The Sage 12U-Anbinder team is committed to fostering a love of softball, building strong fundamental softball skills in young players, promoting sportsmanship and camaraderie amongst teammates and working with each player at their level to help them achieve their highest potential. We emphasize practicing with integrity, controlling the parts of the game we can control and competing with focus and determination in games. As long as players are learning and improving and always displaying good sportsmanship, we are a successful team!
Coach Lisa played competitive softball through high school and has continued to play recreationally since then. She has coached softball for 9 years both at the rec and travel ball levels. She believes in developing strong fundamental softball skills at a young age so players will have a solid foundation on which to grow as softball players. She is also dedicated to teaching players the intricacies of the game, how to compete mentally and the importance of teamwork and sportsmanship. She is continually learning about the game by attending conferences and studying the game.
Coach Layla played competitive travel softball through high school and then played for the University of Albany where she played short stop and was feared on the base path. As a retired college player, coaching was a natural next step to round out her softball career. She has coached for almost a decade in both NY and VA. Proper mechanics and a strong softball IQ are what she teaches on the field, leadership and accountability are what she teaches off the field. She is a student of the game and wants to share her experience and knowledge with the players. She's passionate about turning every player into the best young athlete and woman they can be.
Coach Marisa grew up in Marietta, Georgia and played competitive softball for 16 years, mostly as a pitcher. She earned a scholarship to play at Georgia College where she started and played all 4 years, ending with over 60 wins and 500 strikeouts. She brings a wealth of experience and knowledge about the game, and especially in pitching. Most of all, she wants to see girls empower themselves through sport and does everything with that in mind.
Coach Dusty was a multi-sport athlete growing up and played collegiate level baseball. He brings an in depth understanding of the game and valuable strategic insight during games and at practices. He is exceptionally skilled at pitching BP for hours and his fungo skills are unparalleled by anyone anywhere. He loves teaching the strategic part of the game to the players and is the first to celebrate their successes.
# Name Position
#3 Addie Strbak P, 2B, LF
#4 Sejal Lee 2B, RF
#5 Genevieve Fagan C, 1B, 2B
#8 Kira Zoeller CF, 1B, C
#10 Lucy Strawn 3B, C, SS
#11 Annie VanDyck P, LF
#12 Kaiya Ovando OF
#13 Megan Connery SS, C, 2B
#17 Maddie Shean P, 2B, RF
#18 Celia Anbinder C, 3B, 1B
#23 Sydney Miller RF
#42 Paris Tran P, CF, UT
#44 Elaina Primozic P, 1B
The Sage 12U-Anbinder team finished the fall season with an impressive 22-11-3 record nabbing 2 championships, 1 finalist and 1 3rd place finish all in 12U Gold brackets. Strong defense was key with a .901 fielding percentage and a total of 112 strikeouts amongst all Sage pitchers. Team offense was fierce with a combined team batting average of .313 and OBP of .426. This team will work hard all winter to come out of the gates in spring ready to take home more hardware!
The Sage 12U-Anbinder team finished 3rd in the USSSA Crown Trophy Fall Challenge Gold Bracket after falling to the eventual winner in a well-fought tight battle against the MD Shock 3-2. Bats were blazing for the team in games leading up to the semi-final but the Shock outhit the team this day - we will be looking for them come spring!
The team was off to a great start on Saturday going 2-1 and had the most creative and timely costumes showing up as the Among Us Crewmates! Rain thwarted their chances to win another one on Sunday but the team definitely won for creativity and fun!
The bats came alive on Saturday during the USSSA Breast Cancer Awareness NIT. The strong offense continued to be a weapon in the semi final game on Sunday against the Hughesville Hustle where the team won by mercy rule in the 4th inning. In the final game, Sage played an undefeated OC Elite who had only 6 runs against them the entire weekend. Their pitching arsenal proved to be to tough and Sage came home with the Runners-up trophy.
The Sage 12U-Anbinder team went into single elimination Sunday number 1 in their pool and were afforded a bye to start the morning. They faced the #2 seeded Team Virginia Mizuno-Burns and were ready for a tough semi-final game. The bats really came to life in the 2nd inning and they ended with an easy 12-2 victory in the 4th. The Championship game was against an extremely tough opponent, the MD Aftershock. This team seemed to have it all from the very start. Great pitching and a roster full of players who could hit to the fence. Despite a couple early errors from the Sage defense and an second inning 4-1 deficit, the Sage offense exploded in the 4th inning ringing up 6 runs to add to the one scored in the 3rd. Time ran out in the top of the 6th inning with Sage up 7-4. Aftershock quickly got 2 runners on base followed by 2 quick outs. The tying run was up (and had hit 2 blistering shots to left field in previous at bats) and hit a hard line drive to left center. The Sage defense came through to make the game ending catch on a full out spring to bring this Sage team to victory! It was a monumental day for the Sage 12U-Anbinder team! Every member of the team contributed to the successful outcome of the weekend!
After a slow start on Saturday going 1-1-1, Sage-Anbinder 12U started Sunday as the underdog. In the first game against the #2 seeded Loudoun Liberty Blue, Sage came out with bats blazing racking up 10 hits to take them to an 11-3 victory. The second game was against the Virginia Stars who had just bested the team on Saturday in a tight 4-2 contest. Sage would not fall twice to the Stars and put up 6 runs in the first inning to lead them to a 7-1 victory. The championship game was against the #1 seeded, undefeated Lakeshore Lightning. But again, with their offense on fire from pitch one, this Sage team couldn't be stopped. In a full 7-inning game, it was a decisive win for the team with a final score of 9-5. Not a bad weekend for the first tournament!!! Go Sage!!!