Run secures berth for Legion baseball team
By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
Slow starts don’t hurt Bordentown Post 26.
They started the regular season slowly only to win 13 straight games to win the Mercer County American Legion League.
They started the District 4 tournament in Toms River with a loss to Mt. Laurel, but bounced back to win four straight out of the losers’ bracket to advance to the state Final Eight.
”This team, all year has been resilient,” said Post 26 manager Tom Dolan whose team is 27-8. “They showed a lot of heart.”
After falling to Mt. Laurel, 12-7, last Wednesday, Bordentown smashed Brick Memorial, 16-1, last Thursday, then edged Toms River East, 5-4, Saturday. They had to win two games Sunday to advance to the Final Eight, and did so with a 6-1 win over Gibbsboro and a 17-3 statement against Watchung Hills.
” Now we’re heading back to the Final Eight, which is a big accomplishment for the program,” Dolan said. “It gave us a wake-up call when we got beat by Mt. Laurel.”
Joey Gutowski kept Watchung’s bats quiet, and got plenty of run support. DeWitt, Pula, Fillmyer, Tommy Potts, Justin Howarth, Buey Garofalo and Rigo Morfin all had two hits apiece in the decisive win.
The regular-season start was slow because Jake DeWitt and Heath Fillmyer were still in the midst of their high school seasons. Starting shortstop Chris Pula was injured as was first baseman Gavin Stupienski. But by midseason, they were feeling better about their district chances.
”We went away to Rhode Island, and did pretty well,” said Dolan, whose team went 4-2 for third place in the competitive Rhode Island tournament. “Once we got everyone back and everyone got healthy, we played like we thought we would play the whole year.”
Monday, the MCALL year-end picnic was scheduled, with Bordentown claiming nearly every award. Howarth was named Most Valuable Player and DeWitt was Player of the Year. Gutowski was Pitcher of the Year. Fillmyer won the Gold glove. Garofalo took home the Sportsmanship Award. Now, they’re hoping to add another team championship.
Post 26 can’t afford a slow start in the Final Eight. They were scheduled to play perennial power Brooklawn on Tuesday in the Final Eight opener.
”Brooklawn, they’re red-hot,” Dolan said. “We say, you’ve got to beat the best to be the best.
”We have a lot of leaders on this team. These kids aren’t afraid of anyone. They’ll take on anyone.”