Saturday 2/16 – Opening Day was a major success.  A great time was had by all and six games were played.  8's:  Opening Day went very well for The Galaxy Girls and Mighty Monkeys. Defensively for the Galaxy Girls saw Kristine Hewitt catch the first Pop Fly of the year and Talia Kentoffio playing 1st Base recorded all three putouts in the 2nd Inning. On offense Leah Porter and Lauren Tkaczow, playing Softball for the first time, hit the ball very well and Riley Benedetto hit two balls very hard that made it to the outfield grass. For the Mighty Monkeys Skylar Melby made some great defensive plays at first base in the second inning, and Alexis Swearingen did an excellent job at catcher.  10's: ...... 12's:  Say What? 8  Banana Monkeys 6  Alexis Carmon, of the Banana Monkeys,  made two great plays from tight field, throwing one opponent out at first and catching another fly ball.   Sarah McKenna, Say What,  went 2 for 2 on the day with a well executed “butcher boy”. Mad Hatters 9, Battitude 1  Hats off to the Mad Hatters!  They broke open a scoreless game in the top of the third inning with 7 runs and went on to beat Battitude 9-1 during the last game played on opening day.  For the Mad Hatters, Sydney Bickel, Michelle Davis, Sienna Schwartz ignited the rally and Corey Fleming topped it off with a 2-run scoring triple to left field.  Sara Diskant and Erica Winn also provided solid pitching.  For the Battitude, Sabrina Fischer made a great catch off an Anne Corrigan line drive in the first inning and Ali Irwin scored the lone run in the last inning.

Tuesday 2/19 -  8's: .A close and exciting game was played between the Galaxy Girls and Girlz Rule.  Each team had exciting play from players: The Galaxy Girls' Uma Raja made a nice throw to Elizabeth Fortini at first for an out and Gernecia Murdock a first year player hit the ball very well.  For the Girlz Rule, Erin Moye and Katlyn Deischer played a great defensive, Carly Routman hit double up the middle and Althea Celey played well all-around.  Both teams meet in the pitcher's circle at games end and performed their team's cheer.  10's: ......12's: Banana Monkeys 2  Penquenos 1  A very defensive game.  Rachel Gerstner, Penquenos, pitched a marvelous game keeping the Banana Monkeys totally off balance at the plate.  Caitlin Korvelo, Banana Monkeys, did the kept the Penquenos off balance and stole home to tie the game in the 4^th inning.  Jamie Fusher stole home in the 5^th inning to win the game.  Battitude 8, Say What? 3  The game started close and looked like it might be tight until the Battitude pulled ahead with strong pitching by Jamie Wall.  Bri Rano had a strong night at the plate going 2 for 2.  Shelby Looney had the defensive play of the game with a diving catch in right field. 13+: ??? 7, Peace Peppers 6 The opening game of the season for the ??? and the Peace Peppers ended in dramatic fashion as the ??? came from behind with a game tying hit from Macey Cheatham and a walk-off single by Alana Tabel in the bottom of the 6th inning.  The game started with the ??? struggling to find the strike zone and the Peace Peppers getting timely hits and excellent first inning pitching from Carsen Catasus.  Melanie Hannah came in for relief and restored order for the ??? as the opening game for 2008 for both teams turned out to be an Instant Classic which we are sure to see for years to come on ESPN.

Tuesday 2/26 -  T-Ball: .......  8's: .....  10's: ....... 12's:  Mad Hatters 5, Say What 1 The Mad Hatters playing short handed, only 8 players, got timely hits from Michel Davis, Rebecca Shalloway and Emily Colter, which helped them to squeak by Say What? in a closely played contest.  Sara Diskant and Erica Winn were tough on the mount, holding Say What to only 2 hits.  Say What showcased two young up and coming pitchers in Danny DeCarolis and Brianne Lint, and Bri Rano flashed some leather on the field at short and third.   Banana Monkeys 12, Penguinos 2 The Penguinos slipped on the Bananas left on the field by the Banana Monkeys who left the little critters out in the cold 12 -2 tonight.  While the Penguinos struggled pitching tonight, the Monkeys had a solid performance from Haley Clark and Kaitlin Via.  Cristine Lindsay and Cassidy Sparks were the two Penguins that crossed the plate tonight with a great hit by McKenzie Griffith.  Caitlin Korvela and  Jenn Polak went 2 for 3 tonight with a double as well as Rachel Andersons smash  to Left field that started the Monkeys swinging around the bases!! although it was not the battle that the two teams had last week, all the kids had fun.... 13+: .....

Wednesday 2/27 -  T-Ball: .......  8's: .....  10's: ...... 12's: Banana Monkeys 2, Mad Hatters 0 The Banana Monkeys, behind the strong pitching of Caitlin Korvela, Haley Clark and Sarah Shilling shutout the Mad Hatters, allowing only two hits in five innings played.  For the Hatters, Sara Diskant and Erica Winn both pitched well and Sara ripped a double to the fence in left.  However, two two-out runs, both scored by Haley Clark, were all the Monkeys needed for he victory.  13+: .....

Thursday 2/28 -  T-Ball: .......  8's: .....  10's:  Softballers 6, Orange Crush 1 The Softballers showed their stuff in their game against the Orange Crush giving them the first win of the season.  Both Samantha Spring and Brittany Baxter from the Orange Crush had some nice strikeouts but the Softballers were tough opponents.  Morgan Stefan shut down the first inning with a great tag out at third base.  Stephanie Schapiro did a great job running and stealing bases in her first game since returning from an injury - welcome back!  Erin Buechele, Kelsey Brooks, Rebecca Battles, and Rachel Cabrera all caught the sign to steal their bases.  Brittany Picard and Allison Girard also stole bases and then stole the show with their outstanding pitching, averaging to strikeouts per inning.  And Destiny Washington showed us some good solid swings at bat – we are going to see that ball really fly very soon!   Fire Monkeys 1, Red Raders 3 The Fire Monkeys and Red Raiders squared off for the 2^nd time in a row on Thursday night in the early game, the game was a real nail biter! The Fire Monkeys played a great game on defense led by the pitching of Tayla Regenbaum and Lily Baynham of the Fire Monkeys. While the Red Raiders flashed some leather of their own with some great pitching by Lauren Gerstner and  Taylor Kong. Breanna Hernandez hit a bullet line shot towards shortstop that scored a run. The Fire Monkeys answered with a run in the 2^nd inning knotting the score at 1 each. The Red Raiders answered in the next inning with 2 more runs, which proved to be the final score. 3-1 Red Raiders. Actually, the Fire Monkeys drew first blood in the Top of the 1st inning with a shot out into LF by lead off batter Kelly Steele, who quickly stole 2 bases and was driven in by Kelsey Mackey 2 batters later.  The Red Raiders took a 3-1 lead into the top of the 3rd inning as the Red Raiders pitching of Lauren "Lulu" Gerstner proved to be too much striking out 3 of the 4 batters she faced to put the game away.  The only bright spot offensively in the Fire Monkeys 3rd inning was a base hit by Emma Colangelo, her first of the season. 12's: ..Battitude 5, Say What 1 The defense backed up the bats for the Battitude with great defensive plays by Sara Eckler, Sabrina Fischer and Amelia Hershman.  For the Batts, Tara Nelson pitched a scoreless 2nd inning with 3 strike outs and Ali Irwin, Erika Peeples and Jaime Wall provided the offense.  For Say What, Brianne Lint drove in Brianna Rano for a 1st inning run.... 13+: .....

Saturday 3/1 -  T-Ball: .......  8's: .....  10's: ..... 12's: Say What? 7 Penguinos 6 Another close game by these two teams.  Penquinos jumped ahead with strong hitting and solid pitching by Shannon Oneil and Rachel Gerstner.  Say What? made a big comeback with 5 runs in the bottom of the 4th inning with the winning run scored by Sarah McKenna.   Battitude 1 Say What 0  Jaime Wall, Tara Nelson and Ali Irwin of the Battitude combined for a 5 inning shutout in the 1st game of the day on Saturday.  In the 3rd inning, Lauren VerPorter drove in Ali Irwin for the only run of the game.  The Banana Monkey's had strong fielding and pitching led by Caitlyn Korvela.  Playing 2nd base for the Battitude, Sabrina Fischer made all three outs in the 5th and final inning.

Saturday 3/1 -  T-Ball: .......  8's: .....  10's: In a very windy, rain-delayed late-game, pitching proved difficult for all 7 pitchers that took the mound in the game.  In the top of the 1st inning, Tayla "TayTay" Regenbaum struggled to find the strikezone, but gutted it out before finding her groove.  Madison "Maddog" Schwartz made a great stop at 3rd base and a heads up tagout for the 1st out of the inning, but not before the Rip'd Sticks scored their 4th run of the inning on the play.  After a walk loaded the bases, The Rip'd Sticks Elizabeth Schriver hit a long fly ball out to center field, but Fire Monkey Alex Karnbach was there to make an EPSN Highlight Reel catch for the out, then quickly made a heads up throw to Kelsey Mackey at 2nd to end the inning with the double play. This play would prove to be the difference in the game. The Fire Monkeys scored 2 in the bottom of the inning, until Rip's Sticks pitching (Gabby Martini and Alexis Simm) closed out the inning with 2 SO's.  In the 2nd inning, Soracha Murray pitched chin music to her friend, Sammy Dominguez before Lily Baynham came in to take the mound for the Fire Monkey's. The Rip'd Sticks posted 3 more runs on the board before Baynham pitched her way out of the inning with 1 SO and 2 great plays by Tayla Regenbaum at SS to end the threat.  The Rip's Sticks went through a couple of pitchers (Sam Schmitt and Sinead Korvela) in the bottom of the 2nd inning, as the struggles continued to find the zone.  After 6 straight walks tightened the game to 7-5 and bases still loaded, Tay Regenbaum stepped up to the plate and drove a pitch out to deep RCF, scoring Sierra Divosta and Kelly Steele and tying the game 7-7 just as the time clock expired.  Final Score:  7-7.... 12's:  Banana Monkeys 6, Battitude 4 After a 1 1/2 hour rain delay, the sun came out for an excitement filled 1st game on Saturday morning.  Led by Sarah Shilling's 2 run scoring triple, the Banana Monkeys edged out the Battitude 6-4.  For the Battitude, Erika Peeples had a double and a single and scored 2 runs.  Mad Hatters 7, Penguinos 5  The Mad Hatters and the Penguinos played a very close contest highlighted by solid pitching, good defense and very good base running by both teams.  For the Penguinos, Jessie Lopes stole home and Lizzy Lizza, playing with a bum arm, beat out bunt single to spark a two run inning.  For the Hatters, Michelle Davis and Sienna Schwartz hit clutch singles and Sienna went first to third on a pass ball following a play at the plate. Corey Fleming, Sara Diskant and Annie Corrigan each hit a double for the Hatters.   

Tuesday 2/26 -  T-Ball: .......  8's: .....  10's: ....... 12's:

Congratulations to all the following alumni from the Palm Beach Gardens Girls' Softball league for being selected on the following 2008 varsity high school softball teams.

Palm Beach Gardens HS

Britney Bowles - Senior

Kelsey Hensel - Senior

Emily Roesch - Senior

Malinda Veagus - Senior

Brittany Human - Junior

Erica Sanicki - Junior

Haley Fleming - Sophomore

Lizzy Corrigan - Sophomore

Kaylie Wallace - Freshman

Laura Mann - Freshman

Dwyer HS

Britney Hoffstetler - Senior

Ashley Kramer - Senior

Janee Lorie - Senior

Sloane Caruso - Junior

Juliann Watson - Junior

Kelly Pizzo - Junior

Claire Hosack - Sophomore

Morgan Huhn - Sophomore

Tierney Mackey - Sophomore

Logan Wallace - Sophomore

Kaylee Chicca - Freshman

 Jupiter HS

Heather Simpson -Junior

Kaitlyn Killcoyne - Junior

Suncoast HS

Rachel Ward - Junior

Amber Diskant - Sophomore

Chelsea Kirby - Sophomore

Summer Braun - Sophomore

Lindsey Harris - Freshman

Cardinal Newman HS

Shannon Breen - Senior

Kelly Kohlmeyer - Junior

Jamie Oblaczynski - Sophomore

Heather McDonald - Sophomore

Briana Bullard - Sophomore

Rachel Rendina - Freshman

Jordan Popovics - Freshman

Benjamin HS

Allie Rothschild - Senior

Adrianna Rubiano - Sophomore

Maren McRoberts - Freshman

Kristy Nicklaus - Freshman

Hunter Toro - 8th Grade

Other High Schools

Haylee Land - Senior, South Fork High School

Lauren Bubeck - Senior, South Fork High School

Molly Grubb - Senior, Park Vista High School

Christi Marquez -Junior,  Boca Raton High School

Kailey McDougald -Junior,  Boca Raton High School

Taylor Bayne - Sophomore, Atlantic High School

Aubree Murphy - 8th grade, Kings Academy

Amanda Wilcox - Freshman, Kings Academy

2007 High School News

6A Schools

The Palm Beach Gardens High School Lady Gators won the District 9 title, defeating Jupiter in the final game 3-1.  The Gators advanced all the way to the regional finals before falling 1-0 to the Everglades Gators, the eventual 6A State Champions.  The district championship team included the following PBGYAA Softball Allumni:  Seniors: Laura Mendez (OF), Caroline Torre (1B), Elizabeth Davis (3B) and Amanda Buckley (2B), Juniors: Emily Roesch (SS), Brittany Bowles (P) and Kelsey Hensel (RF); Sophomores: Brittany Human (C) and Ashley Brochue (Utl), and Freshman: Lizzy Corrigan (P) and Haley Fleming (LF).

All Area Teams

The Palm Beach Post and Sun Sentinel each announced their 2007 All Area Large and Small High School softball teams and a number of PBGYAA alumni were among those recognized.  Large School First Team selections included: Caroline Torre, Laura Mendes, Janee Loree, Lizzy Corrigan, Heather Simpson, Brittany Human    The Second Team included Clare Hosack, Hlaley Fleming, Tierney Mackey, Amber Diskant  Halee Land, Lauren Bubeck and Molly Grubb.  Small School selections included First Team Players:

Palm Beach Post Player of the Year

Janee Loree received the Palm Beach Post Player of the Year after leading the Dwyer Panthers to a second place finish in the 5A District 14 championship.  The Junior pitcher amassed a 14-4 record for the 2007 season. 

Congratulations to the 2007/08 BAK Middle School of the Arts team for winning the Palm Beach County Softball title for the second time in four years.  The school team included the following players from our program: (8th Grade): Taylor Schwarz, Hannah Cohn, Shelby Turnier, Carson Catasus, Amber Braun, Taylor Gish, Brianna Frazzetto, Brooke Frazzetto, Katherine Ferrell, Aliyah Wise (7th Grade): Susi Livingston, Corey Fleming, Ali Irwin, Amelia Hershman

We are aware of 21 PBGYAA Softball alumni currently playing college softball.  The following paragraphs provide summary information relative to  a handful of those athletes.   

Laura Mendes  Freshman at University of South Carolina.  Starting catcher and bating 4th in lineup.  Update (2/20/08)  Laura hit her first homerun of the college season, a three run blast to help the Gamecocks defeat Cal State Northridge, 3-2 in the team's final game at the UNLV Louisville Slugger Desert Classic.

The photo below shows Laura ripping a double to the gap in

right-center at a recent Florida Atlantic University hosted tournament.

Carolina Torre  Freshman at University of North Florida.  Starting at first base and hitting 6th.  Update (2/20/08)  Caroline hit two homeruns for the Ospreys in their first two games of the Samford Bulldog Bash tournament in Birmingham, Al.  The first was a game winner against Louisville and the second accounted for the team's only run against Troy University.

The photo below captures Laura and Caroline playing for their

college teams at a recent Florida Atlantic University hosted tournament.

Amber Johnson Two year's ago she was the star pitcher that led the Palm Beach Gardens Lady Gator High School to a 6A State title.  She is currently a Sophomore at the University of North Carolina.  As a freshman in 2006, Amber posted an 8-3 record with 101 strikeouts in 81.1 innings pitched.   She finished her sophomore season with a 14-7 record, recording 165 strikeouts in 161 innings pitched, striking out 10 or more batters in 5 games.  Update (2/20/08) Amber has a 2-1 record with 18 strikeouts in 16.2 innings pitched.   

Ashley Parenteau played her early years of softball at PBG and her father Keith was one our recreation and travel team coaches.  She is currently a Junior at the University of North Florida.  During her Freshman year, 2005, she led the Owls in Batting Avg., Runs, Hits, Extra Base Hits, RBI, Slug Pct. and On-Base Pct.  Recognized as one of the best freshmen seasons every at UNF, Ashley was named to the 3rd Team All American team.  She was also named 1st Team All Conference and All Region.  As a sophomore she was a second team All Conference selection after leading the team in home runs (9), RBIs (28), slugging percentage (.478), runs (39), two-out RBIs (13) and total bases (88). As a junior she had the team's fourth highest average, .277 and tied the school's all-time homerun record with her 17th HR.  Update (2/20/08) Ashley needs only one more homerun to become the schools all-time homerun leader!  

The photo below shows Ashley driving a ball to leftfield

against South Carolina in a recent college tournament.

Lindsey Lloyd is a Senior at Valdosta State.  Update (2/20/08) - Lindsey was limited to only 33 of 60 games of the 2007 season due to injury.  However she finished the season third on the team in Batting Average (.305) and did not made an error all season.  She was also named to the Conferences' All Academic Team. 

Amber Havner – A member of the Palm Beach Gardens High State Championship team in 2005, Amber is playing ball as a Junior at Lynn University.  She played her Freshman year at the College of Charleston where she posted a 14-14 record with 3 shutouts.  She returned home is '06 and played for Palm Beach Community College where she was named first team All Conference.  Update (2/20/08) After 15 games of the 2008 season, Amber is leading the Fighting Knights in hitting with a 381 batting average and in RBI with 5.

Casey Testa and her sister Lindsey, both played their early years of softball at our park and were both standout Lady Gators.  Her father, Sam, coached both recreational and travel teams for our program, including the very successful Lady Gator 18 Gold teams. Casey is now a Senior at University of North Carolina.  She is attending school on a full softball scholarship.  During her Freshman season, 2005, she led the Tar Heels in Home Runs, Slug. Pct and On-Base Pct.  During her sophomore season she played in 65 games was third on the team in Homeruns (7), RBI (31 and Slugging Percentage (.427).  Her junior year, 2007 she had only 97 at bats prior to suffering a season ending injury.  She ended the season with 3 HR, 24 RBI and a .289 average.  Due to the injury suffered in 2007, she is not playing for the Tar Heels for the 2008 season.  

Lindsey Cameron who grew up playing softball in our park and attended the University of Florida on a full softball scholarship where she set numerous U of F offensive softball record signed and played professional softball for the Philadelphia Force in the National Pro Fastpitch league.  She was one of the first U of F Players to play in the four year old league.  Cameron, a three-time All Southeastern Conference selection, finished her career at Florida as the career home run leader with 36.  

Christine Stephens, a pitching and hitting coach with Get Game Inc. who has helped a number of the young players at our park with pitching lessons during the 2006/07 recreational seasons, played professional softball in Italy during a portion of early 2007.  She was a catcher for Oltretorrente B.C.  If you read Italian, you can see how she played at the team website

  http://www.oltretorrentebaseball.it

LEAGUE HIGHLIGHTS:  The recreation season was a wonderful success.  The T-Ball and 8 & Under leagues saw very well matched teams enjoying the experience of learning the game.  The 10 & Under league saw extremely competitive play with different teams winning the League Championship, Homerun Hotties, and Season Ending Tournament, No Fear.   Similarly in the 12 & Under division the Billion Dollar Babies won the league and Krush won the post season tournament.  In the 13 & Over division the Shake N Bake won the league while Softballin' took the tournament.  The following tables contain the final league tournament results for all of the 2007 recreational softball season.  

LEAGUE HIGHLIGHTS:  The recreation season was a wonderful success.  The T-Ball and 8 & Under leagues saw very well matched teams enjoying the experience of learning the game.  The 10 & Under league saw extremely competitive play with different teams winning the League Championship, Tuff Stuff, and Season Ending Tournament, Yanksters.   Similarly in the 12 & Under division the Maniacs won the league and Xplosion won the post season tournament.  In the 13 & Over division the Skittles won both the league and tournament title.   The following tables summarize the final standings in each division.