06/01/2026
After a couple of early season ties with the Hampstead Cyclones and Sandown Twisters, the 8U Atkinson Avengers (aka "The Fireworks") had three hard-fought games this week and earned every bit of it with wins over the Hampstead Storm and the Plaistow Blue Sparks, and a nail-biting comeback tie against the Sandown North Stars.
Avengers were down six runs going into the 3rd against the North Stars and the girls didn't flinch. P. French, E. DiZazzo and M.S. Wholley made big defensive plays to keep it close, and the offense chipped away in a full team effort, led by B. Bubanas, G. Lamey, and M. Moll, with M. Choinski coming up with key hits to keep innings alive.
The play that made it all possible: two outs, bases loaded, and Sandown one run from putting the game out of reach. The batter hit a tricky dribbler toward DiZazzo, who was pitching. She charged it, scooped it, and made a quick flip home to Wholley, who held on through a close play at the plate with the runner coming hard for the knockout run. That stop kept us in it, and the girls came through to tie it at 13 in the bottom of the 4th.
We also ran a handful of first-time pitchers out there this week: DiZazzo, French, Bubanas, Lamey, and Brommelhoff. They all held their own, which is a big step for any of them to take.
As with the Avengers tradition, we hand out MVP awards each game for effort, hustle and being a good teammate. This week went to Wholley and Moll for their play on both sides of the comeback, and to French, Gilberti and Courcelle for key hits and scoring runs all week.
Honorable mention to R. Perez. She’s been sidelined all week with an injury but has shown up to every game and practice to cheer on her teammates. That kind of commitment is exactly what we love to celebrate.
The Avengers now move to their final stretch of the season!
