Little League Insider: Toms River

Showing posts with label Toms River. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

East Greenwich Proves Best, Wins NJ State Title

Read about East Greenwich's previous games: NJ State Tournament Preview, East Greenwich Steals Victory, and Shocking Results in New Jersey

East Greenwich was not supposed to win the New Jersey state title if you believed... well me. Coming from South Jersey, the Section 4 champion is instantly the underdog once you get to the state final four. Nobody from Section 4 has won the state championship at the Little League majors level since South Vineland in 1991. That's a streak of 21 years.

The streak is over.

Even as the unbeaten team in the state championship game against Toms River East American, it felt like East Greenwich was an underdog. From the first inning, they didn't play like it. Five first-inning hits including RBI doubles from Hunter Kelly and Jonathon Burlingame pushed East Greenwich to a 4-2 victory. Josh Crowding added an RBI single in the decisive first inning as well. Before anyone at Wallingford Little League could get a Philly Cheesesteak from the concession stand, it was 4-0 East Greenwich.

Toms River was immediately forced into survival mode and went to its most effective starting pitcher in the last couple weeks, Dougie Pombo. The right-hander allowed just four more hits to East Greenwich and struck out six batters in 5 1/3 innings of relief, but the offense couldn't make the difference.

East Greenwich's defense helped its pitching-by-committee efforts with stellar defensive plays from the word go. Burlingame orchestrated two fantastic double plays and Miller and Shawn Dougherty took away sure-fire hits while roaming the outfield.

Toms River loaded the bases in the fourth but couldn't push a run across after a single by Maximus Rivas with two men on base. Finally in the fifth, TRE made its move. Pombo led off with a line drive home run to left field which sent the players and fans from the shore into frenzied chants of "Battle Sword," the nickname for Pombo's bat.

In the sixth inning, Jonny Munson led off with a double. He eventually scored on a Rivas grounder, but a Burlingame double play on the ball took a lot of wind out of Toms River's sails. TRE still didn't go away though. Nick Silvia and Pombo both singled with two outs. Danny Clemente ripped a line drive to right field, but it was caught and East Greenwich celebrated.

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Saturday, July 27, 2013

Shocking Results in New Jersey, East Greenwich Sitting Pretty

Written by Kyle Stackpole, contributing writer

East Greenwich 14, Toms River East American 4

In the first round of the NJ State Tournament, both East Greenwich and Toms River East American found themselves escaping from brutal situations late in their respective games. TREA had to score two runs in the sixth to force extra innings before winning 8-4 against Wayne National and if it weren’t for two errors by Nutley East, East Greenwich would have been playing for their lives today. Each team had their own reasons to be grateful of the opportunity presented to them. Only one team was able to take advantage of it.

When Shawn Dougherty stepped into the batter’s box in the top of the first, no one could have imagined the type of game he would have. He started it off with a solo bomb to put East Greenwich up 1-0.

East Greenwich extended their lead in the second. After an RBI single by Michael Mackley, Dougherty did some more damage with a two-run single up the middle. With four runs across in the first two innings, East Greenwich was sitting pretty.

Toms River East American responded in the bottom half though. With two outs and two men on, ninth-hitter Maximus Rivas ripped a double to cut the East Greenwich lead in half.

East Greenwich began to break it open soon after. RBI singles by Ryan Mihlebach, Austin Crothers, Jonathon Burlingame, and Sean Szesto gave East Greenwich an 8-2 lead. Already two-for-two on the day, Shawn Dougherty came back up to the plate. As usual, he delivered with a triple and two runs batted in. East Greenwich was in double digits and TREA was in a heap of trouble.

Going 3-for-3 with five RBI and two runs scored would have been an outstanding day for any average ball player. For Shawn Dougherty, he felt that his performance needed to be enhanced even further. With the score 11-2 in the top of the fifth, Dougherty hit his second home run of the game, making the score an astonishing 14-2. He ended the day going 4-for-4 with eight RBI and three runs scored.

If Dougherty was the main reason for East Greenwich’s success, Sean Szesto could not have been far behind. Sean Szesto went four innings on the mound, allowing five hits and two runs to hold a devastating Toms River East offense at bay.

With the win, East Greenwich will play Sunday night in the state final. Toms River East American will play tomorrow against Nutley East. The winner will play in the final and the loser will go home.

Nutley East shocked Wayne National 14-1 in a mercy-rule shortened victory in the losers' bracket.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I expected two blowouts today. I did not expect either one to be in the direction it was. Wayne I can explain. They folded up shop and were finished. East Greenwich? Well maybe they just played to their potential on Friday, something they didn't do on Thursday. Toms River is the most talented team in the field still... we'll see if they can battle back with three straight wins.

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Tuesday, July 23, 2013

New Jersey State Tournament Preview

Written by Kyle Stackpole with contributions from John Malone

The New Jersey state tournament begins on Thursday in Wallington.

Coming into the tournament, the field seems to be wide open. Wayne National and Nutley East were 3-0 in their sectional tournaments but did not completely run away with their section titles. On the other hand, both Toms River East American and East Greenwich came through the losers’ bracket of their respective sections.

Section 1: Wayne National (District 2)
Recent History (2000-Current): District titles- 3, Section titles- 0

Wayne National went 3-0 during the Section 1 tournament, outscoring their opponents 28-11. Dominic Cancellieri was magnificent in the tournament, going 5-for-9 with three home runs. He is also the ace pitcher of the staff, tossing 4 2/3 innings of one run ball while striking out 10 in the championship game. On the offensive end, Wayne National can score. John Boscarino, Jarod Strus, Jack Feit and Ari Field all have home run potential every time they step to the plate. Pitching will determine how far this team can go.

Section 2: Nutley East (District 8)
Recent History (2000-Current): District titles- 1, Section titles- 0

Nutley East also went 3-0 during the Sectional Tournament and outscored their opponents 23-10. NELL is a well-rounded ball club without a true star. Seemingly everyone has come up in a big spot. A.J. Lotito, Aidan Okamoto-Wolf, and Danny Caraballo have all come through in the last few weeks and Peter Lopez has got it done on the mound.

Section 3: Toms River East American (District 18)

After winning the Little League World Series title in 1998 and losing in the United States championship game in 1999, Toms River East American has not advanced to the state tournament. After falling 12-8 to South Wall in the opener, TREA kept fighting. They put up 32 runs in their next two elimination games to reach the Section 3 final against Nottingham. After trailing 13-3 in the fourth inning, Toms River East American came all the way back to win the game 15-13, forcing the two teams to play again. In that game, TREA was finally kept in the ballpark, but came away with a hard-fought 5-4 victory. After scoring 79 runs in six games, Toms River East American is a serious threat to win the state crown. The first six hitters in the lineup all have legit home run power. Watch out if Nick Silvia gets hot at the top of the order.

Section 4: East Greenwich (District 15)

This is the first ever state tournament appearance for East Greenwich. After making it to the winner’s bracket final, East Greenwich fell to Haddonfield 13-6. From there, it was an uphill battle. After defeating Ocean City 12-2 in an elimination game, East Greenwich set up a rematch against Haddonfield in the sectional final. Two wins later, East Greenwich stole the crown and will be entering unchartered waters starting Wednesday in Wallington. East Greenwich has put up a ton of runs throughout the tournament so far. Shawn Dougherty was one of the big bats during the Section 4 final. He finished 4-for-5 with two home runs.

John Malone’s Prediction: Without knowing Nutley East and East Greenwich this is impossible, but history tells us that either Wayne National or Toms River East American is the favorite because they come from tougher sections. With that being said, TREA’s offense is really deep and has the potential to outhit anyone, but if Wayne National can maximize its pitching prowess then I give them the edge.