The Steel Valley All Stars, a Junior League Softball team comprised of players from Poland, Boardman, Canfield and Struthers, is set to compete in the Junior League Softball World Series after winning the Central Region championship this past week. From left-to-right: Front: Gia Vrona (Poland), Milana Mollenkopf (Canfield), Emma Boccieri (Poland), Brooklyn Kosco (Poland), Sydney MacDonald (Poland), Justice Paris (Struthers); Back: Coach Joe Vrona (Poland), Ali Blinsky (Poland), Kitt Testa (Canfield), Manager Jeremy Mollenkopf, Gianna Zuppo (Poland), Mackenzie Moore (Canfield), Coach John Boccieri (Poland).

When Jeremy Mollenkopf, John Boccieri and Joe Vrona began to talk about forming a Mahoning Valley Junior League softball team, they wanted to represent their community well and hopefully get the chance to compete against the world’s best.

So far, so good.

On July 21, their team, the Steel Valley All Stars, dominated Indiana 15-1 to become Central Region champions and advance to the Junior League Softball World Series in Kirkland, Washington.

The team features some of the top softball players between the ages of 12 and 14 from Poland, Boardman, Canfield and Struthers. And not unlike Austintown Fitch and Canfield, both of which won high school softball state championships this past spring, the Steel Valley All Stars have confirmed the Mahoning Valley to be one of the strongest places in the country for softball.

“The strongest competition that many of those schools saw — Austintown Fitch, South Range — were from our local school districts,” said Boccieri, an assistant coach for the Steel Valley All Stars. “I think it just speaks to the level of commitment of the girls who are training and also building programs that funnel into those high school programs.”

Mollenkopf, the team’s manager, said that Mahoning Valley may not have good weather, but local indoor facilities have helped players continue to improve even when Mother Nature does not comply.

“I think it says a lot about the area,” Mollenkopf said. “Just starting it at such a young age, working through the respective communities and then up through the high school levels that these girls will go to the next year or two, it’s just a great area for softball.”

The area’s talent was on full display during the regional title game; pitcher Gia Vrona threw a no-hitter and struck out 13 batters, while Mackenzie Moore hit a grand slam during a 5-RBI performance and Kitt Testa drove in three runs of her own.

The title game rout was just the latest one-sided victory for SVAS, which surrendered just three runs total in four games en route to the regional championship.

“Truly, [I’ve] never been extremely worried,” Mollenkopf said. “I always like the closer games. They’re just more competitive. The kids learn more from being in a close game than from a blowout, in my opinion. But with the team that we have… I wasn’t overly concerned.”

The only team to give Mollenkopf’s squad even a little bit of a scare was Michigan, which fell 3-1 to the Mahoning Valley representatives.

“That was probably one of the better hitting teams we’ve seen all tournament,” said assistant coach Joe Vrona. “So calling pitches was challenging due to their hitters. But I’d say that was the game Gia was probably on more with her movement pitches. And when they did put balls in play, our defense definitely made plays.”

While the accomplishment likely deserved it, there wasn’t much time to celebrate the regional title win; less than five days after earning one of 10 spots in the Junior League Softball World Series, the Mahoning Valley team was on a flight from Pittsburgh to Seattle.

The team landed in Washington on Thursday, three days before its first game against the Europe-Africa Region champions from Prague.

Despite leading one of six United States-based teams, Mollenkopf admitted there isn’t much of a scouting report for any of their JLSWS opponents.

“We really don’t know anything about them,” Mollenkopf said. “It’s hard to find any information on them other than a couple of things on GameChanger (a scorekeeping app) if they scored through GameChanger. But literally, we’re kind of coming into it blind. We really don’t know too much about any team.”

The coaches know their team very well, though, and for that reason remain confident in its chances in Washington.

“We feel like we have a great team,” Mollenkopf said. “Great, great pitching. We have two great pitchers. Obviously, the pitching means a lot at this level. And truly, we have pretty stout hitters up and down the lineup.”

The Steel Valley All Stars will play its first JLSWS game on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. ET. The game, like all of the tournament, will be broadcast on ESPN+.

With all of the attention and pomp and circumstance — there will be a skills competition, opening ceremony parade and barbecue before games begin — the coaches are focused on reminding the players that they’re still playing softball.

“They know that this is going to be on a much larger stage than they’ve played before,” Boccieri said. “But we talked about this in Indianapolis when we were playing there too. If you remember from the “Hoosiers” movie, where the coach measured the distance on the floor, the distance to the hoop and the foul line… It’s kind of the same approach to them. This is still the same game. Just because more people are watching it, you still have to do the fundamental things to get it done and to be successful.”

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