Since before its oldest players were born, Montgomery Devils has provided opportunity for girl’s travel fast pitch softball. From 8U to 18+, the Devils teams are closing out their summer session. On all levels, they are adding to the program’s storied softball history.

On the cusp of August, the Devils are hardly midway through an 11-month season. In programs spanning from 8u to 18+, the Devils burned up the East Coast, with top finishes at showcases all summer long, from Alabama to Ohio, to upstate NY and the Carolinas. The 12Us took third at their national tournament. The 14U team were champions or runners up in six tournaments this summer. The group finished second in its state class, and third at the national tournament in Myrtle Beach, SC.

While the entire Devils program is undergoing a name change to become the Northeast Devils, the Devils program operates under the same values. Run on love of the game, from the volunteer coaches to the parents who capture highlight reels and home plate dustups. Small programs like the Montgomery Devils are built on community connections. The generations of girls who dedicate themselves to the game, and their teammates. And despite the “Northeast” renaming, the Devils will continue drawing the same small pool it has since the program’s inception, said 16U coach Vinny Castro. Players represent the local Hudson Valley, about a 30 mile radius, and the program – a nonprofit – is built on their advancement. Everything that goes into the program is returned to the girls, said Castro, whose 16U team finished the summer 48-5-1.

The Devils programs pride themselves on their training. The little things that differentiate its players from the next. Speed training, offseason workouts. Consistency. Other changes are afoot, including the 16U team transitioning to a national team. The players will traverse the East Coast, representing Montgomery and Section IX softball under the national spotlight, playing fewer than the six or eight matchups they’re used to in a weekend, including 18U showcases. Such designation means an opportunity for players to play in front of collegiate programs before official recruitment begins. It prepares them for the next level of a playing career.

“Most of these girls do want to play in college,” said Castro. “And we want to make sure we’re doing everything that we can to get them there.”

Some Devils teams seek a few new players to round out next year’s rosters. Schedule private tryouts or seek coaches’ information at montgomerydevils.com. Travel softball may take these girls across the country for the better part of 10 years, but for the Devils, it begins in Montgomery.