Caldwell Girls In Little League Softball World Series Tournament

CALDWELL, NJ — For the first time, girls from Caldwell and nearby towns will be playing in the Little League Softball World Series tournament.

The Caldwell Little League All-Stars will make their historic tournament debut on Sunday, June 23 at Branch Brook Park in Newark at noon. The team includes 10 girls, ages 10-12, who took part in the inaugural season of CLL softball over the last two months.

According to the Caldwell Little League, the All-Star squad – which was chosen from the two “Majors” division teams – includes Mary Grace Cosgrove, Julia Enright, Angelina Graziano, Nicky Higgins, Lily Pham, Olivia Plath, Alexis Podias, Lucia Rama, Alex Vacchiano, and Chloe Ventola.

The team is coached by Ralph Vacchiano, Gerard Graziano and Mike Mona.

“We are so incredibly proud of these girls,” Vacchiano said. “Their improvement in the two months we’ve been together has been remarkable. More importantly, they’re all such great kids and teammates. They really have a chance to do something special.”

This is the first year that Little League District 8 is hosting an opening round of the LLSWS. The week-long tournament will also include teams from Belleville Little League and North Ward Little League. Caldwell Little League, which was formed in 2018, will play host to the tournament opener on Friday night, June 21, when Belleville and North Ward play at Harrison Avenue Field in Roseland at 6:30 p.m.

The winner faces Caldwell on Sunday.

“Through the efforts and coordination of the Little League presidents in District 8 and the Caldwell Little League, we were able to get enough teams to enter the opening round of this tournament and have the LLSWS games in our district for the first time,” said B.J. Kurus, president of the Caldwell Little League. “The other presidents and I are working hard to build up the Little League softball programs in our district.”

If Caldwell wins on Sunday, they would next play on Thursday, June 27. If Caldwell loses, they’d play an elimination game on Tuesday, June 25. Both of those games would take place at Harrison Avenue Field in Roseland at 6:30 p.m.

The double-elimination district tournament runs through June 29. The winner advances to the New Jersey Section 2 tournament in Wallington beginning on July 2. The national and international finals of the Little League World Series take place in Portland Oregon, Aug. 7 to 14.

“No matter how the tournament turns out, I told our girls to remember they’re making history,” Vacchiano said. “Caldwell Little League is just starting. Someday, maybe they’ll have a team strong enough to make a run all the way to the national finals. When that happens, these girls can take pride in knowing that they started it all. They’re the pioneers.”

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