By Wayne witkowski
Staff Writer
BRICK TOWNSHIP— Red alert!
That was the warning for many opposing teams in the Brick National Minor League where manager John Higgins’ Reds team got hot in mid May and won the playoff championship in the 9-12-year-old division.
The Reds recently completed a 19-4 season when they rallied from a 7-3 deficit to beat the Braves, 9-7, in the third and final game of their best-of-three championship series. The Braves won the first game before the Reds came on to win the next two.
It was a better finish than a year ago when the Reds went 14-4-2 and were the No. 1 seed in the playoffs but never got to the championship series.
"The kids’ drive was tremendous," said John Marshock, one of the coaches along with Jamie Herbert, Tim Holland and Arnold Leone. "Our second-year players — Nicole Brower, Cory Rackliffe and John Marshock — came through for us."
The Reds won the Northern Division regular season championship for the second straight year with a 14-3 record. Ace pitcher Aaryn Strong hurled the championship game and Rackliffe pitched the victories over the Mets in the division championship game and the second game against the Braves. He also played shortstop well when he didn’t pitch and had good speed at the leadoff spot in the batting order.
But it was a grand slam by Tom Holland that tied the championship game and gave his teammates a boost — not bad for someone who usually bats in the No. 7 spot in the batting order. In fact, the whole lineup came out swinging when the Reds avenged an early-season loss to the Marlins that started an eight-game win streak in mid May, many of the victories by the 10-run rule, and the Reds kept the momentum from there.
"We were aggressive on the basepaths, and the coaches wanted serious speed in the top of the lineup, but even those kids hit like clean-up hitters," said Marshock.
Brower, a lefty hitter who played first base, batted second in the order, and young Marshock, who went from center field to first base when Brower pitched, hit third. Marshock was flanked in the outfield by Randy Herbert in left and Matt Rackliffe in right. Reliable third baseman Steve McManus was the clean-up hitter, and defensive standout Kevin Voorhees patrolled second base. John Tomaszewski and Holland alternated at catcher.
Arnold Leone and Mike Powers were productive backup outfielders, and when it was time to accept the championship trophy, every single player was able to feel like an important part of it.