"These girls love softball": Egg Harbor Township all-stars share why they love the game
EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, N.J. (CBS) -- The Egg Harbor Township all-star athletes are sharing why they love the game.
We saw a youth softball clinic, ran by Egg Harbor Township Eagles' head coach Kristi Troster, where young athletes were holding a softball for the first time.
But Troster hopes to see these young athletes again when they're in high school.
The Eagles have been nicknamed the magical unicorns.
"If you start with Biddle, she's the reason that we have the nickname the magical unicorns," Troster said. "[Pitcher Madison] Dollard, she's just kept getting better and better every year."
Catcher and 3rd baseman Payton Colbert moved into a big role this year too.
"She became our starting catcher and to catch a pitcher that is as quality as Dollard, it takes a lot," Troster added.
Troster also had big praise for 15-year-old Sofia Spatocco, affectionately known as "Taco." Standing almost 6 feet 1 inches tall, she is the youngest of these four. Last season, she hit nine home runs.
"Taco is my giraffe," Troster said. "She just hits the ball out of the park all the time."
"I feel like I can do better," Spatocco said. "It does get super frustrating especially when you are not as successful as you want to be... you just have to keep going."
It's this can-do attitude that's helped the team win the Cape Atlantic League championship
But it's the leadership of Dollard that keeps everyone's heads in the game.
"I control the mojo of the game," she said.
Spoken like a true pitcher, who remembers when she fell in love with softball.
"One day, I'm going to be out here, I'm going to be that girl, and I just put all my worries aside and I did it," she said.
Dollard like Taco and the others discovered their strength at the same age as these mighty youth players.
Colbert's field of dreams is inspired by her mother who also was a catcher and a third basemen
"I literally sleep and dream about it," Colbert said. "I look up to my mom because she played D1. She taught me everything I need to know."
While the team had an amazing season, they were knocked out in the Group 4 semifinals by Cherokee High School.
For Madison Biddle, it was her last game as a shortstop cheering on her teammates who have become sisters.
"Dollard with her 300 strike outs, Taco with all of her hits she's had," Biddle said, "they've been playing hard for the past couple of years to get that ring and next year I'm hoping they get it."
Troster says her girls are more than players, they're her girls.
"This is a team sport, this is a family away from your family."
Sofia Spatocco is related to CBS News Philadelphia photographer Mike Spatocco.
