Behind strong defense and the pitching of Rhea Schneider and Ashley Cirone, designerbodies capped off a successful season by capturing the Newtown Babe Ruth Softball League U12 division championship with an 11-7 win over Newtown Junior Women.

In the finale, designerbodies built a seven-run lead, but the Junior Women rallied in the fifth inning and nearly tied the score – but the tying run was cut down at the plate. Cirone then pitched a 1-2-3 final inning to seal the championship.

Rachel DiVanno, Maddy Good and Caitlin Dowling all had big hits for the winners and Lauren McMahon made a nice catch at second base. For the Junior Women, Alena Ruscoe and Amanda Rowan both doubled and homered to fuel the offense. Ruscoe also pitched two strong innings while Rowan sparkled in the field.

In other action on designerbodies’ road to the final –

designerbodies 20, The Toy Tree 7 – Rhea Schneider’s pitching and hitting led designerbodies to their opening round playoff victory. Schneider struck out seven batters in three innings and, at the plate, had two hits and four RBI. Lydia Post drove in three runs with a bases-loaded double and Caitlin Dowling and Ashley Cirone had two hits each. Natalie Galante had three hits for The Toy Tree and Emily Nacewicz had a hit and scored three runs. Jade Mather and Monica Macchiarulo also played well.

designerbodies 11, Hull Landscaping 5 – Colleen Durkin had three hits, including a triple, and drove in two runs to lead designerbodies to victory in the playoff semi-finals. She also threw out a runner from her catcher’s position. Ashley Cirone had two hits and two RBI and Katie Guaragno and Carlie Gehrman also hit hard. Cirone pitched three scoreless innings striking out eight batters. Jessica Gibbons’ bases-loaded triple was the only hit for Hull Landscaping and Nora Murphy made several great plays at third base. Taylor Brady pitched three strong innings.