Hasbrouck Heights Girls U12 Travel Softball Team Captures the 2024 Allendale Summer Sizzle Tournament Title

ALLENDALE, NJ - Hasbrouck Heights U12 Travel Softball Team captured the 2024 Allendale Summer Sizzle Tournament Championship. According to head coach Mike Davis, “the core of this team won the 2023 U12 Ramsey Rumble tournament last year and the 2021 Girls of Summer third/fourth grade tournament, so we wanted a new challenge for them this year.  The Summer Sizzle promised to be a tournament of great pitching and tough teams.” “To win a high-level tournament like the Summer Sizzle, we needed elite pitching performances, clutch hitting, and locked-down defense. These girls delivered exactly that,” he said. Hasbrouck Heights was among eight teams in the tournament including Washington Township Falcons, Highlands Fire White, Highlands Fire Red, Wyckoff Raiders, Midland Park, Oakland Braves, and Twisters (from East Hanover area.) Pool play took place on Friday and Saturday, July 19th and 20th.  The Hasbrouck Heights girls drew all three of their pool games on Saturday.  The single-elimination bracket play was played on Sunday, July 21st. Game one pitted Hasbrouck Heights against rival Oakland, who was already 2-0, winning dominantly in pool play heading into the matchup. In a tough, gritty battle between these top teams, Emma Vallone threw a no-hitter to open up the tournament, striking out 18 batters.  Victoria Pietler's 3 for 3 day with an RBI and Dylan Gibbs-Sausa's 2-run triple provided the offense for Hasbrouck Heights to take their opening game.  This win set the tone for the day and the whole tournament. In game two, Emma Vallone provided a "bulldog" performance.  Davis explained the plan was only to have her throw a few innings to start the game, but “every time I'd go over to Emma between innings to check on her and talk about when she was coming out, her competitive juices would kick in, and she'd ask to go another.”  Playing the Twisters, a club team out of the Hanover area, and with Emma not having her full strength due to it being her second game of the day, the team had to be strong defensively and at the plate to make sure they got the second win of the day.  Dylan Gibbs-Sausa continued to be hot at the plate with another two-run triple and a double in this game.  Lily Grella and Annabella Tucci each had two hits with an RBI, and Emma Gibbs-Sausa had two hits to provide Emma Vallone the offense she needed to grab the win.  Key defensive plays by middle infielders Nina Screvane-D'amore and Savannah Davis , and a huge caught stealing throw by catcher Dylan Gibbs-Sausa cut down rallies by the Twisters.  A terrific team effort in the 6-4 win. Hasbrouck Heights faced Highlands Red in game three. The pitcher duties were turned over to Savannah Davis, who had no problem shutting down the Highlands offense. Meanwhile, the Hasbrouck Heights girls' offense exploded. In the third inning, Hasbrouck Heights plated 11 runs to jump to a 13-2 lead.  Nina Screvane-D'amore knocked in three of those runs across two at bats in the same inning and Donatella knocked in two runs during her at bat.  Lily Grella, Victoria Pietler, and Dylan Gibbs-Sausa stayed hot at the plate; Savannah Davis helped herself by having a solid offensive game while she was on the mound, and Gianna Carullo came alive offensively.  The end result was a 13-2 mercy rule win after 4 innings, giving the girls a much-needed rest that evening before the grueling Sunday single-elimination part of the tournament began the following day. The next day, the Hasbrouck Heights girls were the number one seed in the single-elimination bracket, opening the day in the first round against Wyckoff.  In a 0-0 game after regulation, the team had to play extra innings.  The rest the night before did Emma Vallone good as with no room for margin, “she pitched one of the best games I have ever seen her pitch and maybe I have ever seen as a coach,” said Davis.  Emma went the whole nine innings, striking out 24 batters. In a game where hits were at a premium, Annabella Tucci stepped to the plate with two on in the bottom of the ninth with the score still 0-0 and delivered a tremendous clutch hit to knock in the winning run to advance Hasbrouck Heights to the semifinals. Hasbrouck Heights would meet the Twisters in a rematch for the semifinal game. This time Savannah Davis pitched against them.  Like the day before against Highlands, Savannah kept the Twisters off balance all day, holding them to two runs over six innings before turning the ball over to Emma Vallone for the one inning save.   Nina Screvane-D'amore had an RBI Triple, Victoria Pietler drove in two runs as both Lily Grella and Annabella Tucci knocked in a run.  Dylan threw out another baserunner, this time the leadoff hitter in the final inning for a key out.  The girls beat the Twisters for the second time in as many days, 5-2, to advance to the Championship game. Midland Park would provide great competition for Hasbrouck Heights in the Championship Game.  Once again, the Little Aviators found themselves in a pitcher's duel. Emma Vallone took the ball and once again rose to the occasion, striking out 19 over 7 innings, giving up just one run.  The Midland Park pitcher was equal to the task, holding the Hasbrouck Heights offense in check most of the day. In the third inning, Gianna Carullo and Savannah Davis walked to give Hasbrouck Heights  runners on.  Nina Screvane-D'amore stepped to the plate and delivered a clutch line-drive in the gap for a two run RBI triple.  From then on, it was about pitching and defense as the girls held on for the 2-0 tournament championship win. “Having coached these girls since they were in the third/fourth grade, it has been a beautiful sight to see not just their skill level grow but also their competitive spirit, knowledge of the game, and confidence in being able to face and prevail in tough matchups like they experienced this weekend,” said Davis. “The coaches and I were just thrilled with how they played, the guts they showed and the amazing team effort that displayed.  Very, very proud of the girls,” noted Davis. “ This was the perfect tune-up and challenge for our girls as we were heading into the Summer Travel Season playoffs.” “Having won three different tournament championships in the past four years, it's going to be exciting to see what challenge we can throw at them next year,” said Davis. Hasbrouck Heights Girls Travel Softball Roster: Players : Emma Vallone Savannah Davis Nina Screvane-D'amore Dylan Gibbs-Sausa Emma Gibbs-Sausa Gianna Carullo Donatella Senatore Lily Grella Victoria Pietler Annabella Tucci Hanna Reyngoudt Bianca Perry Coaches: Mike Davis Jesse D'Amore Anthony Carullo Dennis Vallone

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