By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Ken Harlan and his Princeton 9/10-year-old all-star baseball team never stopped believing that they would win the District 12 Little League banner.
The Princeton crew had every reason to believe it could after a 4-0 start to the district bracket play put them in the title game, and twice in that run they rallied from seemingly insurmountable odds. They were down again in the winner-take-all final, and for once their rally was held off as Nottingham came out with a 15-9 win for the championship.
“We had runners on base,” said Harlan, the Princeton manager. “I thought we’d come back and win in that last game. I believed they’d win until they told us we couldn’t play anymore.
“They’re very relentless,” he added, “and they always believed in each other that they could come back.”
In its district opener, Princeton had trailed Bordentown, 6-1, before storming back for a 16-10 win. Princeton scored 15 of its runs in two innings. Princeton next dropped Cranbury-Plainsboro Little League into the losers’ bracket with a 7-2 victory in its second game. The third game of the tournament presented another challenge, and another comeback, this one their most dramatic.
Princeton trailed, 3-1, and was down to its final out. Jack Durbin reached base, Jude Blaser cut the deficit to one run with a single, Jensen Bergen was hit by a pitch to tie the game and Daniel Harlan and Peter Hare knocked in two runs apiece to give Princeton a 7-3 win.
“The kids fought until the last out,” the elder Harlan said. “They’re very resilient.”
Princeton put itself in a great spot when it knocked off Nottingham, 12-5, in the winners’ bracket final. Jackson Bailey helped to control a powerful offense with strong pitching. Spencer Wert came through with three hits, while Bailey and Harlan added two apiece. That pushed Princeton to a rare finals appearance in districts.
“For this age group, for the 9/10 district team, I don’t think it’s happened often for Princeton,” Harlan said. “I think it’s maybe the second time this team has gone to the final. It’s a special team of kids. It really was a group effort for the team. There were kids that stood out when it came to pitching, kids that stood out when it came to hitting, kids that stood out when it came to fielding and even when it came to base running. Everyone contributed throughout the entire tournament.”
Nottingham won the first game of the finals, 17-4, to force the if-game that was played last Thursday. Princeton bolted out to a 7-0 lead before Nottingham rallied with a big inning to get control.
“We jumped out on them,” Harlan said. “We made some nice plays. Everyone was hitting. We were making the right stops. The one inning unfortunately, they hit the ball to a couple spots where we weren’t and we had a couple mistakes and it kind of unfolded. We couldn’t come up with the scoring when it came to that. They’re a great hitting team.
“We had one bad inning. That’s how it goes. If you have that bad inning, it’s tough to overcome. There were games where we benefited from that as well.”
Princeton fought back as it had all tournament, but never could overcome the final deficit. Princeton still put up nine runs with Jensen Bergman and Harlan coming up with three hits apiece. Bailey, Wert and Rohan Sheth all had two hits apiece. Princeton out-hit Nottingham, 15-13, in the game.
“It’s baseball,” Harlan said. “Sometimes you hit it to the right spot. Sometimes you hit it to the wrong spot. Nottingham hit it to the right spot. That led to them scoring more runs than we did. We knew it was going to be a high scoring game. They got the better of us when it came to that.”
It was a difficult ending to what was an encouraging tournament for a mix of ages and talents from Princeton. Members of the team are: Jackson Bailey, Jensen Bergman, Jude Blaser, Jackson Durbin, Peter Hare, Daniel Harlan, Erik Hawrylo, Rohan Sheth, Theo Steiger, AJ Surace, Spencer Wert and Jake Zuckerman.
“We knew the top of lineup, Jensen, Peter Hare, Daniel, Spencer, Jackson Bailey, were going to be able put up runs,” Ken Harlan said. “They’ve very consistently been hitting. Not only did they hit well in this tournament, but the rest of our team did. That allowed us to score a lot of runs quickly. We became very explosive in scoring. And we had very good pitching from Jackson Bailey and Rohan Sheth and Theo Steiger.”
Sheth, Hawrylo and Surace are the only 9-year-olds on the team this year, and they could return for districts again next year.
“I’m excited to see what they can do,” Harlan said. “I’m optimistic for them. They have a nice little core group.”
As for the rest of the team, they will be eligible to play on Princeton’s 50/70 intermediate team that ranges from 11-13 years old.
Said Harlan: “I would not be surprised if a number of these kids make that team next year.”
The group will leave with the experience of being one of the two best teams in the district as 9/10 year olds. It is the sort of run that they can build upon as they continue their careers.
“I’m very excited to see how these kids develop,” Harlan said. “We have a lot of depth and a lot of upside.”
Princeton put together the sort of district run that they had thought possible when they assembled the team. All the pieces were in place, and all the players contributed where needed.
“Even though they’re young, overall they’re a very good hitting team,” Harlan said. “We had some solid pitching. The biggest variable is how are they going to field. It’s hard to field everything right in baseball, but as a team that has been one area that we’ve always had ups and downs. And throughout this tournament, we fielded pretty well. We made some big outs at opportune times. The kids just played overall good baseball.”
It helped that Princeton took a healthy approach to the tournament. They did believe they could do well, but they also understood what a challenge it was.
“The parents are a very supportive group, but they’re not overbearing,” Harlan said. “They’re a great group. They keep things in perspective. The kids always were loose.”
It helped the Princeton 9/10 team advance all the way to the championship of districts to set themselves up with a bright outlook on the diamond.
“Baseball is really about confidence,” Harlan said. “Ninety percent is about confidence and the other 10 percent is physical. These kids can feel confident in themselves. Anything can happen in the future, as long as they believe in themselves and each other. They’ll win a future tournament.”
