The North Shore Little League Majors All Star Team are now the District and Sectional Champions. The team, which is the equivalent of a 12U team, was led by Head Coach Jayson Kiang and his assistants Dave Ricci and Patrick Legge, finished with a 9-2 overall record to capture both prestigious crowns.
Their journey began back in May during the tryouts. The Little League International rules allow tryouts for all star teams to happen in mid May and it's a whirlwind to play the regular season and jump right into the All Star games. The teams are selected and out of a field of the best of the best and 12 girls make the squad. In order to continue to advance the team has to keep advancing through each round, and with each new round comes new challenges.
The North Shore girls began district play (district 36), which extends from route 112 all the way to the East End. Only a handful of teams are good enough to compete in the tournament. North Shore began the Districts by beating Eastport-South Manor, then defeated Riverhead and Moriches Bay, before upending East Hampton Little League. That advanced them to once again play Eastport South Manor and they won that game and the district Championship 9-2.
While the District Championship was a great win, this team had it's sights set on the sectionals. The following week they headed to the Section 4 East tournament, which extends from Eastern Nassau to the East End. The field was tough with East Meadow and Smithtown both being tight games, but North Shore came out on top once again. That sent them to face East Meadow, who was considered the most dominant team, but they took them down and went on to become the Section Four Champions by beating Huntington Tri Village Little League by a score of 6-2.
Their unbelievable run ended with the State Championships this week. After beating Fayetteville and extending their winning streak to 9 games, they wound up losing to a tough Massapequa team. That is the same Massapequa team that are the International defending Little League champions and their best player, pitcher Olivia Feldman. Feldman was a World Champion last year and coming into the game has not allowed a run on a hit in the tournament. Natalie Kiang got her for a two run single and an RBI, but it wasn't enough. North Shore then dropped a game to Wappinger's Falls but it didn't take away from their remarkable season.
When asked about his team coach Kiang commented that after game one he changed the lineup and then didn't touch it after that. He said "we kept winning, I wasn't changing it".
While the lineup had many standouts, from catcher Natalie Kiang batting .435 while playing a dynamic backstop, who threw out four baserunners, to third baseman Keira Legge, who batted .458 to lead the team, to Daisy Jo Morbillo who led the team with 10 runs driven in, coach Kiang could not stop raving about the pitching and defense. He highlighted Eliza Hoelzer, who switched positions and played a great defensive tournament despite being asked to play something new. This was a team effort.
With that said it was clear what carried the team, it was their outstanding pitching. They have a dynamic 1-2 punch and the coach said "I'll take these two girls over anybody." Kylie Weinfeld, class of 2029 Rocky Point, and Daisy Jo Morbillo, class of 2030, also in Rocky Point were that 1-2 combination that made other teams shutter in fear.
Last year Morbillo led the North Shore Little League minors division All Star team all the way to the State Finals as she struck out all 15 outs in the State Championship game. "She throws hard, hits her spots, and doesn't walk a lot of batters," Kiang said. As good as Morbillo was, Weinfeld was better. For the tournament she went 37 2/3 innings, striking out 63 batters, which led to her 1.67 ERA.
Morbillo in 14 2/3 innings struck out 23 batters and her ERA was 1.43. Kiang commented on how good Rocky Point Softball will be in a few years with this combo staying together on the mound.
When asked about the pivotal moment of the season the coach quickly talked about a visit the team had from an all time great. Mila Fiordalisi came to speak to the team, a Mount Sinai native and North Shore Alum, she spoke about how she was in the same position as them when she was younger and really motivated the young girls. "They felt like they met a celebrity and their hero." Kiang said. That was the edge they needed.
Now with a District Championship and a Sectional Championship young girls will be looking up to them the same way they looked up to their hero. Keira Legge, Natalie Kiang, Brooke Pepe, Kylie Weinfeld, Daisy Jo Morbillo, Gia Poetta, Lyla Ricci, Amelia Sencades, Faith McKiernan, Mogan Cavanagh, Eliza Hoelzer and Gianna Manzione have etched their names in the history books forever.