By: Rich Fisher
Slowly but surely, the Cranbury-Plainsboro Little League is developing a winning tradition in the District 12 tournament.
It is a tradition that head coach Joe Donohue expects to continue this season.
"I feel that this team really has a lot of talent, I don’t see any real weaknesses," Donohue said. "Basically, in five years, this is the best team talent-wise that we’ve had. We have outstanding pitching, there’s no weaknesses in the field and our hitters are all potentially strong.
"I think I’ve got 12 solid kids and we’ll do really well. I’ve got kids who can put it over the fence and kids who make contact. We can play small and we can play long."
Donohue feels the main reason for this group being the best he has had, is the addition of four players Drew Siversten (IF/OF), Marc Graziano (3B/P/C), Colin Graydon (OF) and Evan Smith (P/OF).
"Those four guys have really added strength to our team," Donohue said. "They’ve helped make a difference."
The quartet joins holdovers Mike Skapyak (CF), Zack Donohue (P/C/SS), Phil Trachtenberg (SS/P/2B), Ralph Aurora (2b), Todd Petrone (1B/C), Sujith Muraili (OF/1B), Ryan Brazel (PO/OF) and Lenny Bellezza (3B).
Those players helped win the HTRBA tournament as 8-year-olds. Last year, they just missed advancing out of pool play in the HTRBA tournament, missing out due to run differential.
This year, they hope to follow in the footsteps of two straight C-P 12-year-old teams that reached the final four in bracket play of the District 12 tournament.
Last year’s squad won its pool with a 3-1 record and went 2-2 in bracket play.
"We don’t want to be the first (C-P) team not to advance from the pool," Donohue said. "We want to continue that tradition and hopefully get to the tournament finals.
"I think our program is getting better. Obviously, both townships are growing and we’re getting more kids, and we have more talent coming through."
This year, C-P is in Pool A. The locals open Thursday night against Ewing at Plainsboro’s Community Park in an 8 p.m. tilt. On Sunday, C-P meets Chambersburg at West End (3 p.m.); on Monday it plays at East Windsor (8 p.m.) and on Wednesday, July 7, it plays West End at Ewing (6 p.m.). It is a wide open pool devoid of any real powerhouse.
"I’ve watched enough sports not to make any kind of predictions," Donohue said. "But I’m not unhappy with our pool."
EXTRA INNINGS: Donohue’s assistant coaches are Drew Trachtenberg and Jeff Petrone . . . Of the 12-man roster, 11 are from Plainsboro and Graydon is from Cranbury.
