Warwick North returns to warm welcome at T.F. Green, Warwick West Side

Jacob Marrocco
Posted 8/25/15

The Warwick North softball team received a hero’s welcome Thursday evening upon their return from the Little League Softball World Series in Portland, Ore., where they finished as the world …

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Warwick North returns to warm welcome at T.F. Green, Warwick West Side

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The Warwick North softball team received a hero’s welcome Thursday evening upon their return from the Little League Softball World Series in Portland, Ore., where they finished as the world runner-up.

The squad got a police and fire escort from T.F. Green Airport to Warwick West Side, where a celebration with family, friends, food and music took place. Scores of fans crowded into the parking lot to receive the players as they arrived.

After they were welcomed back, all in attendance moved to the field where the coaches spoke to the crowd. Prior to being acknowledged for its success, manager Kevin DeTroia profusely thanked Warwick North’s ardent supporters. More than 100 fans piled into Dave’s Bar and Grill on Post Road to watch Warwick North’s semifinal game on Tuesday night and the championship game on Wednesday evening.

“Thank you for giving them the support when you went out for the games yesterday and the day before,” DeTroia said to the crowd. “That made a lot of impact on us and the girls. We did our best to bring it home for you guys. We had a blast out there, the girls had a blast. They played tough.”

Coach Carlos Rodas echoed these sentiments, adding that the outpouring of support helped the team get over its tough 4-2 loss in the championship game to North Carolina.

“Last night was a rough night,” Rodas said. “Few hours after the game we were all still really down, but going on social media and stuff and seeing all the support back home really helped to kind of turn the tide, really knowing what we achieved.”

Following short speeches from DeTroia and coaches Rodas and Brian D’Amato, the team was presented with citations from the office of the Speaker of the House, Nicholas A. Mattiello. Once the official business was taken care of, the players lined up to perform their traditional rendition of “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)” by Silentó.  

After dropping its first game of pool play to Uganda, 3-2, Warwick North pulled off four straight wins to advance to the World Series final against Rowan Little League (Salisbury, N.C.).

“We went in the first game losing to Uganda and we came back and told them ‘You gotta win everything else to bring it to the semifinals’ and they did,” DeTroia said.

Despite dropping the championship game, it was an experience the players would never forget as they secured themselves a spot as one of the top teams in the world.

“It was really cool [to represent Warwick], but it was kind of nerve racking for a lot of girls,” Warwick North’s Hailey Mackinnon said. “We tried our hardest but we got second place and that’s still really good, out of the whole world.”

Warwick North third baseman Kelsey Burr agreed, but added with a smile that “it would be better if we were first.”

It was that fire and determination to be the best that separated Warwick North from its opposition during its World Series run. The squad battled back from a late-inning deficit to defeat Puerto Rico 10-9 the day after falling to Uganda. They were able to fight their way to the top of Pool A with a 4-1 win over Texas and 5-0 shutout versus Oregon.

Warwick North’s Emily Carter came up clutch in the semifinal matchup with Iowa. With her team up 5-4 in the bottom of the sixth, Carter had runners at first and second with one out and a 3-1 count on her batter. After a visit to the mound from DeTroia, Carter battled back to get two straight strikeouts to end the game.

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