PRINCETON: Princeton 11s back in elite company

Baseball all-stars begin final four

By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
   The Princeton 11-year-old all-star baseball team is back in the final four of the District 12 Little League tournament.
   Last year, they were one of four teams left in the 10-year-old tournament, and with a win over Millstone-Roosevelt in pool play, Princeton moved into the final four of the 11s tournament as the runner-up in Pool A behind unbeaten Nottingham.
   ”It’s great,” said Matt Frawley, who has managed the Princeton all-stars in each of the last two years. “I really wanted to get back there to — in a way — legitimize what we did last year, and show it wasn’t a fluke. We’re happy, but we’re not satisfied. Our game plan was to keep progressing. When they were 9, they finished sixth. Last year, they were fourth. We’d like to see them keep moving up. No matter what happens, it’s been a successful run. We’re not satisfied just with fourth.”
   Princeton was scheduled to play Pool B winner Sunnybrae on Monday night. They will either play Pool B runner-up Ewing or Pool A winner Nottingham tonight in the double-elimination bracket play being hosted by Cranbury-Plainsboro Little League.
   ”They’re all fantastic teams,” Frawley said. “Nottingham will be the favorite. If you’re a betting man, you’d bet on Nottingham. Ewing last year, we lost to, 3-2. We played well defensively, but didn’t hit a lick. I haven’t seen Sunnybrae in two years, but they’re always a good club.
   ”The fact that a Princeton team is going to be in that group is a good thing. We have a good shot of doing well. They’re all fantastic clubs. They’re disciplined and play the game right.”
   In returning to the finals in the district for a second straight year, this Princeton group is showing promise for the 12-year-old tournament next year that is the highlight of the Little League play. Princeton, which did not field a 12s team for district tournament play this summer, has the potential for a big showing with a group much the same as it had last year.
   ”It is the same team except one of our best players, Tommy Pecora, suffered a concussion and he’s been out all summer,” Frawley said. “He’s a key player for us. It’s been rough adjusting without him.”
   Princeton figures to be even stronger once Pecora is healthy, but has done well with a lineup of Joaquin Hernandez-Burt, Micah Harris-Daley, Tim Frawley, Alex Freda, Thomas Itkoff, Matt Lambert, Aaron Lichtblau, Justin Marciano, Teddy Marttila, Owen Smith, Joey Studholme and Colin Taylor.
   Their 2-1 win over Millstone-Roosevelt in their head-to-head matchup served as the tiebreaker when both finished pool play with 3-2 records. A 12-10 loss to Cranbury-Plainsboro had Princeton 1-1 going into its game against Millstone.
   ”We knew we had to win to get in,” Frawley said. “We scored one in the first inning and they scored one in the fourth, so it was 1-1 going into the bottom of the sixth. Teddy Marttila pitched all six innings. I’ve never seen him better.
   ”In the sixth, Tim Frawley worked a walk and they moved him around to score the winning run.”
   Two runs was all that Marttila needed, and the Princeton pitchers know they don’t need much run support to win. The group used a consistently strong defense to move into bracket play. After losing to Nottingham, 10-5, Princeton finished pool play with a 7-2 win over East Windsor.
   ”You can’t give away outs,” Frawley said. “You can’t have innings where you give them away. Every day in practice, we do grounders and pop ups, and that’s helped us. We emphasize defense. That’s what keeps us in games. And we work hard on our hitting too.”
   Frawley has seen this Princeton group evolve through the years. With each year, there is more development in their level of play, and that has enabled them to stay ahead of much of the district competition. They are progressing in the subtleties of the game.
   ”We want them to communicate better on defense this year,” Frawley said. “They’re able to handle more sophisticated situations better. They’re much more adept at knowing what to do. The hitting is much more disciplined. Last year, they’d just get up there and swing. We’re not the best hitting team, but we know what to do now. The pitchers are doing well. We’re happy with how they progressed.
   ”We worked a lot harder on the situational stuff,” he added. “They know where the ball needs to get to in situations.”
   The development of some greater pitching depth helped Princeton return to the final four in the district. Marttila’s gem is nothing new for Princeton, and Hernandez-Burt has also been steady on the mound again.
   ”Last year, we really relied on those two and rode them to the final four,” Frawley said. “This year, Joey Studholme, Colin Taylor and Matt Lambert, those guys have stepped up and really done a nice job for us.”
   It helped Princeton become a more complete team, one that’s already proven it’s among the very best in District 12 Little League. Now, Princeton gets to see how high it can finish as 11-year-olds.