Madison SB ROOKIE Division Has a Blast at Celebration

On Saturday, the Madison Softball ROOKIE division, for girls in 1st and 2nd grades, finished its 2010 season with a morning of softball competition for all players. Building on the basic softball skills of throw, catch, hit and run, players competed in four specific areas at the Madison Junior  School complex. Teams rotated through four stations, demonstrating their skills as follows:

• Throw: Each player was given three throws. The furthest throw was recorded per player. Individual awards were given to the girl on each team with the farthest throw.
• Catch: Girls were placed about 10 feet apart in a single line per team. Girls threw the ball down the line, caught and turned, throwing to the next girl in line. The last girl in line threw back. Girls threw the ball up and back twice to the original starting point. Awards were presented to the team with the highest percentage of catches.
• Hit: Each player was given three hits. Individual awards were given to the girl on each team with the farthest hit.
• Run: One team on second base, one team at home, conducted a relay race with each girl carrying a softball while running all bases. Using timers, the total time and number of players per team was measured. The team with the fastest average speed per player was awarded a trophy.

Helping the coaches with the morning's festivities were two Madison Softball alumnae, Jeramie Barletta and Mel Welter, who were both home from college for the summer. Also aiding were several members of the Pat DeBiasse grade 5/6 softball team: Katie Bishop, Alyssa DeBiasse, Kelly Edwards, Becca Garcia, MacKaella Goodwin, Caroline Kranefuss, Julia Prout, Sydney Strelec, and Lauren Whife, and their friends, Julia Grant and Georgia Murray.

At the end of this competition, gold medals were presented to the following teams and players for their accomplishments.

Furthest Hit:  
Chef Loryn's: Julia Anderson,  
Foley Cat: Shea Baggett,  
MACA: Nicole MacMaster,  
Mazzocchi Siding: Clare Culligan,  
NP Repairs: Fiona Doherty,  
Rose City Repair & Service: Brooke Loughran,  
Sprouts: Faith Fabrizzio,  
Waverly TV: Amanda Maccario. 

Longest Throw:  
Chef Loryn's: Madison Camp,  
Foley Cat: Aine Maseker,  
MACA: Sadie Kim,  
Mazzocchi Siding: Alexa Slabaugh,  
NP Repairs: Julie Gann,  
Rose City Repair & Service: Kate Christos,  
Sprouts: Courtney McCormick,  
Waverly TV: Sara Rogers. 

Two Team Awards: Foley Cat took home the Fastest Team Award with an average base path speed of 17.09 seconds per player and Chef Loryn's was the Catchiest team with a success rate of over 80 percent.

At the end of the awards, players gave the 53 moms and dads who volunteered as coaches this season a big round of applause for all of their hard work coaching over 50 softball games between mid-April and mid-June.