Riverhead Little League Softball team to compete for championship

There was a chance that the 12-and-under Riverhead Little League World Series softball team wasn’t going to field a team this year because of low numbers. Flash forward weeks later and they’re competing for a District-36 championship. They’ll match up against 5-0 North Shore Little League on Wednesday, July 2, for a chance at the crown.

“Luckily, we got three girls from Eastport-South Manor to join our team because they were short players also,” Riverhead head coach Alessandra Perez said. “It’s been a bit of a process to get everything together this year, but we’re in the championship for the major division in softball, and I don’t remember how long it was since we’ve done that. It has been a very long time.”

For many of those years, East Hampton Little League has had Riverhead’s number in getting into the championship game, but this year the script flipped. After losing to East Hampton, 13-1 during pool play, Riverhead earned the third seed in the district playoffs with a 3-2 record, and they had to match up against them again in the semifinals. East Hampton earned the No. 2 seed with a 4-1 record. But it was Riverhead that prevailed this time around, winning 11-3 at Stotzky Memorial Park.

“The girls just had a very positive mindset coming into the day,” Perez said. “It was all positive energy. The last game didn’t matter anymore, we just wanted to play our best game out there.”

Charlotte Doucette put together an impressive performance in the pitcher’s circle, only allowing one earned run over six innings while striking out six. She saved her best inning for last as she struck out two batters and got the third to hit a slow ground ball right back to her to seal the game.

“When your pitcher is throwing strikes and coming up with big outs it really sets the team up to win,” Perez said. “She had an incredible game.”

Riverhead got big contributions from Jordyn DeFriest, Lianne Kilcommons and Karolena Delia who each delivered in crucial moments of the game. All three registered two RBIs on the evening. Doucette and Jamie Lopresti each reached base all three times at the plate.

“All these 12-year-olds on the team knew this was the last time playing on this field,” Perez said. “They wanted to give their best effort in front of this big crowd we had today.”

With all the success at the varsity level — Riverhead winning its first Suffolk County championship in school history — the little leaguers have been inspired to do the same. They have a chance to win a championship of their own.

“We are very connected with what happens at the varsity level in our town,” Perez said. “All of our girls have been at many of the varsity games this year. They were at the Suffolk County championship game and the Long Island championship game. They were here at Stotzky for their senior game. These girls have something to look up to and look forward to and it’s great to see.”

The championship game will take place at Red Creek Park in Hampton Bays on Wednesday. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m.

“We just need to bring this same energy into that game,” Perez said. “Stay positive and give it all you got.”