Freehold Township earns respect at Eastern Regional

By TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

 Freehold Township Little League pitcher Matthew Granato fields a grounder back to the mound during the Junior League Eastern Regional Tournament elimination game played Aug. 12 at the Freehold Township Little League Complex against Great Valley. Freehold Township lost a semifinals game, 4-1, to the Pennsylvania state champion.  STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER ERIC SUCAR Freehold Township Little League pitcher Matthew Granato fields a grounder back to the mound during the Junior League Eastern Regional Tournament elimination game played Aug. 12 at the Freehold Township Little League Complex against Great Valley. Freehold Township lost a semifinals game, 4-1, to the Pennsylvania state champion. STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER ERIC SUCAR It may not have achieved the ultimate goal; however, the Freehold Township Little League Junior League all-star team accomplished something just as important: It earned respect.

By advancing to championship day at the Junior League Eastern Regional Aug. 12, Freehold Township was anything but a token entry — a team there only because it was the District 19 champion.

Freehold Township was one win away from playing for the regional championship at Michael Tighe Park and earning a trip to the Junior League World Series.

“We proved ourselves,” Freehold Township manager Rob Nitti said. “In both losses, we had the tying runs on base. We showed we were as good as the other teams.”

 Fans cheer the Freehold Township Little League all-star team during their Junior League Eastern Regional game against Great Valley Aug. 12 at the Freehold Township Little League Complex. Fan support helped the all-stars get within one game of playing for the regional championship. Great Valley, the champion of Pennsylvania, beat Freehold Township, 4-1, to advance to the finals.  STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER ERIC SUCAR Fans cheer the Freehold Township Little League all-star team during their Junior League Eastern Regional game against Great Valley Aug. 12 at the Freehold Township Little League Complex. Fan support helped the all-stars get within one game of playing for the regional championship. Great Valley, the champion of Pennsylvania, beat Freehold Township, 4-1, to advance to the finals. STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER ERIC SUCAR Marc Favieri, manager of regional champion Ridgewood Little League, remarked that Freehold Township was as good as any team his club has played.

Ridgewood held off a seventh-inning rally to beat Freehold Township, 6-5, in their winner’s bracket finals.

Freehold Township showed there was no quit in the team, according to Nitti, throughout the tournament, which ran from Aug. 7-13 and involved nine state champions from Maine to Maryland.

That was never more on display than in the loser’s bracket finals against Pennsylvania state champion Great Valley Little League.

Twice, Freehold Township was one strike away from defeat against Great Valley hurler Mason Davis, who had throttled the team all game with his curveball and change of speeds.

After issuing a lead-off walk in the top of the seventh with a 4-1 lead, Davis struck out the next two batters and quickly got two strikes on Matt Nitti, who fouled off a pair of pitches to stay alive before hitting a grounder deep in the hole to shortstop. The throw from Connor Dillon was over the first baseman’s head, and Freehold Township had runners on second and third.

Nick Russo followed Nitti, and he and Davis hooked up in a battle of wills. After Davis got two strikes on Russo, he proceeded to foul off one serving after another, eventually working out a base-on-balls that chased Davis.

Great Valley manager Mike Driscoll went to his bullpen for the final out. Unfortunately for Freehold Township, reliever Dillon was unfazed facing a bases-loaded situation. He came in throwing heat and strikes. He ended the game with a three-pitch strikeout that saved the 4-1 victory for Davis and Great Valley.

While Davis was great all game, so was Freehold Township starter Matthew Granato, who went the distance. The only difference in the game proved to be a three-run home run off the bat of Dillon. It was the first and only home run of the tournament.

Granato got the start in Freehold Township’s tournament opener, a 5-2 victory over Massachusetts state champion Quincy. He worked four shutout innings in picking up the win.

Going up against hitters he had never faced before and had very little to go on, Granato said his game plan was to be competitive and throw strikes.

The Great Valley vs. Freehold Township game was one of the best of the tournament and featured outstanding defense in support of the pitching.

Overall, Great Valley turned three double plays behind Davis. Freehold Township had a pair.

Freehold Township’s success in the tournament made it a memorable summer for the players.

“We had fun together,” Granato said. “It was great to get [to championship day]. We worked hard as a team.”

Granato added that the all-stars had a special chemistry because of the friendships that made them play so hard as a team. Manager Nitti said three words described his club: respect, dignity and class. Freehold Township had the added benefit of playing at home thanks to an enthusiastic fan base that came out to support the team.

“The town was behind these boys, and they respected that,” Nitti said.

Granato said that the fans helped.

“They got us through the tough moments,” he said.

Mike LaCava, the president of Freehold Township Little League and the tournament director, spoke for the community when noted how proud he was of the team and the showing it made.

This year’s all-stars were Luke Crivelli, Matthew Donlon, Ryan Garze, Matthew Granato, Ryan Kurczeski, Brian Lee, Nicholas Lodispoto, Kyle Melone, Andrew Nicolosi, Matthew Nitti, Patrick Reilly, Jon Michael Rotondo, Nicholas Russo and Adam Schwerthoffer.

Manager Rob Nitti’s coaches were Mitch Roth and Lance Viscuso.

In the tournament, Freehold Township defeated Quincy, 5-2, in its first game behind Granato, who also had two RBIs.

Crivelli smacked a two-RBI single in the bottom of the third that highlighted a three-run inning that gave Freehold Township a 4-0 lead.

The hosts kept it going by knocking of New York state champion Penfield, 6-4. Granato’s two-RBI double in the last of the sixth broke a 4-4 tie. Nicolosi got the win in relief for Freehold Township.

Nicolosi had three hits and an RBI in the 6-5 loss to Ridgefield. Schwerthoffer also tallied an RBI for Freehold Township.

This was the 11th straight year that Freehold Township has hosted the Junior League Regional.

Ridgewood outlasts Great Valley

The Eastern Regional came down to Great Valley against New Jersey state champion Ridgewood. Great Valley, which played and won more games than any team in the regional since Freehold Township started holding the event 11 years ago, surprised all but itself in forcing the if-necessary game by beating Ridgefield in nine innings, 2-1, just 30 minutes after eliminating Freehold Township Aug. 12.

Ridgewood, which faced elimination in the state tournament against Toms River, rebounded from its first loss in the tournament to outlast Great Valley Aug. 13, 8-1, in the finals. Ridgewood received the pitching it needed: a complete game, five-hitter from Alex Facini. It eventually got to Great Valley’s bullpen and broke the game open with two runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth to punch the team’s ticket to Taylor, Michigan, for the Junior League World Series Aug. 16-23.

Facini also paced the offensive attack with three RBIs. He and Sam Favieri had two hits each, as the Ridgewood Juniors became the first team from that Little League to go to a World Series since 1979.

“All I can say is that this is a loose group,” manager Favieri said. “They’re all very good friends. They’re in the same grade in school.

“The great thing for us was their togetherness.”

Favieri said starting pitching carried his team to the regional title and a trip to the World Series.

“We hit the ball fairly well, and we have good pitching,” he said. “What helped us was that in a big spot when we needed it, we got good pitching from our starters.”

Favieri also gave credit to the parents of the Ridgewood players for their strong support throughout the tournament.

Great Valley showed remarkable resilience, becoming the first team to play eight games.

Great Valley lost the first game of the tournament, 3-1, to Maine state champion Bronco/Hermon Little League.

Undaunted by the odds at going deep into the tournament, it proceeded to win six straight elimination games, allowing more than one run in just one game.

Great Valley finally ran out of gas and pitching after forcing the if-necessary game. It hardly diminished what the Pennsylvania champions accomplished.

“They’re warriors,” manager Driscoll said. “They believed in themselves.

“They won with dignity and lost with dignity.”