MIDDLETOWN — It’s fair to say that MOT Senior softball all-stars know what’s at stake this weekend.
If the Middletown-area squad can win a third-straight tournament, it’s reward is a trip to the World Series in Lower Sussex.
But that’s the last thing that MOT manager Joe Ponden wants his players thinking about right now.
“We made sure that we remained focused last week on states,” he said. “We still hadn’t won anything. We weren’t even talking about Massachusetts.
“If somebody brought it up, we shut it down real quick. ... We’re remaining focused on what’s ahead of us currently, not the next level.”
Now that MOT did capture the state title, the only thing Ponden wants his players concentrating on is this weekend’s East Regional in Worcester, Mass.
MOT is in the Mid-Atlantic pool with Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. It begins play on Saturday with an 11 a.m. contest against Pennsylvania just after the opening ceremonies.
The Delaware state champions play four pool-play games through Monday before the single-elimination bracket begins on July 23.
The East championship game in Little League’s age division for 13-16 years olds is scheduled for July 24.
Ponden, whose team is 5-0 in all-star action, knows the regional will be MOT’s biggest challenge yet.
“We’re all there for the same reason,” he said. “We have to come ready to play.”
Like just about every other Little League team playing in a regional right now, the logistics of the trip were the biggest issue for MOT early this week.
Ponden, though, said the tournament will be the first time he’s had all 13 of his players available for a game.
The biggest thing will be for the players to leave all the distractions behind them and focus on playing good softball.
“Before every game, that’s one of the things we work on,” said Ponden. “It’s, hey, we’re here for softball, focus. There’s a few different warmups that we do that make sure they’re focusing not only on what they’re doing but they’re also focusing together as a team.
“We’ll probably do something like that, even out in the hotel parking lot or find a grassy area or something. We really want them to remain focused on why we’re there.”
At the same time, Ponden wants his players to enjoy the experience. There’s a number of social events for the players away from the field that give them a chance to meet players from all around the region.
Ponden said most of MOT’s team members have known each other since they were little.
“I want to make sure that they’re making great memories and really just taking it all in,” said Ponden.
“It’s just very impressive, the team atmosphere and the care that they have for one another,” he said. “They’re all just contributing at key moments. I’m really excited for them.
“Some of them play travel and they have had these experiences where they go down to South Carolina for whatever tournament it might be. But some of these girls have never experienced anything like this where we’re going away and we’re going to play meaningful softball. It’s really special.”
Extra innings
•The District III Senior softball best-of-three series, which will decide the host-team entry in the World Series, is between Upper Sussex and Lower Sussex. It starts on July 22 at Lower Sussex.
•Two teams that played in last year’s World Series are returning to Lower Sussex. Yankee Family Group LL from Guanica, Puerto Rico is the Latin America representative while Negros Occidental LL from Bacolod City, Philippines is the Asia Pacific winner.
•Kennemerland LL from Haarlem, Netherlands is the Europe/Africa champion. The opening ceremonies and first games in the World Series are on July 29.
•State champion Western Sussex will begin play in the Junior League softball World Series in Orange, Conn. on Thursday. The Franford-based squad faces Pennsylvania at 10:30 a.m. before taking on Massachusetts at 3 p.m.
Western Sussex will play six pool-play games with the semifinals and finals slated for July 23. The East champion advances to the World Series in Kirkland, Wash.
Most Popular
Comments / 0