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Talk about a turnaround.
After dropping their first two games of the tournament season by one run, the South Brunswick Athletic Association 10-year-old All-Stars have roared back to win five straight, putting together strong pitching and defense along with timely hitting. The 10’s have averaged 16 hits per game in the five wins.
The break-out game was a 25-1 triumph over Flemington in the Bridgewater Tournament opener. The 10’s got strong pitching from Craig Cleffi and Kyle Parlow. Everyone contributed at the plate, with Scott Hrudowsky (3-3) and Zach Gildenberg (4-4) each driving in five runs.
The next night, the 10’s had a 10-3 victory over arch-rival Readington in the Montgomery Tourney. Jeff Dunleavy pitched five solid innings and Hrudowsky collected the save by shutting down a dangerous Readington team in the final frame. After falling behind 3-0 in the first inning, the 10’s put 5 on the board in the third, highlighted by a bases-clearing triple by Hrudowsky (2-3, four RBI). The 10’s added five more in the fourth as Gildenberg (1-2) and Cleffi (3-3) each drove in two. Defensive standouts included Parlow, who grabbed one at the fence to end the third inning, and centerfielder Jerry Luizza.
On Saturday, it was back to Bridgewater and the 10’s kept swinging the bats well. Kyle Parlow collected the victory by shutting down Piscataway with six strikeouts in three scoreless innings of work. Every South Brunswick player had at least one hit in this game, including extra base hits by Dunleavy, Gildenberg, Kyle Berger, Matt Morris, Cleffi, Hrudowsky and Parlow.
The boys capped off the weekend with a doubleheader on Sunday. The first game was in Bridgewater against Middlesex, and Ryan Philips pitched five outstanding innings for the 10’s. When the game got close, the 10’s rallied for six runs in the top of the sixth to put it away. Michael Huber (2-3, two RBI), Gildenberg (2-4, two RBI) and Hrudowsky (3-3, five RBI) led the offensive attack.
The 10’s finished the weekend with their most exciting game of the young season by defeating Hopewell Valley, 4-3, in the Montgomery Tournament. Parlow (2-3, one RBI) hit a walk-off RBI single to win it. Hrudowsky pitched five strong innings and Gildenberg notched the save with a strong sixth. The 10’s entered the bottom of the sixth trailing 3-2. Huber was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Dunleavy (3-3) followed with a double to put runners at second and third with no outs. Gildenberg drove in Huber to tie the game and then, with two outs and two strikes, Parlow singled home Dunleavy for the winning run.
The 10’s have qualified for the Montgomery tourney playoffs and are currently undefeated in the Bridgewater tourney.
8-YEAR-OLD
The 8’s moved to 4-0 in the North Brunswick Tournament with 11-8 wins over Edison, and East Brunswick and a 13-3 win over Marlboro.
Against Edison, South got strong pitching from Brian Oates, Danny Strickland and Nick Veglia. Oates allowed two hits and struck out five in two innings, while Strickland and Veglia pitched two strong innings each in relief. The Viking attack was led by Vince Catalfamo (three hits, 4 RBI) and Frank Herron (two hits). Ian Rodriguez played well defensively. Jesse Tainow played a strong game and Chris Huber, Colin Quigley, Nick Veglia, Connor Walker and Danny Strickland had big hits. Tommy Fisher reached base and contributed a rally ending play at third base. Gabriel Nunez reached base twice.
The Vikings had 14 hits in the win over EB. Huber, Catalfamo, Veglia, Herron and Strickland had two hits apiece. Quigley, Keenan, Oates and Walker each contributed singles. Rodriguez and Jesse Tainow reached base and scored runs during a fourth- inning rally. Fisher made a big defensive play at third base, while Keenan struck out seven while pitching three scoreless innings. Quigley, Huber. Catalfamo and Veglia each pitched well in relief. Veglia came into a bases loaded, nobody out situation in the top of the sixth inning and struck out the side.
Oates and Fisher each struck out three batters in three innings of work against Marlboro, while Fisher ripped a deep double. Keenan and Herron led a 13-hit attack with three apiece. Quigley, Veglia and Strickland each contributed two hits. Nunez was solid in centerfield, Huber played well at second base and scored two runs and Catalfamo had an RBI single. Walker reached base and played well defensively while Rodriguez and Tainow had hits.
The 8’s ran their overall tournament record to 5-0 with a 10-4 win over the Hunterdon Americans in the opening game of the Branchburg Tournament. Walker and Rodriguez led a 10-hit attack with key hits in a first-inning rally that produced eight runs. Fisher also reached base and scored a big run in the first inning. Catalfamo, Veglia and Herron had two hits each, while Huber, Quigley and Oates each contributed big hits. Sean Keenan struck out eight in three innings and Colin Quigley fanned five in two innings of relief. First baseman Strickland, left fielder Tainow and catchers Veglia and Catalfamo were solid defensively.
14-YEAR-OLD
Chris Greco made his first start of the season, pitching four shutout innings and allowed just one base runner as the 14 Black team topped Montgomery Gold, 197, in the Readington summer league. Danny Fraass lead the offense with three hits and three RBI along with Bryan Dau (single, triple, three RBI). All the Vikings hit safely and drove in at least one run. Greco helped himself with two hits and two RBI, while Tommy Parisi (four runs), Brian Peters (three runs) and Greg Watson each had two hits and two RBI. Matt Ondrejack and Danny Miller had two hits and an RBI apiece and Ryan Bills added a hit and RBI.
In the opening round of the Readington Tournament, the Vikings fell 12-2 to Hillsborough. Watson pitched well for five innings but ran into trouble in the sixth. Offensively, Greco had two hits and two RBI while Matt Ondrejack had two hits and a run scored. Parisi had a hit and Danny Miller scored a run and made a fantastic throw on a relay to nail a runner at the plate.
On Sunday, the Vikings returned to the Readington Tournament to face Delaware Valley and picked up a 7-3 win behind Greco, who struck out six in seven innings and allowed no runs. Watson had a triple and two RBI while Parisi had a hit, RBI and two runs scored. Brian Peters had a hit, RBI and run scored, while Miller had a hit and run scored and Ryan Bills had a hit. Ondrejack had three walks and two runs scored while Matt Ryan had a walk and scored a run and Dau walked twice.
In the second game on Sunday the 14-B’s faced a hard-hitting Montgomery Green at home and suffered their first league loss, 121. Miller had a single and double, Greco had two hits, a walk and scored the Vikings lone run. Dau, Fraass and Watson each had a hit.
