Manalapan Belles are Going to States!

Thursday June 21, the Manalapan Belles won their final game in the district tournament against North Brunswick, 11-0, which allowed them to move to this year's State Tournament next Friday in Mount Olive. 

This dedicated group of twelve girls ages 10 and 11 meet twice a week for practice and play travel tournaments on the weekends, on top of being members of the Manalapan Baseball and Softball Association for little league.

States next Friday will feature the top 9 teams from throughout New Jersey, and any team that loses two games will be eliminated. The Manalapan girls will first be going head-to-head with Blairstown.

According to Coach Brian Graime, the girls push themselves very hard, and were notably disappointed the only two times they came in second place during championship games.  However, that hasn't held much of a shadow over their fantastic current-season record of 23-11-2.

As I observed during one of their practises, this group seems to constantly push themselves and expect a lot from their fellow teammates, all while maintaining a fun and positive energy. Coach Graime also works to push them, commenting on their strengths, alerting them where they need most work, and never letting "good enough" be good enough.

Of the twelve, 8 of these ladies have been playing together for the past 3 years, and they all have created strong bonds.

Graime believes if you were to ask the girls the best part about the experience, they would say, "making friends and having ice cream after the games."  He on the other hand, very much enjoys "watching them play, because they all smile."

Regardless of the outcome of their upcoming tournament, the girls have something else to look forward to: they have been invited to the United States Specialty Sports Association World Series the weekend of July 18 in Salisbury, Md.

In this series, "they will be competing against teams from basically Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania."

At the end of their season, the Belles will have August off to enjoy their summer, and start training again in September.

Manalapan Belle photo roster left to right: