NJ Section 1: Wayne National races to title

Written by Kyle Stackpole, contributing writer

Usually brand new 13-year olds receive presents on their birthday.

On Thursday night, Wayne National’s Dominic Cancellieri gave his team the biggest present of all.

 A sectional championship.

Behind Cancellieri’s dominant pitching and incredible hitting, Wayne National defeated Par-Troy East 11-1 in five innings to win the Section 1 title. The game was shortened by the mercy rule.

On the mound, Cancellieri pitched 4 2/3 innings, giving up just one run and two hits while striking out 10. With the bat, he was just as impressive. He hit two home runs and drove in three for a Wayne National team that hit six home runs in the game. Jack Feit added a pair of round-trippers and John Boscarino and Ari Field each hit a solo shot.

Even more amazing was that on a day dedicated to him, he pulled through for his team.

“It feels great,” Cancellieri said. “We thought we were meant to be in sectionals last year. This year, we hoped to make it past the districts. Now look at us; we’re onto states.”

Cancellieri is one of three returning players from last year’s squad. Boscarino and Jared Strus also played on last year’s sectional squad. Experience has obviously helped this team understand the amount of work it takes to be one of four teams left in New Jersey. The other major aspect is working hard every day.

When asked how they were so successful throughout the tournament, manager Paul Boscarino put it simply.

“Practice, Practice, Practice.”

“We work hard,” added an assistant coach. “Whenever we do not have a game, we practice for two to three hours a night.”

That hard work has sure paid off. Wayne National has outscored its opponents 28-11 during the three games at Dumont.

As satisfied as this team is at this point in the season, the road to Williamsport has just begun. They begin the state tournament on Wednesday in Wallington for a chance to represent the state of New Jersey in the Mid-Atlantic Tournament. According to Cancellieri, success for this team is centered on a few factors.

“We need to pitch well and not walk batters. Those extra batters are the ones that will kill us. We don’t have to worry about hitting. We’re going to hit.”

Wayne National sure hit the heck out of the ball tonight. They finished the game with 11 runs, 11 hits, and six home runs.

With an explosive lineup, pitching will determine how far this Wayne National team can go.

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New Jersey Section 1 Tournament Recaps

By Kyle Stackpole, contributing writer

Sunday marked the start of the Sectional Tournaments in New Jersey. University of Maryland-bound Kyle Stackpole went out to cover the Section 1 Tournament in Dumont today to see what New Jersey Little Leaguers had to offer. Here’s his first post as a contributing writer for Little League Insider.

Par Troy East 10, Somerset Hills 0 (F/5)

In the first game of the day, Par-Troy East was matched up against Somerset Hills. Par-Troy had Noah Lustig, their ace, on the mound while Somerset Hills went with Jeff Bailey.

The scoring started in the bottom of the second when Par-Troy’s  Alex Angulo and Angelo Cascio walked to start off the innin. Will Kauffman came in to try and stop the early bleeding for Somerset Hill but PTE kept the pressure up. Par-Troy scored its first two runs on a passed ball and a double steal attempt. Then, Andrew Stulec drove in the third run with an RBI-single. By the time the inning had ended, Par Troy East had a 4-0 lead.

Par-Troy added another in the fourth to make it 5-0, but the game was still well within reach. However, Somserset Hills could not get their bats going. They mustered only two hits against a combination of Noah Lustig (35 pitches), Ollie Boch (35 pitches), and Danny Rodriguez (13 pitches).

Par-Troy made a statement in the fifth inning that showed how explosive this team could be. After DePietrio and Stulec brought home two more runs on back-to-back hits, power-hitter Tyler Grieco came to the plate. Grieco was potentially fooled on the pitch, but, because of his strength, the ball carried all the way over the right field fence for a two-run home run, giving Par-Troy a 9-0 lead. Next to the plate was clean-up hitter Danny Rodriguez. He ended the game early by scolding a line-drive home run over the right center field fence. The 10-run mercy rule came into effect and the game was over.

With the win, Par-Troy will play Washington Township in the winners’ bracket on Monday at 6 p.m. Somerset Hills falls into the losers bracket and will play Monday at 8:15 p.m. against Lackawanna.

Wayne National 7, Lackawanna 2

With Lackawanna’s top two pitchers unavailable for the opening game of the Sectional, it was hard seeing them pulling this one out.

They began the game with Ryan Kaiser, who pitched a solid two innings. The only run he surrendered came on a double play ball that was overthrown.

Wayne National did most of its damage in the fourth inning with. After scoring their first run on a bases loaded walk, Jack Feit singled home two and Wayne National had a 4-0 lead. The game was broken open later in the inning with a huge three-run blast by Ari Field. The inning had finally ended, but not before Wayne National had a comfortable 7-0 cushion.

Lackawanna managed to put two across in the top of the fifth, but never seriously threatened to make it a game. Wayne National’s combination of Dominic Cancellieri and Jared Strus shut out Lackawanna while only giving up six hits, three of those coming from Chase Cramer.

The middle of Wayne National’s order definitely got the job done on Sunday. The 3-4-5 hitters (Jared Strus, Jack Feit, and Ari Field) were 3-for-4 with six runs batted in. Look for these hitters to carry Wayne National through the tournament.

With the win, Wayne National moves on to the winners’ bracket final. Lackawanna will play an elimination game against Somerset Hills tomorrow.

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2012 Mid-Atlantic Region Preview

Tournament History: In the 11 years of the Mid-Atlantic region, Pennsylvania, New York, and Maryland have each won three championships. Delaware and New Jersey each have one title, with District of Columbia looking for its first trip to a regional final, let alone the title itself.

2012 Team Pedigree: Newark National (DE) and Northwest Washington (DC) are both returning for the second consecutive year to the regional. Newark has been to the regional six times prior to 2012, and its 11-6 overall in the tournament. Newark National made the regional semifinals four times. Northwest Washington is 0-8 all-time in the regional, but NWLL returns seven players from last year. That’s a significant experience advantage.

Stony Point (NY) won its first state title in 2010 and returns this year. Assistant coach John Greeley was an assistant two years ago as well when he coached his oldest son, SS/P John. Now, he coaches SS/P Stephen. West Salisbury (MD) has two previous state championships, both within the last ten years. In 2007, WS made it to Williamsport after finishing fourth in pool play.

Par-Troy East (NJ) and Collier Township (PA) both won their first state titles this year. PTE doesn’t have history in the 12-year old division but became the first New Jersey team to win state championships at different age groups (PTE won NJ’s 11-year old title last year). Collier will look to piggy back the success of Keystone Little League which won the regional title a year ago.

Team Previews (Tournament Records in Parentheses)

Northwest Washington, DC (4-0): District of Columbia is traditionally the weakest team at the region and that should be the case again this year. NWLL has become a force in DC recently and this could be their best team yet. They return seven players from last year’s team. They easily won the DC tournament. NWLL not only has the only girl in the regional tournament this year in Sydney Love-Baker, but Love-Baker has turned into one of the team’s top hitters and is fantastic behind the plate. Her twin brother Ty is also one to watch. Owen Isaacs is the team’s ace and will look to steal a victory somewhere to give the league its first win ever at regionals.

Newark National, DE (9-1): Newark went undefeated in pool play a year ago and faltered in a tough battle with Paramus, NJ. With multiple players returning from that team and a 10-year old state title under their belts, Newark is looking to go even further. The two unquestioned leaders of the team are Matt Theodorakis and Clayton Hansen. Theodorakis is a bonafide star in the leadoff spot and Hansen is an excellent top of the rotation starter.

Stony Point, NY (11-1): Stony Point comes into the regional after handling the state of New York fairly easily. The lone blemish on Stony Point’s record is a 12-inning loss in the state finals game one. Stony Point’s pitching is its strength. The team has two top of the line pitchers in Brian Wholey and Stephen Greeley. Both throw hard. Stony Point has a deep lineup with power throughout. Ray Pacella is the probably the team’s most consistent hitter.

Par-Troy East, NJ (14-1): Par-Troy lost its first game in the state final four and needed to win four straight games to make it back. With the explosive lineup they possess, it was almost easy. With power up and down the lineup, Par-Troy can slug with anyone. Bener Uygun hits homeruns and doubles nearly every time up and is an RBI machine. Emil Matti is powerful at the top of the order and has dynamite speed. Anthony Scannelli is fearsome in the cleanup spot and Vinny Prezioso has two homeruns in his last two games.

West Salisbury, MD (9-1): West Salisbury came out of nowhere to win the state of Maryland which had two other potential favorites, but that’s not for lack of talent. Matt Chrysostome is the team’s leader at the plate and gets the job done on the mound too. He and Grason Winterbottom form a solid pitching duo. Cade Hurley hits homeruns in bunches.

Collier Township, PA (11-0): Collier wasn’t the favorite in the Pennsylvania state tournament, but found a way to win and is one of lone undefeated teams left in the entire country (welcome to pitch count rules!). Collier can outslug almost anybody and it starts with Reed Bruggeman. Bruggeman clubbed two homeruns in the state tournament and racked up 11 RBI. He hit .583. Steve Alauzen also hit .583 and smacked a pair of homeruns. He had 8 RBI. In all, Collier drove 12 balls over the fence in the four state tournament games and nine different players hit one. Pitching may be Collier’s biggest issue, but with bats like theirs, it may be good enough.

Projected Records

New York 3-1

New Jersey 3-1

Pennsylvania 3-1

Maryland 2-2

Delaware 1-3

Washington, D.C. 0-4

Semifinals: New York over Maryland 4-1, New Jersey over Pennsylvania 8-5.

Final: New York 5, New Jersey 4