By Tim Morris
The Freehold Township Little League Senior League all-star team may have fallen one game short of a state championship, but it was not short on championship heart.
“We showed a lot of character, a lot of determination,” manager Mitch Roth said. “They really wanted that state championship. They really pulled together.”
Freehold Township’s character and determination were tested from the start of the state tournament when it lost to Clifton, 2-0, in its first game, falling into the loser’s bracket immediately.
Team that lose the first game of the double-elimination tournament are staring at a long, hard road just to get to the final, as they faced elimination with each game. Not every squad is up to the task. It would be easy to just go away and enjoy the rest of the summer.
But armed with pitching depth and drive, Freehold Township bounced back with a 4-2 win over Bayonne, followed by a 5-2 triumph over Monroe Township (from South Jersey) to reach the championship game, where host Clifton was waiting.
Having come out of the loser’s bracket, Freehold Township would have to beat Clifton twice to win the state championship.
Freehold Township made the if-necessary game necessary, beating Clifton, 16-9, July 16. The next night, though, it was Clifton’s turn, as it beat Freehold Township, 7-2, to claim the 2016 championship.
“It’s a shame we came up one game short,” said Roth, who described Freehold Township’s long journey that included District 19 and Section 3 pennants as always exciting and pressure-packed.
The pressure came from playing in a number of elimination games throughout the summer, which helped pull the team together, according to Roth.
In the Section 3 tournament held at Howell North Little League, Freehold Township was put to the test.
It beat Howell North, 9-8, in the first round but fell to Brick in its next game, 4-1.
Facing elimination, Freehold Township beat Howell a second time, 6-0, to get a second shot at Brick. It had to beat Brick twice and did, 13-7 and 13-6, to advance to Clifton.
Freehold Township has dominated the District 19 field for more than a decade and this year was no different, as the team stormed through the field, winning its three games by a combined 29-2 as it took the first step toward Clifton. Freehold Township defeated Marlboro in the final, 11-0.
Besides revealing the character of the Freehold Township all-stars, the road to the state final gave the team the chance to show its versatility. It didn’t play on cookie-cutter fields that had the same dimensions.
“We saw a variety of venues,” Roth said.
Freehold Township’s power helped it get through the section.
Clifton had a big outfield, and teams had to be able to manufacture runs. Freehold Township succeeded there by getting to the final.
Freehold Township was a team that had it all: pitching, defense and a lineup that had power, speed and timely hitting.
Also helping the team was chemistry. Roth noted that most of the Senior all-stars had come back from last year, when they played as 14-year-olds. The Senior League is for ages 15-16.
The Freehold Township Little League’s 2016 Senior League all-stars were Drew Nicolosi, Matt Granato, Ryan Garze, JonMichael Rotundo, Ryan Kurczeski, Richard Vingelli, Nick Russo, Luke Crivelli, Adam Schwerthoffer, Matt Donlon, Brian Lee, Phil Marcantonio, Matt Degnan and Tom Haley.
The coaching staff was manager Roth and coaches Lance Viscuso and Glenn Garze.