By Tim Morris
The Freehold Township Little League’s (FTLL) Major League all-star team is starting to believe.
The team captured the District 19 championship. And with two wins in the Section 3 tournament that the FTLL is hosting, the all-stars are just one win away from playing for the right to advance to the state championship tournament.
Freehold Township manager Jeff Gorman noted that his club is beginning to believe it can do something special this summer. In one sense, it already has. It’s been at least 10 years since a Freehold Township team won the Major League (ages 11-12) district pennant.
“It’s really exciting,” the manager said of his team’s tournament run thus far.
According to Gorman, everything has jelled for the all-stars. They’ve gotten great pitching, defense and hitting, plus they are doing all the little things correctly.
If there are two things that stand out about the team, they are pitching and depth.
Gorman pointed out that he has a team of starters who just want to play and win. He added that they understand the team needs everyone to win.
As a result, the team does not rely on two or three players to carry it.
“Every night, it’s someone new [making the big play],” Gorman said.
The pitching has been a major difference-maker for Freehold Township. They have held teams to three or fewer runs in every game.
“Our pitching is really strong,” Gorman said.
Gorman explained that Freehold Township’s pitchers mix fastballs with off-speed pitches to keep hitters off balance, and they have command of all their pitches, meaning they throw strikes.
Freehold Township has been using a three-man starting rotation with John Abrahamson, Zachary Gorman and Jonathan Olik. Brandon Levy has been the sixth-inning closer.
Abrahamson and Zachary Gorman pitched in the Major League tournament last year as 11-year-olds, and that experience has made them dominating this time around.
Freehold Township’s offense features both power and the ability to play small ball. It has scored fewer than four runs just once in a 3-1 win over Marlboro during the District 19 tournament.
In the Section 3 tournament that began July 15, Freehold Township has defeated Bordentown, 5-3, thanks to home runs by Olik (with two on) and Patrick Burns (solo shot); and Holbrook, 7-2, to lift its tournament record to 7-0.
The team was scheduled to play North Howell July 18 in the winner’s bracket final.
North Howell, the District 11 champion, defeated District 10 winner Clark, 4-0, in its opening-round game.
The Section 3 final is July 20, with the if-necessary game in the double-elimination tournament the next night.
The Section 3 winner goes on to the state tournament, which is July 28-Aug. 1 at Gloucester City Little League Complex.
The District 19 tournament was superb preparation for section play, according to manager Gorman.
“Manalapan and Marlboro had top-level pitchers, and we out-pitched them,” he said.
Marlboro had been a stumbling block for these Freehold Township all-stars in the district tournament in younger age divisions leading up to the Major League.
“We’ve been chasing Marlboro for years,” Gorman said.
Marlboro made Freehold Township earn the pennant. After falling into the loser’s bracket with a 3-1 loss to Freehold Township, Marlboro came back to play its way out of the loser’s bracket (beating Manalapan, 8-5) to the reach the final, where Freehold Township won a thrilling 4-3 game at the Middletown Little League field.
The 2016 Freehold Township Little League Major League all-stars are Zachary Gorman, Connor Morie, Jayce Schapiro, John Abrahamson, Jonathan Olik, Drew Montgomery, Patrick Burns, Anthony Siricio, Mario Rivera, Brandon Levy, Michael Mancuzi, Colin Reilly, J.J. Donahue and Brad Salamone.
North Howell romped to the District 11 title, beating South Wall, 18-1, in the final. North Howell was 6-1 overall, going 3-1 in pool play and 3-0 in the playoffs. It took a 7-1 record into the winner’s bracket final with Freehold Township.