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The Aces and the ClickItforCassie.com Wildcats have developed a friendly Norwalk softball rivalry, and they were the last teams standing in Saturday's One-Pitch Tournament sponsored by Norwalk Umpires. The Aces won the title with a 20-10 victory in the championship game. Dave Zatorsky, Tom Cossuto and Nate Sumpter cracked three-run homers for the winners.
"We hate losing to them,'' Aces coach Tom Cossuto said. "I'd rather eat mud than lose to them. But at the end of the tournament we'll forget about and become best friends again. For that one hour we play against them, it's pretty intense."
The Aces won their opener 22-11 over Dropping Loads and followed with an 8-7 win over the Greco Gators. In the winners' bracket final, the Aces beat the Wildcats, 3-2. In the first round of the championship series, the Wildcats won 26-13 to force a winner-take-all final. The One-Pitch Tournament is the season-opener event in the Norwalk League. Batters see one pitch per at-bat. If it's a ball, the batter walks. If it's a called strike, the batter's out.
Zatorsky, Tom Cossuto, Joe Cossuto and Sumpter had three hits apiece in the final. Dave Liberatore pitched all of the games for the Aces, who play in the Friday Night League in Norwalk. Tom Cossuto said the team has been around the 1960s, but the current edition has been together for only a few years. He's hoping the tournament victory propels them to a strong season.
"We've been right on the cusp of being really good,'' he says. "We're just a couple of players away. The most important thing about this tournament was not getting beat twice by the Wildcats. That's a rivalry that's going to be insane for another 10 or 15 years."
Photo: Members of the Aces include (from top left): David Liberatore, Andy Allegretta, Nathan Sumpter, Tommy Cossuto, Matt O'Brien, David Zatorsky, Kyle O'Brien, Doug Vroman; (bottom, from left) Joey Zullo, Nick Cossuto, Joey Cossuto, Brandon Tegano, Anthony Daniello, Jeff Tiani and Bob Belanger.
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