:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/6HBO5BMI3RDTLBGVJ3AUBGCUBU.jpg)
La SALLE — Spring Valley pitcher Brynn Pellegrini wound up and fired a pitch past Evergreen Park’s Sophie Tracy.
When the ball popped in Vivi Verucchi’s mitt, the Spring Valley catcher raced toward the pitching circle to embrace Pellegrini as the rest of the Spring Valley players and coaches descended on them.
Pellegrini’s 16th strikeout put an exclamation point on Spring Valley’s 5-1 victory in the Minor League softball state championship game at St. Mary’s Park.
“It feels really good,” Verucchi said. “It’s just a lot to take in at one time.”
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/6IG4F6KCEBHQBBXLNQNXJC4Y3Q.jpg)
Spring Valley dominated the tournament, outscoring its five opponents 31-1.
“This meant the world to us,” Spring Valley coach Josh Pellegrini said. “We came into this with very positive thoughts. We had a great team coming in, great parents. The coaching staff was unbelievable this year. The community, that’s something that’s very important to us. It means everything to us for everybody to come out here and watch us.”
Spring Valley gave its fans plenty to cheer about early.
After Brynn Pellegrini struck out the first three batters she faced in the top of the first inning, Spring Valley’s bats got to work in its half.
Verucchi led off by hitting a fly ball to center field that Evergreen Park couldn’t handle. She advanced to second and moved to third when Callie Fusinetti singled.
Pellegrini plated the first run with a groundout to second base.
Reese Baltikauski singled to center field to drive home Fusinetti and was thrown out trying for second.
With two outs, Stella Simpson and Addy Mavity hit back-to-back singles before Charlee Herrich hit a ball that just got over the second baseman to score two runs.
“I got really nervous before the game,” Simpson said. “I felt better after that. I was feeling more confident that we were going to win.”
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/NL7Y7FNI4VHDBG7XXEYPM5GZ7E.jpg)
Four runs was plenty for Brynn Pellegrini.
She pitched around two walks in the second inning with three strikeouts. Alexis Salazar led off the third with Evergreen Park’s first hit, but Pellegrini struck out the next two batters and struck out a third after a hit batter.
In the fourth, Spring Valley allowed its lone run of the tournament when Maeve Nolan walked and Meredith McKeown and Maura Maloney hit back-to-back singles. Pellegrini limited the damage with back-to-back strikeouts.
“I just pitched as hard as I could and I tried not to throw any crazy pitches to let them score,” Pellegrini said. “I was just relying on my catcher.”
Pellegrini walked the leadoff hitter in the fifth, but Verucchi threw her out trying to steal second before Pellegrini got a groundout and a strikeout.
She struck out all three batters she faced in the sixth, finishing the district and state tournaments with 131 strikeouts in 161 batters faced.
“I really just had to focus on my spots,” Pellegrini said. “When people are yelling and screaming, I just have to try to block everything out. It can be hard sometimes, but I have to rely on my teammates to back me up.”
Spring Valley added an insurance run in the fifth when Isabella Caracheo and Verucchi were walked to start the inning before Fusinetti moved them over with a groundout to first base and Pellegrini drove in her second run of the game with a groundout to second base.
“It feels really good,” Brynn Pellegrini said. “We worked really hard for it. We put a lot of heart and dedication into it. It was all a team effort.”