Sport Shorts

The Manalapan Fever plowed through the Marlboro Little League 2001 Summer Tournament undefeated in winning the 10-year-old Division crown. The Fever won four straight games as they combined solid pitching, sound defense and a very productive offensive to dominate opponents. The Fever scored 32 runs in their four games, while their hurlers pitched to a 1.092 earned run average. Catcher Chris Gheraldi was Manalapan’s double threat. He was 7-14 at the plate and flawless in the field.

The Fever rallied from a 2-0 deficit in their first game against the Devil Rays to win 9-2. An eight-run fourth inning was sparked by Patrick LeCompte, Lucas Scollo and John Petrozziello. Joe Coppola was the starter and kept the Fever close until the offense got untracked. Matt Steinitz was wonderful in relief, throwing three scoreless innings to make the outburst hold up.

Against Tinton Falls in their second game, the Fever again fell behind, trailing 1-0. Pat LeCompte’s RBI single tied the game, scoring Anthony Bacigalupi. Anthony Asciutto’s clutch two-RBI double in the fourth gave Manalapan the lead, and Bacigalupi provided insurance with a two-RBI double of his own in the fifth. The Fever went on to score a 6-3 win. Anthony Cirillo and Danny Cherchia also contributed to the offensive production.

In the third game, the Fever scored early and often, beating Linden, 14-4. Danny Fasano and Tommy Sylvester swung the hot bats.

In the championship game played under the lights at the Marlboro Little League Complex, the Devil Rays were looking to avenge their opening-round loss. Again, the Devil Rays had the early lead, but solid pitching from starter Austin Henderson and middle reliever Joe Coppola limited the damage to just two runs. The Fever came back as they did throughout the tournament, catching the Devil Rays, and then going ahead 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI double by Steinitz that plated Gheraldi with the winning run. Steinitz then closed it out with two shutout innings of pitching in relief, which made him the winning pitcher.

Chris Asciutto is the manager and Jeff Gheraldi and Paul Bacigalupi the coaches.

The Howell Heat girls fastpitch softball team hosted HeatWave 2001 at Oak Glen Park last weekend. There were 64 teams in the tournament with squads from New York, Connecticut, Delaware and Pennsylvania participating.

The host Heat won the U-10 A-flight title with West Milford Extreme taking the B-flight.

In the U-12 division, Jersey Breeze won the A-flight and North Edison Blue Devils, B. Red Thunder won the A-flight in U-14 with the Jersey City Gems first in B. In the U-16 division, Brunswick Chaos was first in A and Toms River Lightning in B.

The Heat will be holding tryouts for the 2002 season for their 10-, 12-, 14- and 16-year-old teams at the Howell Middle School North. The 10-year-olds will try out on Sept. 7 from 5-7 p.m. and Sept. 15 from 10 a.m.-noon. The 12s will try out on Sept. 8 and 15 from noon-2 p.m.; the 14s at 2-4 p.m. on those same days and the 16s from 4-6 p.m., also on the same days. The teams are especially interested in pitchers and catchers. The tryouts are open to players in the surrounding areas of Howell. Call Tom at (732) 938-6023 if interested or for more information.

Registration is now being accepted for the Jewish Community Center of Western Monmouth’s Fall Basketball League. This Sunday league is for grades three through 12. The season runs from mid-October through March of 2002. All players must be JCCWM members. Cost is $80 if registered by Sept. 1 and $95 prior to Oct. 1. No registrations will be accepted after Oct. 1.

For an application or further information, call Jim Nolan at ( 732) 683-9300.

Also, the JCC of Western Monmouth’s Annual Golf Outing is scheduled for Sept. 10 at the Bella Vista Country Club. The day will begin with registration and breakfast at 9 a.m., following at 10 by golf (shotgun start). Cocktails, awards dinner, sports memorabilia auction and raffle drawings follow the tournament. Call (732) 683-9300 to register or for more information