By Wayne witkowski
Staff Writer
It has been a memorable week for the Brick American 14-year-old All-Star team..
First, the squad won the District 18 championship with the sweetest possible victory, a 5-4 thriller over crosstown rival Brick National that was won in the last inning on a run-scoring single by winning pitcher Mark Cerrachio.
Then, Dan DeJianne’s team advanced into the Section I championship game Monday night against Freehold Borough in Tinton Falls.
After falling into the losers’ bracket Saturday afternoon in a 12-0 loss to Freehold, Brick American bounced back against Howell Central in a 5-2 victory later that night.
"I know we had the potential to get to the [section] finals and we hung in there," said DeJianne, Brick American’s team manager. "We expected to be in the district finals."
But Freehold looked sharp Saturday night when it held Brick American to three hits. Joe Piezzo took the loss. Brick American had runners on first and second in the first inning with one out before hitting two ground outs. Later, Vin Falkiewicz lashed a single and stole second base with one out in the sixth inning but was stranded.
Earlier in the day, Joe D’Amato went the distance with a five-hitter bolstered by eight strikeouts against Howell Central as Falkiewicz had three hits for three RBIs and John Rutowski also had three hits and drove in a run. Brick American built a 4-0 lead before Howell Central scored. Mark Cerrachio and Mike Galeotafiore lined back-to-back doubles in the fifth inning to restore the lead to 5-1 before Howell scored again in the sixth.
The Americans hammered out a 16-0 victory over Sayrewoods South prior to those two games in the section. The game was suspended Friday night because of rain and Brick American nailed down the final two outs when it was picked up Saturday.
D’Amato, who pitched only the first inning before Brick American reeled off nine runs in the top of the second inning, got the victory. D’Amato and Sam Sciamarelli each lined a two-run double in the rally, and Tom Lawler slugged a two-run single. Sciamarelli and D’Amato each finished with three hits for three RBIs.
In the district championship game against Brick National, Cerrachio came through with a line single that drove in Falkiewicz, who ripped a single and stole second. Cerrachio struck out six and walked three while allowing seven hits, but two of those hits were big ones.
Chris Sorice blasted a three-run home run in the second inning that spotted Brick National a 3-0 lead, but Brick American eventually went ahead before F.J. Luccetti tied it at 4-4 with a home run in the top of the seventh inning for the National. That set the scene for the dramatic rally in the bottom of the seventh.
Brick American strung single runs in the third through seventh innings, including a home run by Sciamarelli and a run-scoring single by Galeotafiore.
Brick American advanced to the district championship game with a 4-1 victory over Howell Central early last week as Galeotafiore pitched a six-hitter and pinch hitter Matt Brain lined a run-scoring double in the sixth inning for a 3-1 lead. Brain rode home on Rutowski’s single.
"Brain stole so many bases for us as a specialty runner that we figured we’d put him up [to hit] with his speed and he did an excellent job," said DeJianne.
Howell Central had runners on the corners off back-to-back hits when Galeotafiore coaxed the next batter into a game-ending groundout.
Howell Central struck first in the first inning before Falkiewicz tied it in the third with a double that knocked in Mike Douglas, who walked and stole second.
Cerrachio put his mates ahead with a run-scoring single in the fourth inning that scored Brain, a pinch runner for Piezzo, who singled.