SOUTHAMPTON — It had never been done before in Southampton Little League softball history, but that all changed last weekend at Borgatti Park in Agawam.

Facing the fastest pitcher it had seen throughout the season, the Southampton 10U softball team scraped across a pair of runs, and relied on its stellar defense to defeat Worcester 2-0 and claim the Massachusetts state championship with a shutout win.

The victory marked the first time any Southampton Little League softball team clinched a state title, and with that, they earned a trip to Staten Island, N.Y. for the Northeast Regional tournament from July 30 through Aug. 4 – a six-day event.

As long as a player was 10 years old by Jan. 1, they were eligible to play on the 10U team – even if they turned 11 afterward. The majority of the teams Southampton played throughout the state tournament consisted of all 10 and 11 year olds, and that’s likely to be the case in Staten Island.

Southampton’s roster, however, is constructed much differently.

“They're a very young team,” Southampton head coach Brian St. Pierre said. “Typically, in these tournaments, the girls are older girls that are 10, or have already turned 11. About half of our team is like that, but the other half are girls who are eight and nine years old. We didn't have a lot of girls to choose from because it’s a small town, so it was really impressive what they were able to accomplish.”

Taylor St. Pierre, Kennedy Mulvaney, Ally Woz, Mckenna Morrey, Kendall Jarosz, Adalyn Johnson, Caroline Labrie, Stella Trombley, Taylor Leary, Ellie Soares, Molly Huard and Louisianna Sinopoli make up the Southampton roster.

Even though Southampton had lost to Worcester earlier in the season, they weren’t intimidated by their title game opponent whatsoever. Brian St. Pierre (along with assistant coaches Nick Mulvaney and Daryl Soares) turned the pitching machine up several levels so it would whip out pitches at a high velocity to prepare them for the speed of Worcester’s pitcher.

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When the time came, Southampton played free and loose. And it worked.

“We told the girls before the game, ‘You’ve already exceeded the expectations of this tournament, now let’s just go out and play and have a lot of fun,’” St. Pierre said. “The girls were singing and dancing in the dugout the whole game. They tried their best and it just so happened they came out on top.”

All summer long they’ve relied on their depth. It’s been the strength of the team. Even when some of Southampton’s older players were struggling, the youngsters stepped up to contribute and do their part. The entire roster is capable of helping the team out in more ways than one – which can’t be said about most teams at this level.

And during a time when having a full roster at every game is unreliable (due to summer vacations), it’s a bonus when there is no drop off as the next player enters the lineup.

“By the end of the state tournament, we had everyone contributing,” St. Pierre said. “We had some of our younger players just step up and do really well. We do have some girls that are better than others just like any team, but overall everyone helps us out.”

Defensively, Southampton has been lights out. The no runs surrendered in the state final backs that up. But it isn’t just making plays when the ball is hit to them. Southampton threw multiple runners out on the base paths during the championship – both when they tried to steal and when they attempted to come home on balls put in play.

Southampton made no errors in the most important game of the season.

“The tendency with teams at this age can be to throw the ball around and give up runs,” St. Pierre said. “We were throwing girls out on the base paths, making every play. We didn’t make any errors in the championship game.”

In order for Southampton to make the trip to Staten Island, which is now less than two weeks away, they will need to raise more money. Their uniforms that say “Southampton All-Stars” will no longer do, as they’ve conquered the Commonwealth and now need uniforms that have the ‘Massachusetts’ on them. On top of that, expenses for 12 families spending five nights in a hotel is also costly, as well as the travel.

St. Pierre estimates at least a total of $10,000 is going to be spent. So, a GoFundMe has been created to ask the generous community of Southampton – which St. Pierre said has been unbelievably supportive of this historic run – and beyond to help cover some of the costs.

The Southampton coaching staff knows this thrilling tournament experience is going to help these kids in their lives moving ahead. The lessons learned in both failure and success, as well as the overall teaching moments when adversity is presented is why sports are one of the best teachers for kids, St. Pierre said.

Each of Southampton’s 12 players has absorbed just as much off the field as they have on it over the course of this summer, and they’re looking forward to the challenge of playing in the Northeast Regional tournament come the end of the month.

“Even the best hitters fail seven out of 10 times,” St. Pierre said. “If we lost a game earlier in the season, you see the girls with their heads down crying. But as the season went on, when we had a tough loss the girls had their heads up and were still upbeat. They’re learning how to lose and win. They’re learning that it’s all about continual improvement, and that it’s OK to fail – you just get back up and keep working hard.”