It was a long Monday for the Pine Bush Seniors softball team.

They had their final two Pool Play games, and then were defeated in a Pool Play playoff game, 14-6, by Delaware champion, Camden-Wyoming on July 25 to be eliminated from the East Region tournament in Worcester, MA.

“That was a very long day,” Pine Bush manager Stan Wilson said. “That elimination game was our third game of the day. It started off at 8 a.m. and I think we played an elimination game around 3 or 4 p.m. that afternoon, going straight through with a little break in between. But the girls preserved. They really played their butts off and played a really good game.”

Camden-Wyoming went on to win the tournament with wins over the top-seeded team from Pool A, Connecticut Champion Bristol, New Jersey champion Pennsville and Pennsylvania champion Meadville.

“My hat goes off to Delaware,” Wilson said. “They were a really good team.”

Pine Bush’s long day began early with a 10-5 loss to Maryland champion Elkton and then a 21-8 loss to Pennsville. It put Pine Bush in a familiar position, as they lost all their Pool Play games in the New York State tournament before sweeping the elimination games to win the championship.

“That’s the best part about Pool Play,” Wilson said. “You still get a chance to live to play another day. And then we played well in our (state) semifinal game and then once we beat the No. 1 seed, a very good (Larchmont-Mamaroneck) team, we felt very confident going into the finals and the girls performed just as I expected.”

Pine Bush was short staffed through states as they didn’t have their regular pitcher Natalie Longobardo. Jordyn Wilson stepped in and helped push Pine Bush to the state title.

“She really came through on championship elimination day,” coach Wilson said. “She really seemed to have grown into her role. She had to step up at a time when we were missing one of our better players, and we’re proud to see that happen.”

That qualified them to go to Worcester for the regionals. It took some fundraising to get them there.

The Pine Bush community was there for it, as enough money was raised to get all the families to go to Regionals at almost no cost for hotels, meals and transportation.

Wilson said he was floored by the amount of support from the community, between the Pine Bush Little League fundraising efforts, the efforts from families, friends and the local businesses that contributed.

“I reminded my girls going forward to ‘think about the people who helped get you here. It was a big expense.’ We looked at around $1,000 for families to go up there and it was covered by our lovely and wonderful Pine Bush community.”

Like they were in the state tournament, Pine Bush started the regional tournament a little shorthanded, as Wilson and his family missed the first two games due to vacation.

Assistant coaches Mike Gabriele and Brenna Gokey-Dudley ran the team in his absence.

“They really held the fort down,” Wilson said.

But this was Wilson’s last ride with this team. His daughter will age out of Little League, along with several others. His last season was the best one.

“For this to be my last year, I would have to say I couldn’t imagine it any better,” Wilson said. “Like I told my kids, it’s not the ending I would have wanted, but I’m happy the way we carried ourselves throughout the tournament. We made good friends with other teams, and we pulled for Delaware to win. We hung out with them a little bit, and it’s an experience I wish everyone could have, but I understand why so few do and I’m going to cherish this for the rest of my life.”