New Hyde Park is home to a group of small but mighty champions.
The village’s Little League U10 girls’ softball team won the league’s district championship tournament series on Saturday, July 5, with a 16-13 win against Garden City, which was a favorite to take the title. The 11-girl team went undefeated in all four of the series’ games after a successful regular season record of 10-2, securing a spot in the league’s sectional tournament series.
“It was an amazing tournament,” said the coach and softball director, Sunil Sachdev. “They played a great game. The girls played with a lot of grit and determination. And, most importantly, they trusted each other.”
Their district tournament started on June 25 against Garden City, where the team took the win with a 22-9 score. On June 27, the girls won against Malverne 15-13 and again on June 30, the girls won a 2-1 nailbiter against Garden City South.
To win the final against Garden City, the girls came from behind, already down five when they took their first round at bat. They got to work closing the gap the second they got their hands on the bat, scoring two runs at the bottom of the first inning.
The New Hyde Park team took control of the game at the bottom of the second inning, scoring eight runs in quick succession to earn a 10-5 lead. In that inning, Staci Fernandez smashed a single to the outfield, driving two runs right before left fielder Lana Sanichara stole home, winning another point.
Garden City pushed back against the girls’ lead at the top of the third to make the game 10-9, but their effort was nixed by New Hyde Park’s five runs at the bottom of the third. New Hyde Park took a 15-9 lead, helped by Dalia Sachdev, who stole home for the team the second time.
The top of the fifth saw another ultimately fruitless comeback effort by Garden City. They scored three runs, attempting to close in on New Hyde Park’s lead, but the New Hyde Park team quickly scored another run later that inning, making the score 16-12.
Garden City scored one last run during the last inning to make the score 16-3.
Christina Helly pitched the whole game for New Hyde Park.
“It was a gritty performance,” Sachdev said. “She knuckled down after giving up five runs in the 1st inning, throwing over 100 pitches in total.”
The team will kick off the sectionals series with a Saturday game against Massapequa. If they’re victorious in that series, they’ll move on to the regional championship tournament series, then the August Little League World Championships in North Carolina, which are televised on ESPN.
Despite their wins and the big road ahead, Sachdev said the team is just taking it one game at a time.
“When the game ended the other day, I told the girls, ‘You know, you may not realize it now, but you are going to remember this for the rest of your lives,’” Sachdev said. “I said, ‘From here forward, let’s just take it one game at a time. Let’s continue to have fun. Let’s continue to dig deep and rely on each other.’”
“Maybe we win a game in the sectionals. Maybe we win two games, then who knows what happens? You don’t know what you can do unless you try and that’s what we try to emphasize with the girls,” Sachdev continued. “We’re all excited for the next phase.”
No matter what happens, however, Sachdev said he’s proud of his team.
“One of the things that we’ve been most proud of as coaches is that the girls have gotten better each game,” Sachdev said. “The girls were throwing better, they were hitting better. They really came together as a team. Their camaraderie and teamwork got deeper every game and they really started to believe in each other.”
He said he has coached a few of the girls, including his daughter, since they played Little League T-ball, and he was proud to be a part of their progress.
“They are always rooting for each other. When you have that kind of environment and when you have that sort of chemistry, good things can happen,” he continued. “It’s happened for these girls, and we’re so proud of them.”
While he has high hopes for the remainder of the post-season, he’s most concerned about the girls’ improvement as players, growth as women and that they have fun.
“We’re super pumped that we won the district championship. We were definitely not favored to do so,” Sachdev said. “But at the end of the day, we as a Little League and we as coaches are successful if these girls become stronger, if they become more confident, if they become more resilient young women. As a league, that’s really how we want to be measured.”
