This could be girl slugger’s last shot at baseball glory

The ball went flying out of the park like it was shot out of a cannon, soaring well above and beyond the left-field fence.

Chants broke out. The scoring team exploded out of the dugout. It’s a familiar scene in late July, the joy of Little League baseball as teams nationwide vie to reach the 11- and 12-year-old Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pa.

There is one caveat that separates this image from so many others — as the batter circles the bases, a long brown pony tail bobs up and down.

The ball was crushed by a girl.

Central New Jersey’s Toms River wouldn’t be one of six teams in Bristol, Conn., for the Mid-Atlantic Regional — the last hurdle before Williamsport following district, sectional and state competitions — without Kayla Roncin, its starting first baseman, one of its best hitters, a relief pitcher and spot starter. In the New Jersey state championship game, the 5-foot-8, 12-year-old sensation blasted a two-run homer — eliciting chants of “Girl Power,”

“Hit Like a Girl” and “Kay-La Ron-Cin” — and retired the final batter with the bases loaded, clinching a 7-6 victory.

“It was so exciting, it was unexplainable,” she said.

Baseball is more than just a hobby for Kayla. She has a personal pitching coach and batting instructor. The Roncin family has a batting cage in its backyard, and after games, Kayla brings a bucket of 100 balls to her father for extra batting practice. She uses the side of her home as a catcher when nobody is around. Football Sundays for her father, Ray, are always interrupted by requests for a catch.

“I’ll never say no to her,” he said. “It reminds you of the movie ‘Hoosiers,’ one of those kids who is very self-motivated and disciplined.”

The most famous Toms River Little Leaguer — Cincinnati Reds’ All-Star Todd Frazier, the star of the 1998 Little League World Series champion — has been following the team, and tweeted his admiration of Kayla.

“Kayla comes from a great family background,’’ Frazier said in a phone interview. “I remember watching her hit in the cages at 8 years old, knowing she was a talented young lady. I’m very happy for her and can’t wait to see Kayla and Toms River represent in Bristol.’’

Kayla said she thinks of herself as just one of Toms River’s 13 players, and she’s seen that way by manager Pete Avallone and her teammates, despite their obvious differences. The team has been together for close to four years, and when Avallone was selecting the team, Kayla was a no-brainer. When she first joined the group, Avallone’s son Tyler, an outfielder for Toms River, said some of his teammates were “shocked.” But they changed their tune after a few practices.

“She quickly showed she was good enough,” he said.

During the regular season, playing for Avallone’s team, she was his best pitcher and hitter. In the fall, Toms River Elite — a travel team Avallone runs — won the Cal Ripken Golden Spike Tournament in Aberdeen, Md., and Kayla was awarded tournament MVP.

“She’s just a baseball player on the field,” Avallone said. “Obviously, they know she’s a girl, but she’s treated no differently than the boys on the team. They make fun of her and she gives it right back to them.”

Kayla is treated differently by fans. Before and after games, she is often approached by girls and boys her age, expressing admiration. Kayla has begun to get used to her celebrity, and if girls use her as a role model, she is happy to be a trailblazer. Her father said he ran into two female former high-school classmates, and they couldn’t stop raving about his daughter. Neither is a baseball fan, but they will be following Toms River.

“This is the greatest thing,” they told him. “Girl power.”

“Girls should be able to do anything boys can do, even if it’s a boys sport,” Kayla said. “[Other girls] are always telling me how cool it is. They wish they could do it, too. It makes me feel really good.”

It’s not all positive. Tyler Avallone said he has seen opposing players and coaches laugh when Kayla takes the mound. Opposing fans point. But she has had the last laugh more often than not.

“We’re happy, because we know for a fact she will prove them wrong and show them how good she is,” Tyler said. “I think that motivates her to do better and prove them wrong. When they do that, we know she’s going to show them right up.

“People don’t expect a girl to be playing baseball with a bunch of boys, and she’s one of the best on the team. She definitely surprises people with everything she does — hitting, pitching and fielding.”

Ray took Kayla to Williamsport to watch Toms River compete in the Little League World Series in August 2010. She made him a promise.

“She turned to me and said, ‘Dad, when I am 12, I will be playing here,’ ” Ray recalled. “I have a great picture of her and I in the stadium. Now four years later, we are climbing the stairs to hopefully reach the top, a spot in Williamsport.”

Kayla did have a doll house at a young age, but she preferred toy trucks, action figures and motorcycles. Most of all, she loved balls of any kind. Footballs, basketball and baseballs would be strewn about the backyard and in her playroom.

She grew attached to baseball at a young age, watching Yankees games with her father, and instantly became — what else? — a Derek Jeter fan. When she turned 5 years old, Ray signed her up for T-ball, and, Pete Avallone recalled, she was better than 95 percent of the boys. Kayla has female friends her age, and she plays in an all-girls basketball league, but as Ray says, “she loves scrapping with the boys.”

There is, however, a decision looming as Kayla nears adolescence. She knows her baseball career has a shelf life. She began playing softball this spring at her school to get used to her future sport, and the loose plan, according to Ray, is for her to play baseball for one more year.

The family, in fact, was looking into a high level fast-pitch travel softball team for her, before this magical run by Toms River. Kayla’s mother, Linda, wasn’t happy to see her daughter off to the side in the spring on the softball field, while the boys — many of whom she plays alongside during the summer — were off playing baseball on the next field.

“It killed me to see that. I know she can keep up with those boys,” Linda said. “I don’t understand, why can’t a girl play baseball? Why is it a big deal? I think you’re taking the biggest part of her away if she has to [quit baseball]. I can’t even, at this point, fathom that. She just loves the sport. I can’t even tell you how much, and if she’s not playing it, she’s watching it. That’s gonna be a really tough transition for her.”

If Kayla had her choice, she would get old playing baseball. It’s her first love, her passion. Her favorite movie is “The Sandlot.” She prefers watching baseball to television shows.

But knowing it may come to an end also has served as an extra source of inspiration, to make the most of the opportunity in front of her.

“I get kind of sad sometimes about it but I have to move on,” she said. “This could be my last time around, so I want to do the best I can. I really want to win it all so badly.”

—Additional reporting by Kevin Kernan