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Poland officials honor softball champions
POLAND
The accolades the winners of the Junior League Softball world championship are receiving are about more than their win, township officials told the team.
“The girls, the coaches, the parents. You were truly a world-class act,” said township Trustee Joanne Wollet at a meeting Wednesday where the team was recognized. “You represented this community wonderfully.”
Trustees presented certificates to the members of the Poland team, representing the Central region, that Saturday clinched the world championship in a 7-1 win over a team from Washington state, where the game was played.
The team members are: Brooke Bobbey, Connie Cougras, Lexi Diaz, Julia Eich, Abby Farber, Jackie Grisdale, KaiLi Gross, Camryn Lattanzio, Jordyn Olson and Madeline Rinehart.
Township officials also applauded the coaches and parents who helped the team along the way.
“Don’t ever underestimate what your parents do for you,” Trustee Eric Ungaro told the team. “Always be grateful for everything you’ve got, because you’re in a great situation in a heck of a community.”
Community was a common theme, with team members and supporters noting the welcome the team received late Sunday. Despite the fact the team didn’t get home until nearly midnight, community members lined the streets and the fire department escorted the players on their route home.
For Camryn Lattanzio, the team’s catcher, that was the moment when the previous day’s victory sank in. She said she and her teammates received a flood of phone calls and text messages congratulating them on the win.
“It was really nice of them,” she said of the trustees recognizing the team. “It was really exciting.”
Her father, Andrew Lattanzio, is assistant coach. He, too, noted the overwhelming support, saying he received numerous text messages from people back home while the team was in the dugout during the game.
“I want to say how proud I am, not just of the girls, but of the community coming together like that,” he said.
Janeen Lattanzio, Camryn’s mother, said her family and the team as a whole were overwhelmed by the community showing up to welcome the team home that late on a night when many people had to work the next day.
“[The team] deserved it, and it was so nice to see them line the whole streets,” she said. “It meant a lot to the girls and to all of us.”
In other business, trustees awarded a contract for road repaving. The $199,000 contract, of which an Ohio Public Works Commission grant will cover 40 percent, was awarded to Butch & McCree Paving Inc. of Hillsville, Pa., to repave Arrel Road and Four Seasons Trail.
The board also recognized Brittney Benedetto, whom township police recommended to receive a commendation. Benedetto, a nurse, recently stopped on U.S. Route 224 to administer aid to a man involved in a motorcycle accident.
Also recognized was Phillip Hockensmith, an Eagle Scout who recently completed his service project at Poland Township Park to install a new boardwalk.