BY JAYSON CAMACHO | On May 2, the Greenwich Village Little League Pioneers faced the West Side Dragons at James J. Walker Park.
The Pioneers are one of the two teams that make up G.V.L.L.’s softball Juniors Division. Their head coach is Andy Hort.
Andy manages three teams in G.V.L.L. — two softball teams and one baseball team — and has been coaching softball for the past five years.
He has three children, and all of them play in the league. One is in the baseball Minors, another is in softball tee-ball and his daughter Persy is on the softball Juniors Pioneers.
“We’re a young team,” Andy said of the Pioneers. “These girls show amazing camaraderie toward each other. They love each and support each other.
“I was thinking about the difference between boys and girls,” he reflected. “When a boy strikes out, he hangs his head and sits on the bench. When a girl strikes out, every girl puts their arms around her. They are just so much more supportive of each other and what teams really should be like. And they have so much fun together.”
The Pioneers players have all been together as a team for the past five years, having started together in tee-ball. Next year, the whole team is going to move up to the Seniors Division, even though they have nine players who could stay in the Juniors Division. That shows how much these girls care for each other and want to stick together.
Andy’s daughter Persephone a.k.a. Persy is a pitcher and is one of the team’s key players. She’s an eighth grader at Leman Manhattan Preparatory School in Tribeca. She’s been playing softball for five years, since she was 9 years old.
As for why he enrolled his daughter in softball, Andy said, “I want to empower my daughter. I want her believing she can do what she wants. Everything I have seen, read and heard tells me the organized girls sports are more important to girls than boys.”
Persy was the starting pitcher for the Pioneers against the Dragons. The G.V.L.L. team took the field first, and Persy came out throwing heat! She struck out the side in the first inning…and again in the second.
As the Pioneers took their turn at the plate in the first inning, Lucy hit a leadoff triple and eventually stole home to put the Pioneers up 1-0. Grace hit an R.B.I. infield single with the bases loaded to stake the Pioneers to a 2-0 lead at the end of the first.
Persy stayed on fire throughout the game, striking out 14 batters and allowing no hits! She threw her first-ever no-hitter, leading the Pioneers to a 5-0 win.
Asked how she felt after her stellar performance, she quipped, “It hurts… In all seriousness, it feels really good because I just came off of an injury.”
Her dad said, “While I’m proud of Persy, I’m also very proud of the entire team. We hit well, we ran the bases well and we fielded well. I’m very thrilled for Persy on the accomplishment!”
The Pioneers have already made tons of improvement from last season. They are 3-0 so far this year, surpassing their win total of one last season. Andy is proud of this group of girls for their hard work and dedication to playing for the team.
Their game versus the Dragons was a great one to watch. The Pioneers have five more games left this season and I recommended that you go check them out!
