Millstone Magic’s 10-year-old baseball team won its first championship when it took the fall segment of the USABL Central West division playoff championship.
Suffering only one loss, Millstone beat Crossbridge of Lambertville, 9-8, on a walkoff hit by Parker Sloss with the bases loaded. It completed a comeback from a 7- 0 deficit, and Max Kuchar took the win in relief. Antonio Dominici and Frank Mara hit well in the comeback for the champions.
“It’s the dedication of these 11 kids to training and practice,” said manager David Dominic, who is the founder and coach of the New Jersey Cheetahs softball program that includes five teams of different age groups from 12U to 23U. “For a group of 10-year-olds, they’re able to play well in all three phases of the game, and their baserunning is better than other teams. They won as a group — no individual that stood out. We had Parker [Sloss] at the bottom of the lineup, and he had the game-winning hit [for the championship].”
Pitchers Gavin Elwell, Scott Bruett, Decklyn Pratt and Kuchar shared the pitching duties, and Ryan Kotler was the catcher. Hitting was balanced and the fielding was reliable, Dominici said. The infield included Luke Wiedau at first base, Antonio Dominici at second base, Frank Mara at shortstop and Bruett at third base when he wasn’t pitching. Sloss and Pratt shared innings in right field, Michael Mastromino was in left and Tyler Emkin played in center field.
Don Elwell, John Kuchar, Fred Wiedau and Matt Emkin were the coaches.
Players will regroup next month for offseason training at Game Time Performance in Hamilton. The season resumes in mid-March.