The Robbinsville Little League softball program continues to make history.
Teams have gone to the World Series, teams have won the World Series, players have gone on to star in high school and college. But this year, the 8-year-olds did something no team and no league can ever do again.
There can only be one “first” program to do something, and in 2026 Robbinsville became the one.
Playing in the historic first New Jersey Little League 8-year-old state tournament, Robbinsville came away as champion by going 7-0 and outscoring opponents by a whopping 90-4 in the District 12, Section 3 and state tournaments.
The first-ever New Jersey state title wasn’t exactly on the early summer drawing board, but what manager Darren Pugh and coaches Kelly Jakubowski and Derek McClung mapped out proved to be the right game plan.
“They’re only eight,” Pugh said after RLL’s 11-1 win over Rutherford on July 31 at Tantum Park. “We’re trying to get them to do the fundamentals and see what happens. We were fortunate to have a tremendous group.
“We only carried two pitchers; they’ve taken to pitching and done a really good job of maintaining composure and having control on the mound. If we walk somebody it’s no big deal; let’s just go with the next batter. So we were really carried by them.
“But our hitting tonight was amazing. To put up 11 runs. To end the game on a home run, what a way to end it.”
It was indeed a memorable conclusion to a game played before a record crowd in the state tournament.
Pitchers Lily Banerjee and Riley Pugh combined to throw a no-hitter, as the only run they allowed in three state games came on a walk and an error. Banerjee struck out three in two innings of work, and Pugh struck out all six batters she faced.
“I just play hard and do all I can,” Pugh said. “I was feeling good today.”
The game ended on the mercy rule in walk-off fashion. With Robbinsville leading 7-1 entering the bottom of the fourth, Jordis Jakubowski and Banerjee singled before Pugh hit a two-run double. Emily Norden then ripped one into the right-center field gap for a game-ending, two-run homer.
“I was pretty shocked,” the effervescent Norden said. “I was so excited running around the bases when it’s something so important like this.”
It was as important as it gets, as it gave RLL another state softball championship and an indication that the future looks bright as far as maintaining the softball legacy in town.
“There’s some magic here,” Darren Pugh said. “We’re fortunate to come into a great program and I really want to recognize the Robbinsville board for creating a great environment. Girls want to play, they want to come out, they want to do the clinics, they want to get better. And the girls put the work in to get better and it shows.”
The top of the lineup was unstoppable in the championship game, combining for 11 hits, nine RBIs and 10 runs scored. Cara Vanduzer had a hit and two runs, Jakubowski had two hits, an RBI and two runs, Banerjee collected three hits, an RBI and three runs, Pugh had two doubles, a run and three RBIs and Norden had three hits, a run and four RBIs.
Erin McClung added a triple, an RBI and a run, while Olivia Septak drove in a run and Mia Morabito added a hit. Rounding out the powerful lineup were Faith Tift, Ryleigh Kwong-Abazia and Kaylee Rumaker, who made their presence felt along the way.
“It’s a big team effort,” Darren Pugh said. “Cara Vanduzer hit a home run the other night (against Bergenfield), which was tremendous. Emily Norden hit the home run tonight. Jordis Jakubowski has been our catcher and really helps the pitchers. You always need a good catcher and she had a lot of good hits in this tournament
“Everyone contributed. You go down the lineup. Olivia Septak had a big hit today. The bottom of the lineup was getting on base. It’s a total team effort. Rutherford won two games in the tournament, they scored 12 runs the other night, they’re a really good team. We were just fortunate enough to be able to get this one.”
During the awards presentation after the game, District 12 Administrator Dave Edwards, who also ran the state tournament, told both teams they “set the foundation for future years.”
Robbinsville’s greatest strength was in the circle, but Banerjee said, “All our players help make us good.”
Asked when she started thinking about winning a state title, Lily said, “Maybe a couple of days ago.”
Riley Pugh said winning the states “feels really good,” and when Norden hit her blast, the only thing going through her head was “I thought I could get home and she could get home.”
Pugh was right, as they both scored to clinch the victory.
“This means a lot,” Norden said. “It shows other kids what they can do in the future because we did it.”
Although she’s an offensive contributor, Norden had praise for the pitchers.
“Lily with so many strikeouts, she’s amazing,” the third baseman said. “Same thing with Riley. They’re both fun to play behind.”
Considering that the players are only 8 and just beginning their journey, other than a few coach-pitch tournaments prior to this, the coaching staff wasn’t setting tangible goals. But they couldn’t help having positive hopes considering how well armed they were.
“We knew Lily Banerjee was a great pitcher, she pitched in her travel team with some success,” Pugh said. “And Riley has grown into it and really found a lot of confidence in her pitching. To be able to have two girls go to the mound who throw strikes it really makes the coaching part of it easy when you know your pitcher is gonna take care of it.
“They have some good pitches; they have some good speed. You kind of get lucky getting them. They put in the work at classes; they go to pitching training. They’re comfortable on the mound. They really excel and it’s just tremendous to see.”
As the team kept winning and getting closer to history, the coaching staff kept delivering the same message.
“I tried not to talk about championships,” Pugh said. “I tried to say ‘Hey it’s another game. We’re gonna play another game, we’re gonna warm up the same way, we’re gonna take our same at-bats.’ We tried not to make the game bigger than what it is and just go out and have fun.”
Fun was definitely had, and all involved were happy with how the initial state tournament unfolded.
“It did go off pretty well,” Pugh said. “We were fortunate to host all three tournaments this year and the league did a great job.”
Edwards considered the tournament a “100 percent success.”
“I’m very happy overall,” he said. “We still have some growing to do. We learned a lot this year but it’s a good foundation for future years.”
A foundation with Robbinsville’s imprints all over it.
