Marlin’s Aerial Signs team cops senior softball title

Manager Howie Marlin, long a fixture on the Shore athletic scene, is celebrating his latest conquest. He had a direct hand in Aerial Signs winning the "C" Division bronze state championship in the Senior Softball State Championship Tournament.

The tourney, held at the Manalapan Recreation Center, pitted the top teams in the state, and Monmouth County came away with two championships.

Mulligan’s/IAMA won the "A" title.

Marlin gathered his team for the last time this season, and it culminated in a successful campaign.

"It was a great accomplishment for this team," he said. "We had a lot of new players, and everybody contributed. They all played well together. It was a total team effort."

After losing its first game to the Ocean County Scrappers, Aerial Signs rebounded to win its next four games, coming from behind in all three of the Sunday games to clinch the championship.

In the title game, the bats were booming as Williams Construction, of Ocean County, took an 11-10 lead in the fifth inning.

However, Aerial was equal to the task and shoved across five runs in the seventh inning for a 17-11 victory.

Wielding big bats in the opening games were Paul DeAngelo, Sal Riggi, Ed Fiore, Bob Coyle and Kevin Cole.

Also coming up with timely hits were Scott Marlin, Mike Koval, Bill Vanderstreet, Steve Grasso and Vinny Mango.

Dick Cero was outstanding on the mound, winning all three games on Sunday. He also helped himself with three hits against Williams Construction.

Aerial launched its title chase by beating the Middlesex County Diamonds and then stopped Colorco, from Middlesex, 5-4 in a hotly contested contest.

Its next hurdle was M&J Roofing out of Union County. Aerial went off with five runs in the first inning on successive hits by Grasso, Cole, Coyle, Riggi, Mango and Marlin. However, M&J rebounded with six runs and led by a solo marker, 6-5, going into the bottom of the sixth inning.

The Signmen exploded for eight runs as they batted around to seal the victory. The offense was sparked by a triple by Coyle, Marlin’s two-bagger and a two-run single by Fiore.

Marlin also praised Emro Krasovec, Gil James and Mike Torri for their efforts on the field.

—Jack Oakley