New Hyde Park girls Little League tops Delaware, 6-1

You could say the New Hyde Park girls are in a Little League of their own.

Certainly, after the 9- and 10-year-olds became the first team from their area to win a state title last Wednesday, edging Half Hollow Hills to capture the New York Little League championship. This, after beating Floral Park for the district title and Staten Island for the sectional crown then making the 433-mile trek upstate to Fredonia.

"We were jumping up and down in a circle, screaming," pitcher Jenny Hickey, 10, said. She scored the go-ahead run and earned the win.

New Hyde Park (12-0) rallied from two runs down in the fourth and went ahead in the fifth on Ann Grimshaw's two-run single. A groundout to shortstop Samantha Merino ended the game, stranding a runner at third. With that, they earned a trip to the weeklong Eastern Regional tournament in Fleetville, Pa., opening with a 6-1 win over Delaware yesterday. They'll face a team from Pennsylvania today.

This group has gone further than any other in the team's 51-year history. "As excited as the kids were, the parents were going out of their minds," coach Tom Donnelly said.

The girls are a bubbly bunch (even singing a "we're proud of you" cheer for opponents after games), but they have an understanding that belies their age. They fully grasp how far they've come, and thus, have a thorough appreciation of the accomplishment.''

Commack South advances

The Commack South 10-year-old Little League team, already New York champs, topped New Jersey in the first round of the Eastern Regional tournament in Cranston, RI.

With the score tied at 5 in the bottom of the seventh, Tyler Grunthal singled to drive in Matthew Milo with the winning run. Commack (12-2) will face a team from Delaware tomorrow.

Commack's road to Rhode Island began last Thursday with a 3-2 win over Stony Point in the state final. Trevor Rosenlicht's three-run homer in the first provided the scoring and the rest was left to pitcher David Zoly, who has befuddled batters with a knuckleball his dad and coach, Kevin, taught him to throw.

"This was our goal," Kevin Zoly said, "and the kids worked five days a week for it."