H-EW 13’s heading to Babe Ruth World Series
By: Sean Moylan
As Chuck Petty read off the names of the teams his club would be playing in a couple of weeks in Hamilton, one had to smile with pure delight and almost disbelief.
Australia. The United States’ Southeast. The United States’ Southwest. But those are just a few.
The Hightstown-East Windsor 13-year-old Babe Ruth All-Star team really did it. It’s the Southern New Jersey State champs and it really will be playing in the 2006 Babe Ruth World Series starting with an exhibition game versus Hamilton on August 13. Hightstown-East Windsor will play out of the American Division along with the representatives from New England, the Ohio Valley, the Southeast, the Pacific Southwest and Nottingham, New Jersey.
As winners of the Southern New Jersey championship at Montgomery this past week, Hightstown-East Windsor received an automatic bye into the World Series. And because Petty and his coaching staff do not wish to deprive another team from qualifying for the World Series, they’ve decided not to participate in the Regional round. However, Hightstown-East Windsor has been down this road before with a long layoff between the District One title game and the start of the Southern Jersey Championship round. It knows how to stay fresh with good hard practices and pick-up games. Furthermore, the club’s dynamic pitching duo of Corey Vono and Steven Kowalski have pitched like super men and can use some much-deserved rest.
"This is the first district and state championship for the 13’s. We’re the first HEWY ball team to ever get to the World Series. The kids are so excited and they don’t have to travel (the World Series will be held in Hamilton)," noted Petty. "We’re so proud of these kids. It’s a great thing for HEWY ball."
Under doctor’s orders not to leave the house after a recent back operation, Petty followed his club via cell phone most of the last round. However, with Chris Pacifico and John Von Ahnen running the ship with help from scorekeeper Fred Petak, Hightstown-East Windsor has always been in good hands.
Let’s be honest, although Atlantic Shore was a tough competitor in two championship games (it won the first one 6-1 and lost the second 13-9), Hightstown-East Windsor otherwise dominated both the Southern New Jersey and especially the District One tournament. And this was a case where the numbers do not lie.
"We had 99 team hits and a .374 team average. And we stole 49 bases in 60 attempts," added Petty, whose team lost only once in nine games. Meanwhile, barely anyone dared run on Eric Strano’s fantastic arm. And at the plate Strano put up monster numbers.
"Eric (Strano) had 15 RBI (in the Southern New Jersey tournament). That’s a lot for five games. He was in the zone. Eric struck out just one time," said Petty. "He caught every inning of every game."
Strano’s overall average for two tourneys was .424. He had 14 hits, including six doubles and a triple and he scored 11 times, knocked in a team -high 19 runs and stole seven bases in eight attempts.
"John Indrikovic was our leading hitter with a .594 average," noted Petty. Indrikovic also led the squad in hits (19), runs (14), total bases (25), slugging percentage (.781) and on base average (.641). He knocked in 13 runs, smacked four doubles and swiped six bases too. Oh yeah, he was arguably the best shortstop in two different tournaments.
With 14 hits and a .467 average, right fielder John Von Ahnen is as steady as they come. He had two doubles, seven RBI and eight runs scored and stole four bases without getting caught once.
Center fielder Josh Pacifico batted .394 with 13 hits, nine RBI and eight runs scored. He also led the team in steals with 11. Even though he missed a game, second baseman Cory Karagjozi still managed to crack 10 his and post a .370 average with a double, five RBI, four steals and nine runs scored.
First baseman Robert Murphy batted an even .300 and had a double, five RBI and five runs. He also came up with some very big hits in the clutch.
Tyler Schickner posted a .333 average with a .500 on base percentage. According to Petty, Kevin Monahan played some amazing defense at third base and he also helped the club with seven runs, three steals, five walks and a pair of sacrifices. Alex Petak, a slick-fielding second baseman, drew three walks and had an on-base average of .500.
The amazing Halley Gartner batted .333 with two RBI, five walks, five runs, six steals and a .583 on base average.
But we saved two of the best, Kowalski and Vono, for last.
Kowalski, a second baseman, batted .323 with 10 hits, six RBI, three doubles, a team-high eight walks, 13 runs and five steals while Vono hit .250 with three runs batted in and two runs. However, their real value came on the mound. Vono posted a perfect 5-0 record while Kowalski was 3-1. And they often saved each other’s games. In 58 innings Hightstown-East Windsor hurlers surrendered just 51 hits and 23 walks. And the majority of that work was done by Vono and Kowalski, who both produced one pop up or ground ball after another.
Hightstown-East Windsor will open the World Series with an exhibition game versus Hamilton on August 13. Then it is scheduled to play Australia in an exhibition game on August 14. It’s first real World Series game will be on August 18 versus Nottingham. Hightstown-East Windsor is scheduled to play Pacific Southwest on August 19th, Southeast on August 20 and New England on August 21. The kids will be ready and hopefully Petty will be back to lead his club from the dugout.