The Philipstown coaches couldn’t remember the last time a Little League All-Star softball team made it to a championship game. Philipstown’s population is so small, the “all-stars” often include everyone on the team.
But perseverance and pluck got them to the July 11 title game against visiting Poughkeepsie, a town with more than three times the population to draw its all-stars from. The locals were hindered further because, at the last minute, a third of its lineup was unavailable, in one case because of a broken foot. (She came on crutches to cheer.) Because a team must field at least nine players, three replacements were brought in from a younger age group.
The Philipstown girls, who had been pummeled during the season by teams from much larger places, held their own. The game went into extra innings before Poughkeepsie pulled it out, 5-4. Over seven innings, Philipstown pitcher Rosie Valentine struck out 12 and yielded only five hits. She also scored twice.
