Massapequa Little League softball team's bid for repeat starts Sunday
The Massapequa Little League softball team poses during practice on Thursday at Massapequa before heading to Bristol, Conn., for the Mid-Atlantic Regional tournament, which begins Sunday. Credit: Dawn McCormick
The Massapequa International 12U softball team’s quest for a repeat resumes Sunday.
The reigning Little League Softball World Series champions will play a team from Delaware at 10 a.m. in the first round of the double-elimination Mid-Atlantic Region tournament in Bristol, Connecticut. All of the tournament’s games will be available on ESPN+, with Friday’s championship game to be broadcast on ESPN.
The region champion advances to the Little League World Series Aug. 4-11 in Greenville, North Carolina.
“I’m really excited to get back on the field. I thought the regionals were really fun last year,” Olivia Feldman said at a practice at Picken Field in Massapequa on Thursday. “The dorms are a lot of fun and just meeting girls from other states . . . I can’t wait to get back up there.” Olivia Feldman of the Massapequa Little League softball team practices on Thursday in Massapequa before heading to Bristol, Conn., for the Mid-Atlantic Regional tournament, which begins Sunday. Credit: Dawn McCormick
Feldman and Mia Victor are the only returning players from last year’s World Series team. Feldman, who shared the pitching circle with Alexis Fontana throughout last summer’s run, has taken over as Massapequa’s primary pitcher. She’s thrown 44 innings this year compared to the 52 she pitched last year.
“It made me realize that I have to work harder and that if I’m going to be pitching more, I need to get good sleep, I need to be hydrated and anything that comes with that, I need to be able to do it,” said Feldman, who played on Farmingdale High School’s varsity this season as a seventh-grader. “It’s fun being in the circle. It’s fun striking people out.”
Expectations are high for the reigning champions throughout their support community, but the team says it isn’t feeling any extra pressure to match last year’s historic success.
“No one on the team thinks of it like that or puts that pressure on themselves,” outfielder Kailyn Eaton said. “Everyone just tries to play their best.”
It’s Eaton’s third straight trip to Bristol but her first time playing in the tournament. Her sister, Imogen, played in the tournament two years ago and her father, Rich, has been the team’s manager for the last three seasons.
“It’s so exciting. It doesn’t even feel real,” Kailyn Eaton said. Kailyn Eaton of the Massapequa Little League softball team practices on Thursday at Massapequa before heading to Bristol, Conn., for the Mid-Atlantic Regional tournament, which begins Sunday. Credit: Dawn McCormick
She and Feldman expressed their excitement about living in the dorms at the A. Bartlett Giamatti Little League Leadership Training Center.
“It’s a special thing. It almost makes them like a family,” Rich Eaton said. “When you put kids in a dorm for five or six days, they come out different. Last year’s team, they still sleep over each other’s houses once a month.”
Along with the fun the girls figure to have in the next week, the goal remains the same: Win.
“I’m proud of them. They are New York state champions,” Rich Eaton said. “Now it’s time to go see where we’re at.”
WHEN THEY PLAY
Massapequa’s 12U softball team plays a team from Delaware Sunday at 10 a.m. in a first-round game of the Little League World Series Mid-Atlantic Region in Bristol, Connecticut (field location is at 225 Mix St. in Bristol). Play continues throughout the week against teams TBD.
