Second loss to East Windsor halts win streak at six
By: Dan Komyati
After watching the final out of the District 12 losers’ bracket final fall harmlessly into the glove of the opposition, West Windsor manager Hank Chudzik began to wonder if he should have used some different late-inning strategy.
The second-guessing did not last long.
While an 8-7 defeat to East Windsor last Thursday marked the conclusion of West Windsor’s courageous run through the District 12 baseball tournament, Chudzik and his coaching staff knew that they could not have asked for anything else from their group of 12-year-olds.
"How can you feel bad when so many nice things happened?" asked Chudzik, referring to his resilient squad winning six straight elimination games in the tournament. "We knew we had the talent, and for two weeks it all came together."
West Windsor’s run left it one victory away from the township’s first District 12 championship game in seven years. After dropping its opening contest against East Windsor, 7-4, the Princeton Junction gang dominated their next six opponents by a combined margin of 47-13.
"Our guys were very disappointed after that first loss, but we were able to block it out and take things one game at a time," said Chudzik, who credits much of his team’s success to his great coaching staff. "In the end, 16 teams went down before us."
Only a single run prevented that total from increasing to 17. West Windsor’s turnaround included contributions from every name on the roster, and an increased focus on baseball fundamentals.
After committing nine errors in its opening game loss, West Windsor sparkled defensively in turning five double plays in their remaining seven games a rarity in Little League baseball.
Stellar pitching and defense put West Windsor in control of almost every game, and along with the victories came an increased confidence. That was all it took for their bats to come alive, as they pounded out six home runs in their final five games.
While dropping the tournament’s opener created a very difficult path for West Windsor, it ended up winning one more game six than eventual district champion Nottingham.
Though losing to East Windsor for a second time was hard to swallow, Chudzik will always look back fondly at the quality of 12-year-olds that he has had the pleasure of coaching over the last few years.
"I loved coaching these kids, I wouldn’t change it for a thing," said Chudzik. "We almost made it."