The Manville American League Post 304 Blue 11-12-year-old baseball team ended its season with a 10-5 playoff loss to the Somerville Dodgers. The defeat finalized their season record at five wins and six losses.
By their effort and play, every member of the team gave coaches Bob Demeter, Jack Kuhlman, Al Faleski, Jr. and Linny Mahedy much to be proud of during the course of the season.
With the injury loss of Bobby Demeter, a starting pitcher, fine defensive player and an offensive threat, the Blue were at somewhat of a disadvantage in their final two games.
In the playoff loss, the Dodgers, who had been defeated by the Blue by one run in each of their regular season battles, started off quickly scoring two in the top of the first. The Blue came right back in the bottom of the first when Chris Silcox reached on an error, Dan Peltack singled and Carl Imhoff double them both home. The Dodgers did one better, scoring three runs in the second.
In the third, the Blue inched closer when Silcox doubled and Peltack singled him home. In the fifth, though, the Dodgers broke it open scoring five. The Blue then fell short in a valiant comeback bid in the sixth with Brian Kuhlman reaching on a walk and Silcox, Peltack and Imhoff following with RBI singles. Other Blue players reaching base during the game were Kyle Thomaszfski on a single in the fourth and Steve Poto on a free pass.
Silcox went the distance for the Blue and did a fine job, with only five of the Dodgers’ runs being earned. He fanned 11 batters and made two great plays on shots hit back to the mound.
In the previous week, the Blue lost a 6-5 subway series nail-biter to crosstown Manville Gold. The Blue came out smoking in the first. Peltack followed walks to Troy Armstrong and Brian Kuhlman with a single scoring both. Imhoff then singled and eventually stole third and home for the Blue’s third run.
The Gold then scored a run each in the first and second innings to tie the game. In the third, Kuhlman and Peltack reached on an error and a walk and were brought home by Imhoff and Connor Faleski on fielder’s choices. The Gold, however, came back in the fifth to score three and the Gold’s Kyle Puza held the Blue at bay the rest of the way. Andrew Sutton and Silcox did fine jobs on the mound for the Blue, giving up only four earned runs and fanning eight. The Blue pulled off a nice play in the fourth when a Faleski to Poto to Imhoff relay nailed a Gold hitter trying to stretch a double into a triple.
One of the highlights of the season was a comeback win over the Somerville Angels a few days after being blanked by them. Joe Mascola, Hodge and Armstrong loaded the bases with singles to begin the Blue’s big third inning. Demeter, Silcox and Kuhlman then followed with key hits to bring runners home, Kuhlman’s being a long triple.
During the season, every player contributed to the team’s effort. The bulk of the pitching was performed by Demeter, Silcox and Sutton and they averaged over nine strikeouts per six innings. Imhoff, in middle relief, fanned 16 in eight innings. Armstrong and Kuhlman, pitching late in one game each in emergencies, held off opponents to preserve wins for the Blue. The staff’s earned run average ended up a very respectable 4.52.
Armstrong and Jake Tokarzewski shared the bulk of the catching duties and did fine jobs of holding runners at bay and standing their ground on plays at the plate. When not catching, Armstrong played short and Tokarzewski multiple spots in the outfield. Peltack was a fixture at first and caught just about anything hit or thrown near him. In addition to Armstrong, the bulwark of the infield duties were in the fine hands of Demeter, Imhoff, Kuhlman, Silcox and Sutton. Along with Tokarzewski, hustle and some great catches marked the play of Faleski, Niku Hodge, Imhoff, Mascola, Poto, Thomaszfski and Logan Vestik in the outfield. In an 11-10 win over the Somerville Angels, a shoestring catch in right field with the Blue fielder doubling off the runner at first saved the day.
Speaking of Niku Hodge, his is quite the story. This writer happened to notice some classmates showing Hodge how to bat on the Roosevelt School playground last spring. Only being introduced to baseball last year, he has progressed to giving maximum effort and shows no fear at the plate, as evidenced by him taking one for the team four times during the season. In a victory over Raritan, he doubled and knocked in two, and in a one-run win over Somerville, he legged out a grounder to third to keep a key rally going. Hodge’s determination and play has won over the admiration of his teammates and the fans alike.
In regard to the Blue’s offense, one of the season’s stats that stands out is that Armstrong, Demeter, Kuhlman, Peltack and Silcox only fanned a combined total of 23 times during the 11 games. Peltack and Silcox led the team in average, both hitting .409 with Armstrong close behind at .391 and Demeter, Imhoff, and Kuhlman also hitting at better than .333 clips.
Kuhlman at .667, Demeter at .652 and Silcox at .642 were the on base leaders with Armstrong, Faleski and Imhoff all above .500. Imhoff had the team best slugging percentage of .583, followed by Silcox at .545 and Armstrong at .521. Every member of the team contributed RBI during the season. Cleanup hitter Peltack led the way with 11. The team reached base 148 times in 322 plate appearances for an impressive .459 on base percentage.
