E.W. 9’s dominate field in HTRBA tourney

   The East Windsor PAL 9-year-old boys swept through the 14-team HTRBA Tournament by defeating Nottingham, 8-5, in the championship game.
   After falling behind 3-0 in the first inning, East Windsor chipped away, scoring one in the second on an RBI single by Shawn Mozeika.
   In the third inning, East Windsor went small ball and converted three straight bunts for hits by JP Brady, Alex Hall and Andrew Freedman. CJ Salstead and Sam Nagy then promptly singled in all three runners to take the lead.
   East Windsor broke the game open with a crazy four-run fourth inning.
   With East Windsor leading 8-3 in the bottom of the fourth, Nottingham loaded the bases with one out. That’s when shortstop Craig Monahan stepped up and made the defensive play of the tournament on a hard grounder. Monahan fielded it on one hop, tagged the runner and stepped on second to complete the unassisted double play and end the threat.
   On the mound Sam Nagy continued to impress, pitching 4 2/3 innings and striking out six in getting the win. Daniel Johnson Cole then pitched the last 1 1/3 innings to preserve the win and earn his first save. All 13 kids contributed to the championship.
   East Windsor got tremendous pitching all tournament from Sam Nagy, Craig Monahan, Daniel Johnson Cole, Michael Lauston and Jacob Simon. Behind the plate, Jack Zosulis and Matt Jacobson kept the pitching staff intact. Combined they threw out seven base runners attempting to steal.
   Patrolling the outfield were KJ Verriest, Alex Hall, Shawn Mozeika and JP Brady. Securing the corners in the infield were Andrew Freedman and CJ Salstead. The team is managed by Kyle Zosulis, with Rob Salstead and Mike Monahan serving as his coaches.
   Next up for East Windsor is the Washington tournament, which gets under way this week.