The New Jersey Mystics are champions of the WFC World Series National Championship.
On Aug. 5, one year after finishing as runner-up, the New Jersey Mystics won the WFC World Series National Championship.
The team defeated the Wisconsin Bandits, 8–0, at the World Series Final in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The team features players from Medford, Tabernacle, Cinnaminson, Lumberton, Southampton, Woodbury and Pemberton.
“Going into the fall, the №1 goal was to win nationals,” head coach Rich Onorato said.
To start the tournament, the team went 8–0, giving it a top seed in its initial bracket, called the red bracket. It ended up sweeping the red bracket to make it into the gold bracket, the last game of which would be the final.
Their first game of the gold was also against the Bandits, which they lost 1–0. However, because the Mystics were undefeated, the Bandits would have to beat them twice to move on. They played another game, and the Mystics came out on top.
Because the Bandits lost, they were sent to the losers bracket, but then beat all the other remaining teams before the final. As a result, the Bandits were able to claw their way back into the series all the way to the finals to play the Mystics for a third time. But luckily, the Mystics came out on top yet again, winning the championship.
Onorato credited two of his pitchers, Danielle Walters and his daughter Riece Onorato, for being key players in the tournament. Together, they allowed only eight earned runs in the entire 10-game tournament.
Both Walters and Onorato had to pitch more than they typically would because the team’s third pitcher, Kendall Harvey, suffered a broken ankle earlier in the summer before the tournament started. Infielder/outfielder Candace Delio suffered from a broken finger, reducing the team’s total usable roster from 12 to 10.
Medford resident Kyra Mortenson contributed to the catching duties.
Onorato also credited his double play combination of second baseman and Tabernacle resident Madison Melvin and shortstop Payton MacNair, who is from Cinnaminson, for their defensive prowess.
“We’ve been together since the team started about six or seven years ago,” said Melvin of MacNair. “We know how we each play.”
The team has various age brackets spanning from 12 and under to 18 and under, so many of the girls have been on the team for several years.
“We always practice all week doing double plays,” said MacNair. “Whenever there’s a play, we can make it usually happens because we practice so much.”
“Anytime a play had to be made those two were right there,” said Onorato, who added that both MacNair and Melvin “turned a bunch of double plays.”
With a core group of players who are still eligible to play in future tournaments, many of the girls look forward to attempting a repeat next year.
