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Lawrence Township Junior Baseball & Softball Association

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26

Jun, 2021

Bordentown, Lawrence, Robbinsville and West Windsor to compete for District

LITTLE LEAGUE SOFTBALL: Bordentown, Lawrence, Robbinsville and West Windsor to compete for District
The Trentonian June 26. 2021
By Kyle Franko [email protected] @kj_franko

Read more here.

The 12U Little League Softball All-Stars from Robbinsville and Bordentown have established quite the rivalry over the last handful of years.

After the two teams played an exciting three-game series to determine the District 12 champion during the summer of 2020, they are both back again, only this time they'll be joined by teams from Lawrence and West Windsor in the four-team field.

"There are always good teams in this district every single year," said West Windsor manager Joe Dorfman. "We'll go and have fun, get some good pitching, get a timely hit and maybe we'll surprise somebody."

Robbinsville fended off Bordentown in a best-of-three series to take the District 12 crown last summer and then went on to win the state title before falling at regionals. R'ville has a storied history in softball, having won the LLWS in Alpenrose, Oregon in 2014 and finishing third in 2016.

"They know we have high expectations for them," Robbinsville manager Mike Sabol said. "We have a majority of 12 (year olds) as opposed to last year when we were majority 11 (year olds). They'll definitely set the tone."

What R'ville won't do, however, is take anybody lightly.

"Bordentown is a very well-run organization and very difficult to play against," said Sabol, whose team opens against Lawrence. "It's a 50-50, a toss-up. It's a difficult match for sure."

Bordentown won the 2018 district and state titles, and this group is hoping to repeat that.

"These girls have been playing together since T-ball and they have good chemistry with each other," Bordentown manager Mike Maloney said. "They all put a lot of hard work in and they are ready to go."

West Windsor, which plays the aforementioned Bordentown in its opener, is back in the fold after missing out on last summer's tournament due to COVID-19.

"It's an interesting bunch this year because it's a very young team and we only have 10 girls," Dorfman said. "We're happy to be back and we're going to need to be strong all over the field. ... They are very excited to play. We had a fun rec season, but they played each other a lot, so we're looking forward to playing other people."

Lawrence was a late entry into the field, but manager Rob Space likes what he's seen in practice.

"After the year off that most of them had, we've had a togetherness," Space said. "We've had almost 100% attendance to all of our practices and just how well they get along and play together are strengths."

All four managers agreed that the team that captures the district crown will be the one who pitches the best and commits the fewest errors.

"Stick to our fundamentals," Space said. "Not get rattled and we should be all right."

Added Bordentown skipper Maloney: "Play like we practice. Make the plays and hit the ball and have a good time. We just want the girls to have fun."

All games in the double-elimination tournament will be played at Robbinsville's Tantum Park, beginning on Monday, June 28. The winner advances to the Section 3 Tournament at Sayreville Little League.