Ewing 10s baseball
For Ewing Little League manager Bill Epps, the most important part of playing in the District 12 tournament is what his 10-year-old baseball team gains from playing.

“The goal is for the kids to enjoy their District experience,” he said.

This year’s tournament will be the first for several Ewing players. Epps said that only a handful of players are returning to tournament play after previous stints with last year’s 9-year-old all-star team.

“Our greatest weakness may be our lack of experience,” the manager said.

Other than that, though, Epps has a great deal of confidence in his team. While he says there is little time to make the transition from the regular season to tournament play, he and the boys are working hard to translate their hard play onto the District 12 stage.

Epps says that end-of-season practices are the key to success.

“We have been practicing long and hard which makes me believe the boys are ready to play,” he said.

One of the team’s biggest strengths is pitching, particularly its depth. Epps says that most of his players pitched during regular season, and although the majority of them threw in the minors rather than in the majors, they were at the top of their division.

“Luis Figueroa, Reid Stackhouse, Jay Lawrence and Marshall Barrett all seem ready to handle the role as starting pitchers,” he said, “while Chris Jackson, Kyle Testa and Doug Fort will get a shot on the bump as well. All the boys seem to be ready to take the mound and handle the job.”

While the manager would love to see his team succeed, that is not his primary objective.

“All that really matters is that they have fun and continue to want to play ball in the future,” Epps said. “I feel that they are enjoying themselves and are getting better by the day. They are a good group to coach, and regardless of the outcome, I’m proud to be a part of this team.”

By Samantha Sciarrotta

HTRBA 10s
Over the last few years of tournaments, the HTRBA 10-year-old baseball team has been solid without fail, yet the boys have remained stuck on the cusp of a championship.

“We have consistently come in third,” manager Dave Crawford said. “Our goal is simply to improve upon the past few years’ tournaments.”

The team seems to always have a good showing in tournaments, but it can never quite reach the top. Crawford said June 22 that HTRBA’s first game had the potential to determine the team’s whole outlook on the tournament; the boys were scheduled to go up against powerhouse Robbinsville.

“We will have an idea of how we stack up when we play them,” he said.

With nine players returning from last year, the majority of the team has sufficient experience. Tournament play is often different from regular season play, so that small advantage can make all of the difference.

Crawford considers the team’s strength to lie in the pitching, specifically with Bryce Fremgen and Sam Crawford, his “main” throwers. Jack MiLazzo, the catcher, is strong behind the plate.

The manager also notes that Jacob Fanning and Philip Rojek offer important offensive contributions.

“They are our power hitters,” Crawford said.

HTRBA’s offensive and defensive strength give Crawford confidence that the team’s luck will change and his goals will be met.

-Samantha Sciarrotta

Nottingham 10s
Manager Brian Melnick said each of his 13 athletes are key to the team’s success.

“They’re all good players,” Melnick said. “They’re all outstanding, or else they wouldn’t be on this team.”

Nottingham’s athletes want to compete for the District 12 title, but realize it’s a tough task to accomplish and will require a contribution from every player.

Still, they are optimistic. Melnick said his athletes were more and more excited as their June 24 opening date drew closer, which is notable considering they already showed considerable enthusiasm just for making the All-Star team. Playing in a District 12 tournament is something they’ve aspired to do ever since they joined Nottingham Little League, he said.

“They are kids who love baseaball,” Melnick said. “They don’t want to leave the fields, even with the amount we practice. It’s a great situation as a coach. Anytime you have that kind of attitude, you’re bound to have success.”

-Rob Anthes

Sunnybrae 10s
Manager Dave Meckel has reasonable expectations for the Sunnybrae Little League 10-year-old All-Star team.
“Our goal is to go as far as we can go,” he said.

Bolstered by four capable pitchers—Andrew Fessler, Mason Fitzpatrick, Dominic Maglione and Steven Meckel—Sunnybrae should have no problems reaching its potential. The key will be hitting—both doing plenty of it offensively and limiting opponents at the plate.

This group of players competed in two tournaments last year as 9-year olds, and Meckel thinks it should be up to the task this year in the District 12 tournament.

“As long as we hit like I know we can, we should do well,” Meckel said.

-Rob Anthes

Lawrence 10s baseball
Lawrence Little League 10-year-old All-Star team manager Dan Kop believes that pool play in the District 12 tournament could potentially define a team not just for that tournament year, but for “years to come.”

“The goals I have set for this team are to play hard, have fun and do our very best to get out of pool play,” he said. “Getting out of pool play is a huge step in the right direction for this team. I want to achieve at least two wins.”

Kop says that last year, the boys were had a good experience in 9-year-old tournament play. He says that while the team was faced with other good squads, it held its own and stayed in the game for several innings.

Ten of the 11 players from last year’s tournament team have moved on to this year’s District 12 All-Star team.

“Ryan Castoral is returning to us now with another year under his belt pitching at a slightly higher level of competition than last year,” Kop said. “His experience over the course of this past regular season will be invaluable to our rotation.”

Kop also says that third baseman Stephen Kop and shortstop Ryan Kaelbien will not only play their positions, but pitch as well.
“I see them becoming strong leaders for our team this year in their roles,” he said.

The manager feels that the boys will be successful if they can focus not only on one play, but on the next one as well, without looking too far ahead.

“We are very good at focusing on what our next play is,” he said. “I feel out ream is strong when we focus on our next task and not on the next 10 tasks.”

-Samantha Sciarrotta

Lawrence 10s softball
Lawrence 10-year-old softball All-Star team manager Tony Indelicato is focusing on nothing but the basics when it comes to this year’s District 12 tournament.

“We’re hoping to play good, lean softball,” he said. “We want to play a fundamentally sound game. We want to avoid errors because errors lead to runs, so we want to play solid, defensive softball.”

The Lawrence 10s were eliminated in the first round of last year’s tournament, but the team is looking to avoid that fate in 2011. Indelicato acknowledges that his team will again be facing tough competition. Regardless, the girls are looking to stay competitive and win some games, no matter the opponent.

Although Robyn Seidman is the only returning member from last year’s team, most of the girls have played together before.

There are three minor league softball teams in Lawrence Little League, and Indelicato says the All-Star team consists of a mix of girls from each of the three. The familiarity allows them to quickly adapt to the changes from league play to tournament play.
“In league play, pitching is less refined,” Indelicato said. “It helps them become disciplined at the plate.”

The manager considers plate appearances and hitting to be some of the strongest aspects of Lawrence’s play, especially at the middle of the order.

“Gianna Oakley can really hit,” he said. “She can hit off of a lot of pitchers, and she has really matured over the past couple of years.”

The team knows what it needs to work on, and Indelicato and the girls are prepared to enter a tough playing field.

“We’re looking forward to a fun tournament, and we want to remain competitive,” he said. “We’re happy to be playing.”

-Samantha Sciarrotta

Princeton 10s baseball
The core of Princeton Little League’s 10-year-old baseball All-Stars has played together for five years, which should help neutralize any uncertainty the athletes had entering the world of District 12 tournament-style baseball.

Athletes face their first district tournament at 10. The format tests athletes because it requires them to play several games in as many days, something very different from the regular-season Little League schedule. With rules limiting how often athletes can pitch, Princeton’s success will likely be up to a host of the team members pitching well.

Manager Bill Venizelos said he has four solid pitchers and most likely needed two more athletes to pitch quality innings. He was confident in his team’s ability to compete with the other squads, especially if Princeton gets good pitching.

“The tournament structure is new,” Venizelos said. “It’s going to be heavily dependent on how my pitching holds up.”

Venizelos said Noah Lilienphal and Will Venizelos “anchor” Princeton, often playing batterymates and batting in the heart of the lineup. But the whole team is important, and Venizelos noted this group has improved every year it has played together.

Most of the athletes play baseball yearround in some form, and it has Venizelos optimistic about Princeton’s place in District 12 baseball.

-Rob Anthes

Robbinsville 10s baseball
After a successful tournament season in 2010, the Robbinsville 10-year-old baseball team is looking to have a similar experience this year. Manager Pat Tuffy has set the bar high: he wants the boys to win the District 12 title.

To get there, though, he knows that hard work is a must.

“My expectations for the boys are for them to work every day at practice,” he said. “I want them to be good teammates, show good sportsmanship, and enjoy playing the game.”

Tuffy expects these goals to be met, as this year’s team is identical to last year’s. Because the boys know each other so well, Tuffy says that he considers team chemistry to be one of Robbinsville’s greatest strengths.

In addition, he feels that his team excels defensively.

“We spend a lot of time going over situations, taking ground balls and fly balls, and doing various other drills,” Tuffy said. “If you have pitching and defense, you should be in every ballgame.”

The Robbinsville rotation—made up of Tyler Lehman, Jack Gillmer, McGuire Tuffy, and Nick Campion—is strong.

“We have very good starting pitchers, and the rest of the roster is ready to throw when called upon,” Tuffy said.

The other half of the battery, catcher Danny Griffin, is also a key teammate. He is a sound player both offensively and defensively, and Tuffy calls him “one of the toughest kids” he knows.

While winning the tournament is the light at the end of the tunnel for Tuffy and the boys, he has some other, simpler goals that he would like to see the team accomplish first.

“[I want them to] represent Robbinsville well and have fun,” he said.

-Samantha Sciarrotta

Robbinsville 10s softball
Over the last few years, the Robbinsville Little League All-Star teams have forged a winning reputation, and they have done it dominantly. With last year’s 10-year-old team winning a state championship, this year’s 10-year-old softball team manager Anthony Manto is hoping to keep that going.

“Hopefully, we can continue that tradition that the league has set,” he said.

Last year, the team went 6-1 in tournament play. Its only loss was to East Windsor, and Robbinsville would go on to beat them in the District 12 semifinals. They defeated New Egypt by 14 runs in the final, one of many wins on the road to becoming state champions.

Two players on this year’s team, Chelsea Manto and Sarah Toscano, were members of the 2010 squad. Manto considers both girls, along with Alexa Petito, to be among the team’s top contributors.

“We have a lot of strength defensively, especially in our pitching,” Manto said. “Alexa and Chelsea, who are fourth graders, both pitched with 10-, 11- and 12-year-olds in the senior league this year, so I think that helped prepare them.”

The experience that the already talented Manto and Petito gained pitching to older girls will likely keep the collective Robbinsville ERA down, and a strong offense led by Toscano will keep run support up. It will be no surprise if Robbinsville has a District 12 tournament run similar to last year’s, but Manto only has one goal in mind.

“I want them to compete as hard as they can so they can play their best softball,” he said.

-Samantha Sciarrotta

Ewing 12s baseball
After several successful tournament showings over the past five years, Ewing 12-year-old All-Star manager Ed DeBoskey had high expectations for his team.

“In the last eight tournaments they’ve played in, they’ve had six championship appearances,” he said. “Performance of the team has been set at a high level.”

DeBoskey has managed the same All-Stars since they were 7. He says that the boys have “moved up the ranks” since they were eligible for tournament play.

The bond that the players have allows for familiarity. Team play comes easily to them, and, as the manager said, each of the 14 players on the roster has the opportunity to contribute.

“I carry the max amount of players,” he said. “Most only take 11 or so because it’s inconvenient to get everyone into the game. But I can carry 14 players who are interchangeable. I can substitute them and not have to worry about it; they can do it all.”

At the heart of the lineup are Ewing’s four pitchers: Tyray Brecko, Stephen DeBoskey, Jimmy Sparano and Sammy Garcia. DeBoskey says that each can shut out a team. All four of the boys do double duty behind the plate, and they will all be catching during the tournament. Eli Paolella, a relief pitcher, will also catch.

“You need a good player who can catch them,” DeBoskey said. “They’re throwing hard. You need somebody who will not allow passed balls, who has a strong arm. They can all do that because they can relate.”

DeBoskey’s close relationship with the players allows him to gauge the specifics of each boy’s style of play, which will likely prove to be beneficial.

“I’ve brought them up since they were 7, 8,” he said. “I can talk about them forever. They’re like my kids, like my family.”

-Samantha Sciarrotta

HTRBA 12s
As 11-year-olds, the athletes on this year’s HTRBA 12-year-old All-Star team accomplished something not may other athletes can boast: they defeated the state champions.

While that HTRBA squad didn’t survive pool play, it did achieve a mercy-rule victory against eventual state champion Sunnybrae. The athletes are using that win as motivation and for optimism, even if HTRBA doesn’t have an ace like some other teams.

“I don’t consider us having the stud pitcher,” Martin said. “We have kids who, as long as they hit their spots, will be very effective.”

Instead, HTRBA will call upon a slew of players to contribute, including Mark Barry, Joe Garey, Stephen Leonard, Michael Ludowig and Nolan Martin. Martin needs his athletes to be consistent and, most importantly, stay focused on their goals. The primary objective was to make it out of pool play and into the Final Eight.

“I don’t want to be overconfident,” Martin said. “I want the kids to stay hungry, and I think they are.”

-Rob Anthes

Nottingham 12s
The athletes on the Nottingham Little League 12-year-old All-Star team won tournaments as 9 and 10-year olds, but they’d like to add some more trophies to their collection.

“In a perfect scenario, [we’d want] to repeat the success we had as 10s,” Oldfield said. “We know this is a very difficult tournament. There are a dozen teams that could win it. You have to play good baseball.”

Nottingham’s success revolves around its pitchers, and Oldfield thinks he has four pretty good ones: Tony Morency, Andrew Moticha, Matt Ricci and James Werosta.

In all, the athletes have played together for a number of years now and have become close friends. This, as much as anything, will be key to whatever success Nottingham has in the District 12 tournament.

“They’ve been around a while,” Oldfield said. “They’re a close group.”

-Rob Anthes

Sunnybrae 12s
That the athletes on this year’s Sunnybrae Little League 12-year-old All-Star team won the state championship last year as 11-year olds doesn’t mean they’ll have it easy this year. In a competitive district like District 12, even past success isn’t an indicator of what a team will do.

Manager Steve Chranowski’s squad exceeded expectations last year en route to a state title. To go beyond expectations this year, they’ll have to win the very tough District 12 tournament. No one will be surprised if Sunnybrae pulls it off, even if recent history is against the squad.

“District 12 has incredible competition,” Chranowski said. “Our goal is to win the district. That’s a tall order. No one has repeated in this age group.”

If Sunnybrae does make a run, it will be because of the team’s experience and having the entire roster contributing once again. Chranowski said last year’s title came because the team did not rely on just one or two star players during their 17-game tournament schedule.

Sunnybrae should share the load again this year. Players like Ray Anderson, Tony Bencivengo, Hunter Chranowski, Ryan Mostrangeli, Chris LaBelle, Alex Venutolo and Kyle Werts all are expected to be key for Sunnybrae.

They’ll have to come through, especially if they are to deal with the attention that comes with being def
ending state champions.

“We were the surprise last year,” Chranowski said. “We won’t be a surprise this year.”

-Rob Anthes

Lawrence 12s baseball
Manager Ed Miller knows that his Lawrence 12-year-old All-Star baseball team will be facing some tough competition in this year’s District 12 tournament.

“We’re not favored to do well in this tournament,” he said, “but we’re going to work very hard.”

The team is made up of a few former All-Stars, but only one player, Tanner Adamczyk, is returning from last year’s 12-year-old team. The boys don’t have a great deal of District 12 experience, but Miller and the athletes are working hard to offset that.

Miller feels that the team’s physical strengths are hitting and especially pitching. He said that the team’s success will depend on solid outings from southpaws Adamczyk, Andon Parascando and Kyle Smith and righties Matthew DiTommaso and Finn Lillis. Miller anticipates that catchers Jake Ari and Brandon West will “contribute to working with the pitchers” and act like “walls behind the plate.”

Offensively, the manager expects solid hitting from shortstop Ian Gregg.

Miller, though, set goals for the team that are more geared towards the mental aspects of the game.

“I want our players to give maximum effort at all times when we’re practicing and playing in order to be the best that they can be,” he said. “It is also my goal that these players learn how to be a part of a team and work for the good of the team rather than personal glory.”

These tactics come from the Positive Coaching Alliance, which Miller says has done research to prove that teaching “mastery of the game” is more successful than stressing “the scoreboard definition of winning.”

Because of this, Miller is confident in his team.

“I think the boys will rise to the challenge,” he said. “We hope to catch some of the favored teams off guard and pull some major upsets.”

-Samantha Sciarrotta

Princeton 12s baseball
Manager Matt Frawley remained guarded but optimistic about the chances of his Princeton Little League 12-year-old baseball All-Stars. Last year, the team won the winner’s bracket and advanced to the 11-year-olds District 12 championship game, finishing second place in the tournament.

Before the 2011 District 12 12-year-olds baseball tournament began, Frawley did not want to make any predictions for his squad, namely because it’s hard to gauge the competition after all the players have had another year to grow. Complicating matters further, Princeton will miss star pitcher Teddy Marttla, who was a key to last year’s run and will be sidelined for at least the summer with an arm injury.

If Princeton does return to the championship, it will be due to the contributions of players like Tim Frawley, Joaquin Hernandez-Burt, Matt Lambert, Tommy Pecora, Owen Smith, Joey Studholme and Colin Taylor.

Frawley said his players spend a lot of time together, and that can only prove useful. They’ve perfected their unique style of “intense but loose” baseball, and were looking forward to starting the tournmanet at home June 26.

“We want to play good baseball,” Frawley said. “There are high expectations. I’m guarded. Not because I don’t have faith in our team—I do—but because it’s tough to get back to the championship.”

-Rob Anthes

Princeton/Lawrence 12s softball
As the District 12 tournament draws near, the 12-year-old Princeton/Lawrence softball team has one objective in mind.
“The goal is to win one game,” manager Paul Gray said. “If we do that against one of the best groups of teams, we will be happy.”

The team will indeed be going up against some stiff competition. Its first game is against powerhouse Robbinsville, who won last year’s tournament and went on to compete in the Little League Softball World Series after becoming Section 3, New Jersey, Mid-Atlantic and East region champs.

Princeton and Lawrence decided to combine after neither side had enough interested players to field a team. Princeton had seven and Lawrence had eight, but the two clubs had a solution.

“We had been playing against Lawrence this past year,” Gray said. “They have the same ideas about softball as we do…it was a match.”

Lawrence did not play in the 2010 tournament, and Princeton was joined with Cranbury-Plainsboro. Gray feels that the new union of the two leagues will be beneficial.

The team is young; the majority of the players are 11-year-olds, and only three played in the tournament last year. Nonetheless, Princeton/Lawrence is going into this year’s tournament with an open mind and an energized attitude.

“We have an excited bunch of kids,” Gray said. “They know the game.”

Gray thinks pitching will be a strong point.

“We have several pitchers with the team,” he said. “Nancy Gray will lead the rotation. She has three pitches and has a very good fastball. Izzy is our sharp shooter. She is good at hitting her target. We have Melissa Rothenberg and Rita Thompson completing our pitching line up.”

The manager said that although the girls may be unfamiliar with some of their teammates, they “will need to learn and trust each other very fast.” However, their skill, knowledge and enthusiasm will likely make this happen quickly.

-Samantha Sciarrotta

Robbinsville 12s baseball
Manager Scott Veisz liked what he saw of his players before the late June start of the District 12 tournament.

That’s why he had trouble hiding the enthusiasm he has for the 2011 RLL 12-year-old All-Star team—Paul Franzoni, Dylan James, Matt Veisz, Jame Petagna, Taylor Twamley, Kyle Twamley, Matt Sellers, Matt Spiegel, Mike Ortepio, Anthony Iorio and Corey Kale.

“I have an outwardly conservative approach, but I have a quiet confidence,” Veisz said. “I’m excited about our team. It comes down to execution, but I think we’re dangerous.”

Veisz acknowledged it’s hard to predict what will happen, especially against the tough District 12 competition. But he thought his athletes have had a great attitude, which will mix well with their talent and a couple of recent growth spurts.

“They’ve had to battle being a small team,” Veisz said. “I think those challenges should be less this year. The playing field is evening out.”

-Rob Anthes

Robbinsville 12s softball
This year’s Robbinsville Little League 12-year-old softball All-Stars may be young, but don’t mistake that for inexperience.
Sure, none of the athletes have returned from the 2010 12-year-old team that advanced to the Little League Softball World Series. But this year’s group knows how to win. Of the team’s 12 players, nine belonged to the 10-year-old team that won the state championship last year. The core includes Kellie Hoffman, Lauren Kiszely, Sara Motusesky, Riane Walsh and Victoria Zangrilli.

“We’re young, but we’re strong,” manager Keith Motusesky said. “We’re going to have to use our girls’ athleticism to win games.”

Motusesky said his team will manufacture runs by doing things like stealing bases and will limit opponents’ chances by playing solid defense. If RLL’s athletes do that, they should reach their goal of winning the District 12 tournament, the manager said.

“We just want to win districts,” Motusesky said. “It’s a very competitive district. If you come out of District 12, you’re usually one of the best teams in the state, and you can make goals from there.”

It’s not odd the athletes have set their sights on the championship. Motusesky said it’s all part of the culture cultivated in Robbinsville, where younger girls see the success of the 10-year-old and 12-year-old All-Star teams and want to do the same thing.

“With all the success Robbinsville has had the past five or six years, the girls come and they expect to win,” Motusesky said. “They don’t get nervous. They just play.”

-Rob Anthes