Monroe 15-year-old team goes on a wild ride

The Monroe 15U travel baseball team finished their summer tournament schedule with a 16-4 record, and won the Babe Ruth District 13 title, placing them in the state tournament, where they went all the way to the state championship game.

Along the way, they also competed in a tournament in South Plainfield, making for a very busy summer baseball season.

On July 12, Monroe entered the Babe Ruth State Tournament, a double-elimination tournament. Monroe drew Lakeland in the first round. Unfortunately the team got off to a tough start by dropping the game. As a result of that loss, Monroe had to win five games in a row to get to the state finals.

Their first obstacle was Sussex, another large township, and Monroe won the game, 5-3. Next, Monroe beat Manalapan 3-2, then, on July 20, they beat River Park 5-0.

The following day, Monroe traveled to an afternoon game in the South Plainfield Tournament (a tournament they went on to win) and played a tough Carteret team, losing, 6-5. After another game in South Plainfield (where they beat Bridgewater, 10-2), they returned to state play to face Lodi. In a wild contest, Monroe prevailed, 21-13, which placed them in the state semi-finals against a very strong team from West New York.

Behind a dominant pitching performance from Mike Sweeney, who allowed only one run on three hits, while striking out six, Monroe won in eight innings, 2-1, on a Sweeney single, plating home Craig Mazor who had drawn a walk. Ryan Kelly came in during the eighth and shut down West New York’s bats by striking out the side.

"They were a solid team. They were all great ball players," said Monroe’s manager Mike Quaglietta. "We played our best game against them."

This exciting win placed Monroe in the state championship game against Lakeland, the team they lost to in the first round of the state tournament. Monroe put up a great effort, but Lakeland again beat Monroe for the New Jersey Babe Ruth state title.

With the disappointing loss to Lakeland still fresh in their minds, Monroe now had to start the playoffs in the South Plainfield tournament.

They beat Bridgewater in the first round, 14-0, placing them in the championship game, where they would have to face a strong Carteret team who had beaten them earlier in this tournament.

Lead-off batter Craig Mazor set the pace with a solo home run. Anthony Viani drew a walk, then Jared Jimenez doubled, bringing up Nicky Tauriello, who belted a three-run home run to stake Monroe to a 4-0 lead.

In the second inning, Devon Quaglietta hit a solo home run to make it 5-0 after two innings. Travis Johnson then drew a walk and stole second, before Mazor plated him with a single. Back-to-back doubles by Quaglietta and Viani scored two more, making it 8-0 after four innings. In the fifth, a Mike Sweeney single moved Tauriello to third after he walked. Then Johnson hit a deep sacrifice fly, plating Tauriello to make it 9-0.

Carteret made the game interesting by scoring four runs in the bottom of the fifth, but the Monroe bats were not done, scorching Carteret pitching for 10 more runs in the sixth and seventh innings. In the Monroe sixth, Mazor drew a walk and then took second on a fielder’s choice, before Viani walked. With one out, Mazor scored on a deep sacrifice fly off the bat of Jarred Jimenez. Tauriello then plated Viani with a single, before Kelly walked and Sweeney hit a three-run home run, making it 14-4. Monroe showed no mercy, pounding Carteret with five more runs. Chris Hansen started the seventh with a walk, Quaglietta and Viani also walked, and Jimenez hit a two-RBI single, before Tauriello, Sweeney and Johnson all added an RBI each with singles.

Sweeney was dominant on the mound again for Monroe, leading Monroe’s pitching staff, and was well followed by Kelly and Tauriello. Hansen, Quaglietta, Johnson and Frank Steinhauser also did a fine job on the mound when called upon.

The Monroe players are Craig Mazor, Devon Quaglietta, Anthony Viani, Frank Steinhauser, Jarred Jimenez, Nicky Tauriello, Ryan Kelly, Michael Sweeney, Travis Johnson and Chris Hansen. The team manager is Mike Quaglietta, and the coaches are Jeff Jimenez, Frank Kelly and Phil Mazor.

— Doug McKenzie