RIVER VALE, N.J.—Twenty-three games for 23 wins. With three golden championships.
For the River Vale Revolution 10U girls travel softball team, the numbers tell the story of a perfect summer. But head coach Erin DiPaolo says the record is not what she hopes her players remember most.
Over six weeks of competition, the Revolution went 23-0, won the New Milford Summer Sizzle and Highlands Summer Sizzle tournaments, and capped the season July 30 by defeating Emerson for the Kinderkamack Softball League 10U championship.
Along the way, DiPaolo tells Pascack Press, a group spanning three grade levels became something more than an undefeated softball team.
The Revolution roster included Brooklynn Mikalouskas, Landyn Thomson, Olivia DiPaolo, Nicole Clarke, Cece Risalvato, Charlotte Laipple, Reagan Sutter, Lily Sousa, Annie Lustberg, Annaliesa Hartigan, Lia Vallejo, and Leah Ortiz.
Five were fifth-graders, six were fourth-graders and one was a third-grader, giving the team a range of ages and experience that made its cohesion all the more notable.
From the beginning, the coaching staff centered the season on three expectations: Respect. Hustle. Heart.
DiPaolo said those words were more than a slogan. They were discussed at every practice and every game, with an emphasis on effort, sportsmanship, encouragement and helping each player recognize her own progress.
The team avoided naming MVPs or routinely handing out game balls. The idea, DiPaolo said, was to reinforce that everyone had a role.
Over the course of the season, every player had a moment when she made the big play, delivered at the plate, encouraged a teammate or helped steady the group when it needed her. “They celebrated each other, cheered for one another and picked each other up,” DiPaolo said. “Every player truly had her moment.”
That philosophy extended to leadership. During games, a different player was designated as rally captain, leading the team’s inning meetings with encouragement and reminders to stay positive and believe in one another. The rotating role gave each player a chance to speak up and lead her teammates.
The coaches also made sportsmanship a point of emphasis. DiPaolo said umpires, opposing coaches and spectators regularly complimented the Revolution on the way the girls carried themselves and treated their opponents.
“How you play, how you treat others, and how you carry yourself are just as important as the final score,” she said.
The final scores, nevertheless, reflected how dominant the Revolution could be.
River Vale won the New Milford Summer Sizzle championship against Saddle Brook on June 28, followed by the Highlands Summer Sizzle title against Ridgewood Black on July 19. Eleven days later, the Revolution completed its undefeated season against Emerson in the KSL championship.
The team finished the summer as the league’s No. 1 seed and never surrendered that position.
DiPaolo was assisted by coaches Arianna Thomson, Alex Laipple and James Sutter. The team also received help from Cami Greenberg, an Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan softball player who volunteered at Revolution practices and games throughout the summer.
DiPaolo said Greenberg’s willingness to spend time with the younger players added a dimension to the season, giving them an older player to learn from and look up to.
Families, too, became an important part of the run, showing up through early mornings, late nights, tournament weekends, weather delays and schedule changes.
By the end, the championship trophies and perfect record were secondary. “They genuinely love the game of softball,” DiPaolo said, “but just as importantly, they love playing with and for each other.” That is what she hopes remains after the details of a 23-0 summer begin to fade.
The championships will always be part of the team’s history. So will the distinction of completing an undefeated season and bringing three titles home to River Vale.
But DiPaolo said the greater accomplishment was the way the girls got there — together.
“They laughed together, encouraged each other, picked each other up and celebrated each other’s successes,” she said.
She told Pascack Press, “This was also the first time in a while that one of our teams competed in summer tournaments. I knew this team was something special from the moment of tryouts. We knew many of these girls’ strengths and capabilities from years prior, but bringing together different grade levels and this particular group of strong, talented girls created something truly special. That combination was the magic.”
As for next steps, she said, the team will hang its KSL 10U championship banner at Upper Grove Field as fall training begins. River Vale Baseball and Softball Association officials said they could not document comparable past seasons, though they believe it has been some time since a team at this level achieved similar success.