The Diamondbacks do it again. The third and fourth grade girls' baseball team, who just recently won their first game during the playoffs, continued their winning ways. On a beautiful Monday night at Shelter Rock, the Diamondbacks faced their toughest competition, the Cardinals. The team was comprised of many talented and athletic ballplayers. After the first inning, it did not look good for the Diamondbacks. The Cardinals scored five runs in the first inning. Pitcher Claudia Steck shut the Cardinals down for the next two innings and the Cardinals were leading 5----1 after three.

The Diamondbacks combined great fielding with timely hits and base running to cut the lead, inning by inning. Claudia Steck and Tara Prufeta made a great defensive play to end an inning when the Cardinals had the bases loaded. Elizabeth Kreitman made a heads-up play at first base after catching a ground ball, stepped on first and tagged the player for a double play. Offensively, the team was helped by hits from Elizabeth Kreitman, Irene Tsai, Paige Pacent, Meredith Kasabian, Hope Whelan Victoria Scaramucci, Catherine Blando and Katie Pegno. Kelly Whelan, Erin Connors and Nicole Sternemann earned timely walks. One of the most significant plays was the base running of Catherine Blando, which enabled the Diamondbacks to take the lead 6-5 going into the bottom of the fifth inning.

Families and friends were glued to their seats as the bottom of the fifth inning began. Paige Pacent (aka Mariano Rivera) came in to save the game. The Cardinals fought to the bitter end. With two outs, the Cardinals had girls at first and second base. Paige Pacent took a deep breath and struck out the last batter and the Diamondbacks won the semi-final game. The team proved that if you believe in yourselves, anything is possible. Stay tuned for the final chapter in this Cinderella story.

Could the Diamondbacks win the championship? Only time would tell. On a hot and humid Tuesday night, the Diamondbacks faced their toughest challenge, the A's. The A's were comprised of many fourth grade girls, some on the travel baseball team. They were very athletic and capable. The Diamondbacks team consisted of mostly third grade girls who had less experience and were much smaller than their opponents. But what they lacked in size, they made up in 13 different ways. Tara Prufeta, their leadoff hitter, began the first inning with a double. She scored the first run and put them on the board with a 1-0 lead. Irene Tsai made a lunging catch at first to end the first inning, but the competitive A's had tied it up. Meredith Kasabian, Erin Connors, Victoria Scaramucci, Elizabeth Kreitman and Katie Pegno each hit singles while Catherine Blando and Nicole Sternemann got on base. Claudia Steck pitched three brilliant innings, allowing only five runs in three innings. Clutch hitting by Hope Whelan allowed two runs to score, while her sister, Kelly, hustled back to third to avoid a Double play and allowed Claudia Steck to come to the plate. Claudia had a timely single, which drove Kelly in for the go-ahead run. Our ace closer, Paige Pacent, took the mound and did not give up a run in the fourth inning. The Diamondbacks were clinging to a 6-5 lead in the fifth inning. Is this beginning to sound familiar? Could the Diamondbacks repeat what they had done in their two previous playoff games? The Diamondbacks took the field and appeared poised but eager. Paige struck out the first two batters, Parents, families and friends sat at the edge of their seats. Amazingly, she who had never won a game in the regular season pulled together and won. There are no superstars on this team, just a group of girls who each shone in her own way.

Special thanks to the coaches, Dave Scaramucci and Ricky Pacent, who made the girls believe they could do anything, and to the assistant coaches, Paul Whelan and Bruce Sternemann.