to add another banner starting 11 a.m. today against Westfield, (Ma.) at Ty Cobb Field. The East Region features 11 teams from New England, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware. The World Series starts Aug. 7 in Lower Sussex, Del.

As a league, Pawcatuck is no stranger to playing beyond state tourneys. In 2006, the Seniors reached the East Regionals for the first time and a year later they won it en route to a fifth-place finish in the Little League World Series.

Joel Borden coached his daughter, Emily, on those teams. He's back co-coaching with Bob Headley this year.

"Joel doesn't have a daughter on this team but he loves it and he's great with the kids," Headley said. "It's great having someone with so much tournament experience on the sideline. People don't realize who much work, about eight months preparation, that the girls put into this. They play on fall travel teams then hit the batting cages, traveling as far as Clinton, in January."

Though the states were a breeze, getting there is Pawcatuck's biggest battle. Quite frankly, Senior Little League does not represent the state's best level of summer softball for high school underclassmen. In many pockets of the state, including Fairfield and New Haven Counties, top players compete on AAU travel teams. The fact Woodstock-Putnam, never a softball hotbed, made Monday's final is an example of the state's suspect competition.

Pawcatuck and Waterford are exceptions, loading up teams for long tourney runs. Unfortunately both play in District 10 and only one can advance. Until this year, Waterford, stocked with talent that eventually won state titles in high school, had this Pawcatuck team's number. Pawcatuck won District 10 earlier this month, winning the third game of a best-of-three series, 11-4.

"Waterford puts out a winner every year," Headley said. "Our girls have been together since age eight and this is the first time they've beaten them."

Orange was slated to host the states, but pulled out late. Waterford South Little League stepped in as host, showing they expected to be there. Headley complimented Waterford for the job it did as host despite not participating.

Borden's 2007 team featured top talent from Stonington, Fitch, Grasso Tech and Wheeler, including a potent 1-2 pitching punch of Aubrey Latham, who won a state title at Fitch, and Elysa Parrilla.

This year's team features a dominant pitcher in Wheeler's Summer Cipriani, who shut out Fitch in an monumental ECC upset this spring, and a fine No. 2 in Andrea Chiaradio. The current squad may feature a deeper hitting lineup than the '07 World Series entrant. Julie Wunstall of Wheeler, who hit a 230-foot homer over the fence in the states, has led Pawcatuck offensively along with Cipriani, Chiaradio, Katie Headley, Gabi Hoops, Roslin Wilhelm of Fitch, Jackie Paride, Ally Curioso, Jessica Conner, Kayla Collins and Christine McNeil.

"I expect to face competition like Waterford and play a lot more low-scoring games," Headley said. "These are all state champions, so it should ge excellent softball."For many, a World Series berth would be icing on the cake for an already memorable summer.

"As a parent it has been an extraordinary experience," Hoops said. "I couldn't be prouder. I know I speak for the coaches, Joel Borden, John Chiaradio, Bob Headley, John Paride and our parent medic Frank Wanstall, and all the team parents and siblings when I say, 'Wow!', what more can we say?"