By tim morris
Staff Writer
This is what dreams are made of. Two all-star teams from the Freehold Township Little League are still standing, still dreaming of reaching the World Series, and no one can blame them.
Having won at the District and Section levels, and now collecting state championships, both teams can dare to dream the dream that anyone who has ever put on a Little League uniform has dreamed — playing in the Little League World Series.
Both teams, the Little League and Junior League, are one step away from realizing that dream. They give Freehold Township Little League two chances at getting a team to the World Series.
Last week in South Vineland, the Freehold Township American won the Little League (ages 11-12) state title with a 3-0 win over Ridgewood. Chris Bresnahan tossed a one-hitter and was supported by home runs off the bats of John Morrill and Anthony (A.C.) Cirillo.The state championship win sent Freehold Township American to Bristol, Conn., home of the 2003 Mid-Atlantic Regional tournament. Freehold Township began pool play Monday against Capitol City, Washington, D.C.
Six teams are in the Mid-Atlantic Region and they will play each other in pool play throughout the week. The four teams with the best record will play on Saturday in the semifinals with the winners playing Tuesday at 8 p.m. on ESPN for the regional title and a trip to Williamsport, Pa., for the Little League World Series.
While Freehold Township American, managed by Anthony Cirillo, was winning in South Vineland, Freehold Township’s Junior All-Stars (13-14) were tearing up the competition at the Howell Central Little League Complex. They routed Roberto Clemente, Newark, 14-0 in the state final July 29 to win the league’s second straight Junior League state championship.
The Junior League Eastern Regional tournament is being played this week in Tinton Falls. Play began for Freehold Township on Saturday with a 4-1 win over Hatsboro, the Pennsylvania state champions.
Ryan Cuneo continued his otherworldly hitting by smacking his 11th home run of the playoffs, a two-run blast in the first inning.
An RBI single from Chase Majewski and an RBI sacrifice fly off the bat of Dominick Hayes staked starter Jason Nardi to a 4-0 lead. Nardi tired in the seventh, finally surrendering a run, but pitched out of trouble to get the complete game victory.
Being introduced at the opening ceremonies as the champions of New Jersey had an impact on the Freehold Township nine.
"Representing New Jersey, we want to go out and show a lot of class and play hard," said Cuneo.
Freehold Township has done just that in its first two games.
After beating Hatsboro on Saturday, Freehold Township’s Juniors lost their first playoff game of the year, 6-5, in nine innings to Edgewood-South Elmwood, the champions of Rhode Island.
Again, a two-run home run from Cuneo (12th in the tournament) helped stake Freehold Township to a 5-2 lead. But for the first time this year they couldn’t make it stand and eventually fell in extra innings to go into the loser’s bracket.
Manager Charles Wilmot said his club remains confident.
"The kids were disappointed, but we’re not down," he said. "This team has enough pitching and quality to come back. There’s still a lot of baseball to be played."
Taylor, Mich., is the site for the Junior League World Series.
Only one area team has ever played in a Little League World Series and that was the 1992 Howell Central Senior League All-Stars. They were managed by Tony Richardson and led by a crafty left-hander, Joey Aragona.