Open District 12 play at Florence
By: Bob Nuse
All of the ingredients are there for the Princeton 12-year-old all-stars to have a successful run in pool play during the District 12 Little League Tournament, which begins Wednesday.
Princeton has a deep pitching staff, some power hitters, guys who can get on base, a solid defense and some experience. Together, those ingredients make for a pretty good team.
"I think our league had a really good year this year," said Princeton manager Billy Ray, whose team will open tournament play with an 8 p.m. game at Florence on Wednesday night. "I did the 11s last year and we have about half of those kids back. And we’ve got one player Alex Kim who played with the 12s last year. It’s a pretty deep team. I think we have a lot more pitching depth this year, and we have a better all-around team."
Princeton will play in Pool B along with Cranbury-Plainsboro, Washington Township, Chambersburg, Florence and Sunnybrae. After opening at Florence on Wednesday, Princeton will play at Chambersburg on Thursday at 8 p.m., host C-P on Saturday at 5 p.m., and then conclude pool play at Sunnybrae on Sunday at 5 p.m.
"I think we have a chance to do well," Ray said. "I know Florence is a tough team and that will be a good test for us to open up against. It’s a tough first game. We’re playing our first two games under the lights, which will be nice for us."
Princeton chances will revolve around a pitching staff that goes at least six deep. Either Kim or Michael Dunlap will pitch the opener against Florence, with the other probably going in the second game. Rohit Chawla is right behind those two in the rotation.
Alex and Mike Dunlap are both very good," Ray said. "And Rohit is an 11-year-old who had a great season for us in the spring. He’s also a real good shortstop. Those are probably our top three pitchers. Our next three are George Blinick, Ellis Bloom and Clay Censits. They’re all good pitchers and you really need to have at least six pitchers in a tournament like this."
Offensively, Kim, Censits and Will Greenberg are the team’s top power hitters.
"Will is a great hitter," Ray said. "Those three are our boppers in the middle of the lineup."
At the top of the lineup, Princeton has some hitters Jeremy Goldsmith, Michael Ray and Robert Hrabchak who will be able to set the table for the power bats behind them. Will Ezekowitz is another hitter who will get on base in front of the bigger bats.
"We’ve got guys who can get on base, and Will is new to the program and he’s been a nice addition," Ray said. "He does a lot of nice things for the team. And so does Jeff Barsamian; he’s another player we have with a good bat."
When Ray mixes it all together, he hopes he has a team that can compete and find a way to get to the District 12 Final 9, which begins July 6 at Lawrence.
"I think we’ll be competitive," Ray said. "All the kids we have are pretty athletic. They’ve been working well together and I think we have a chance to do well. You never quite know about the rest of the competition, but we think we have a nice team."

