East Beats West: All-Stars Make History with 22-0 Win

The East Hampton Little League Girls All-Stars beat out the Westhampton Little League team Friday in the Softball district 36 finals. According to coaches, this marks the first time an East Hampton team, either boys or girls, has won the little league district championship.

In the two-game matchup, East Hampton came out on top with their first home game with a score of 22-0 and the second game in Westhampton with a score of 20-12. The home game ended in a mid-fourth inning mercy ruling. 

The All Star travel team— a group of 10 and 11 year olds from Montauk, East Hampton, Amagansett and Springs— were selected from the town’s little league teams by their respective coaches, each one putting forward their best two or three players to compete in the championships. 

The team consists of sixth graders Olivia Barris, Raven Biondo, Olivia Davis, Erin Decker, Ella Gurney, Mya Jones, Rebecca Kuperschmid, Mary McDonald, Grace Myers, Madyson Neff, Nicole Realmuto, Kate Ward and fifth graders Sophia Swanson, and Ally Friedman. Richard Swanson, father of Sophia Swanson, coaches the team for a second year. His assistant coach is Matthew Ward, father of Kate Ward.

Swanson, a baseball player in his youth and a coach for the past five years, expressed a great deal of pride in his team, describing them as, “A team with a lot of depth in batting. We’re really strong from top to bottom.”

McDonald, the team's pitcher in the 22-0 victory, pitched her first shut-out game ever, according to her mother Ellen McDonald.

Swanson was careful to stress that the team is not resting on its laurels— the girls continue to practice four to five days a week to prepare for the next step: the sectional championships.

“We’ve had a lot of practices, and I think that the girls have learned a lot in a short period of time,” Swanson said, “I think that we’re going to be very competitive in the next round.”

Four district champions will compete this Saturday and Sunday in a round robin style tourney at the North Shore Complex in Rocky Point at 491 Route 25A. The game on Saturday will begin at 10 a.m. and Sunday’s game will take place at 12 p.m. A third day of play will take place in East Meadow on July 16 at 5:45 p.m.

After that, the winner of the sectional championship will have the opportunity to compete for the New York State title.

Though Swanson remained confident in his team, he emphasized what they’d already accomplished. “This is the farthest our town has ever gotten in the tournament.”