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The 1991season saw the team become independent of the town league with the help of long time sponsor, Don Maracle of C & M Capital, and added a few out of town ballplayers to their team. The team name was changed to the Diamond Girls which won out over such names as; Lady Bugs, Travelers, and Wildcats. They also changed their team colors from Black,Orange and White, to Jade,Orange,White and Black. They wore the dreaded Miami Dolphins colors and received quite a few comments from other teams, when they went to out of town tournaments. The teams couldn't believe a team from Buffalo wearing Miami colors. Regardless, the team that year won the 14-u travel league and also entered their first out of town tournament in Horseheads, NY. This team finished with a 25 and 10 record.
In 1992 the team played in 16-u tournaments and played in the 18-u Niagara Frontier League. They became an exciting team to watch that year. These young ladies had excellent speed, bunting ability and great defense. They won many tournaments and the league championship with many come from behind wins. In the league championship game, the team stole home plate in the bottom of the 7th with 2 outs and 2 strikes on the batter to tie the game. This shook up the pitcher who then walked the batter and who ended up scoring the winning run. The girls that year won 4 out of 5 tournaments they entered and finished with a 38 and 7 record.
The 1993 season was another great year for the team. The team became the first in the area to start practicing during the winter indoors. They rented out the Buffalo State College Bubble and practiced indoors, even playing a game inside the bubble. This allowed the team to be in shape for the high school season and for our summer season. The girls were on the edge of becoming the best team in the area. They were 2 outs away from qualifying for the 16-u National Championships, having a 2 run lead with 2 outs in the bottom of the seventh at the Regional in Albany,New York. Another highlight for the team was their appearance on cable tv twice that year. Losing the Aunt Rosy's Championship to Amherst and winning the Niagara Frontier Championship game against Amherst at the Eden Corn Fest 1-0 were exciting for the players and parents. The team finished with 35 and 6 record.
The 1994 year was the pinnacle year for the core group of players. Having come so close to making a trip to the Nationals, the team added a few new players they thought they needed, to get them to the Nationals. This move paid off when Diamond Girls qualified for the Nationals and went to Sacramento, California. Even though they didn't do as well as they had hoped at the Nationals, it was well worth the trip and all parents, players and coaches will never forget that great experience. Again these ballplayers were on cable tv twice. The team won the Niagara Frontier 18-u league in a televised game at Eden and this time won the televised Aunt Rosy's tournament championship game. The team finished with a 34-8 record.
In 1995, the Diamond Girls started to break up due to the girls having to earn money for college that summer and losing some key players to the Womans Major team the Shamrocks. If we had been able to keep that same group of players together, we felt we were on the verge of being one of the top 10 teams in the nation. But, we'll never know and keep on dreaming of what this season and team could have been.
The original core group of players has now graduated and gone on to college. From that group of players, over $300,000 was earned in athletic scholarships. Kelly Poynton is pitching at Albany State. Stacey Bogumil and Desi Prezioso are playing at Niagara Univ. Nikki Cefferatti-centerfield( 1st team Div III All American) and Tammi Thuman-second base, are starting at Buffalo State. Mandi Galas is the starting thirdbaseman at U of Mass (played in College World Series this year). Susan Moore is the starting right fielder at Univ. of Kentucky. Jamie McGlaughin-secondbaseman is at Gannon Univ., Jesse Regan-pitcher ( 3rd team Div III All American) at Messiah College, Vanessa Herberger-pitcher 1st team JR College All American) at Daytona Community College. Samantha Gentile - pitcher at Pace University. Jesse Rosenhahn-catcher, Jackie Fusco-shortstop, Sarah Skorupa-pitcher, and Janice Holtke are at Canisius College. The coaches of those teams were, Bob Rosenhahn, Tim Poynton, Joe Bogumil, Bob Grabowski, and Mike Pelonero.
In 1997, the Diamond girls started off with a new group young players hoping to repeat the same success as enjoyed by the earlier group. Players took batting and sliding practice during the winter months. They played a competitive schedule and each player got equal time to play. They did very well considering we coaches did not seriously try to win making sure everyone got to play. It might have hurt the team, but we feel in the long run, we have ourselves a core group of players who will keep up the Diamond Girl tradition of being the top team in the Western New York area, and hopefully, we will be watching them play college ball. This team finished with a 22-20 record.
The Diamond Girls formula for success is their strong chemistry to play as a team. None are selfish in that they realize that you have to sacrifice yourselves sometimes for the sake of the team. We play hard, but remember that it is only a game and don't take the results too seriously. Another key to our success is the number of games we play and playing quality teams. The girls are mentally and physical prepared to go on and play college ball after playing with the Diamond Girls. Our philosophy is that we believe in a pressure offense. With our team speed and offensive skills, if you give us room to bunt, we'll bunt you to death. We will steal bases until you throw us out 3 times in a row. We are not afraid to take chances, losers are !!! Lastly, the most important aspect of the team is the girl's parents. We have always had a great group of parents who support us and cheer us on. They are the ones who put a lot of hours driving to games, practices, tournaments, fundraising, chaperoning, scorekeeping, diamond maintenance, and many other things. helping hand.
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