Helps Monty 12s to Ripken finals
By: Justin Feil
Going to Hawaii never gets old for Taylor Mulligan, but the Montgomery resident could have done without the trip to see relatives last summer.
There was nothing wrong with Hawaii nor his relatives. It was just what he left behind that made leaving Montgomery so difficult. Mulligan left just after the Montgomery 11-year-old all-stars won the state championship, days before they began their march to the first regional championship in Montgomery history.
"It was kind of hard," Mulligan said. "I didn’t really want to do it. It was more my parents."
Hawaii is nice, but as Mulligan decided, "I’d rather be playing baseball."
Mulligan kept up via calls from his father, Brian, an assistant coach along with Bob Ford to manager Sean Friel. Brian stayed behind for two of the regional games before joining the family in Hawaii. He got the call eventually that Montgomery had won the regional.
"I was surprised, but not too surprised," said Taylor. "I knew we were good."
This summer, he’s nixed any family vacations in favor of concentrating on his play for the Montgomery 12-year-old all-stars in hopes of being part of a regional championship squad. They’re on a familiar path. After a 9-3 win over Marlton on Monday put them in the winners’ bracket final, Montgomery needed a win in Thursday’s scheduled game over Washington to put themselves into Saturday’s New Jersey state championship.
"So far the teams, they got a lot better," Mulligan said. "Haddon Township (whom Montgomery beat, 11-9, in the state opener), their hitting got a lot better. Marlton, I think they got some new kids. I don’t know if their pitcher was new, but their pitching was a lot better."
It was still no match for a Montgomery squad intent on returning to the regionals, with a chance to move on to the World Series this year.
"I think we’re going to win," Mulligan said. "I don’t think we’re nervous any more. The first year, I was. I got a little more comfortable last year. This year, I’m not nervous."
Montgomery has been thrilled to get Mulligan back in its lineup. The steady-hitting first baseman has been a cog in a powerful lineup. Against Marlton, Mulligan was 2-for-3 with a single in Montgomery’s four-run first inning, drove in the only run in the second inning and added another single in the fourth inning as Montgomery added three more runs.
He also walked in the fifth inning. J.T. Tartacoff was 4-for-4, while Jon Scott pitched the first four innings and allowed just two runs before Mike Ford came on for the final two innings and allowed just a single tally. Danny Sgamatto had a suicide squeeze and also fired a perfect strike to the cutoff to eliminate one potential Marlton run.
"The key is our pitching and our hitting and being smart all-around," Mulligan said, adding later that the offense has been most impressive. "If one person or a couple don’t hit well, other people can back us up. I think all the teams we play are nervous. They know how well we’ve done. It’s easier being the favorite."
There is an ease about the way that Montgomery plays, an ease which doesn’t tell the story of how much they want to win.
"When you look at their faces, they’re still as hungry as the past two years," said Brian Mulligan. "It’s not a sense of cockiness. It’s a sense of confidence. They believe in the abilities of each other. Other teams are blowing horns and ringing cowbells. They’re saying, ‘Let’s just go play.’ It’s a real positive confidence."
The elder Mulligan tries to do his part to contribute to that confidence. He’s a coach, but still a parent.
"The parents feel the pressure too," Mulligan said. "I enjoy it. I’m a baseball fan. I’m a fan of my son and everyone on the team. Once the game starts, I’m into the game. I enjoy being able to help. I coach first base and Sean coaches third base. It’s nice because you’re a part of the game."
Having been on the coaching staff since the team was in the 8-year-old division, Brian has been able to watch the team grow along with Taylor. That growth is the easiest thing to notice about the jump over the past year from 11s to 12s.
"Interestingly, we played Marlton and Haddon who are clearly the two best teams in the state," Brian Mulligan said. "The thing that those two have that we hadn’t seen is the size. We have some big boys on our team. Four or five of them are 5-foot-8, 5-9. We haven’t seen that often, but Marlton had some kids who made our players look average. They had one guy who was maybe 5-10. They have size, and there’s a maturity level. You can see which kids have it. It looks like they’re playing on a field too small for them."
Still, few teams in the state have the depth of talent of Montgomery. It’s that balance that has pushed Montgomery to the cusp of another state championship. Even with a loss in Thursday’s scheduled game, the defending champions could fight back for the state title with three straight wins one tonight and two Saturday over the winners’ bracket survivor. All games are in Voorhees.
"We have a real balanced attack," Friel noted. "They (Marlton) had two good pitchers and they pitched the ball hard. But they didn’t have good off-speed pitching. And the first inning, we scored four runs."
From then on, Marlton had the unenviable task of chasing Montgomery, a team that spends countless hours working on the little things to prepare for the biggest games.
"Sean and I and Coach Ford share a lot of responsibilities," Brian Mulligan said. "Sean and I do a lot of strategizing. We think through each game. We agree on where things go. We spend a lot of time on our cell phones, talking through things like who’s pitching and who’s catching. We have a consensus before we go into games. Sean is very deliberate and thinking all the time. My role is to provide whatever insights and comments I have and we reach an agreement from there. Bob Ford is great for the kids. He calms everyone down and makes sure everyone’s on the same page."
It’s a fully functioning unit that has Montgomery playing for another state title, though they’re trying not to look beyond.
"No one else in Montgomery has ever won states," Taylor Mulligan said. "We were kind of happy that first year, but then we wanted (regionals) too last year."
They want both again this summer, and Taylor Mulligan isn’t letting any vacation even what would be a dream trip to Hawaii for most people get in the way of being a part of it.