By Rich Fisher
Fish4scores.com
July 19: Nottingham comes in on a high and Hamilton-Northern Burlington comes in on a low as the two prepare to battle for their tournament lives Thursday night.
Nottingham kept its season alive at DeMeo Field Wednesday night by beating Pennsville, 12-4 in a Babe Ruth 15-year-old Southern New Jersey State Tournament elimination game. That was followed by H-NB’s 3-1 loss to West Windsor in the winner’s bracket final.
Thus, the two meet 6 p.m. Thursday for the right to play West Windsor in Friday night’s finals at DeMeo.
Nottingham Babe Ruth 15 year old all star shortstop Matt Sangillo make the play. Photo by Michael A. Sabo
“I like how we’re playing,” Nottingham coach Frank Costantino said. “I have my two best pitchers (Connor Luckie and Thomas Gater) so anything can happen.”
Nottingham 15 year old Babe Ruth All Star pitcher Jack Wiegartner.
Nottingham got a complete-game effort from Jack Wiegartner, who scattered seven hits, allowed three runs in the top of the first. But the hosts posted five in the bottom of the frame and took it from there.
“He threw well,” Costantino said. “I think he was a little nervous at first. He was up, he hit the first batter but in the second inning he settled in. I think he only threw 70 pitches the whole game.”
Nick Wilke was the big stick with two singles, a double and five RBI. Tyler Nielsen added two singles, a double, an RBI and three runs scored, while Matt Sangillo had two hits and Spencer Conti had an RBI and scored three runs.
Nottingham’s bats showed some life and Costantino feels it may have been sparked by a huge come-from-behind win over Mount Laurel Tuesday. Trailing 6-2, Nottingham scored five in the seventh to win it.
“That should help,” the manager said. “We really haven’t hit much, finally we started hitting the ball and putting hits together. They dropped a fly ball in the first tonight, and the floodgates opened with two outs.”
No such gates opened for H-NB, as manager Joe “The Dweller” Beczo was not happy to be right.
Prior to the game, Beczo watched his team in warm-ups and did not feel it was ready. The Dwellers mustered just three hits against Ian Muni, as they struck out four times and made 10 outs on fly balls or pop-ups.
“All we had to do is make contact,” Beczo said. “They’re not a great fielding team and pop-ups are a little easier to catch than ground balls. But I give them a lot of credit, they’ve got a good team. We just didn’t come out today.”
Jason Diaz pitches for Hamilton Northern Burlington Babe Ruth 15 year old all stars. Photo by Michael A. Sabo
The Dwellers took a 1-0 lead in the first when hard-luck loser Jason Diaz – who pitched well – singled and eventually scored on Ryan “Mini Dweller” Beczo’s single. But West Windsor tied it in the bottom of the first and took the lead in the fifth.
Beczo bemoaned his defense’s effort on a foul pop “where only one guy went after it” in the seventh inning. The ball dropped and, given a second chance, Josh Eisenberg doubled and scored an insurance run on a wild pitch.
“If we’re down one run maybe it’s a little different,” Beczo said. “What are you gonna do?”
What they now have to do is win three straight games to win a state title and reach the Mid-Atlantic Regionals. Nottingham must do the same, and lost an earlier 3-1 decision to H-NB in the states.
“Last year we had to win six in a row, we only have to win three in a row this year,” Beczo said. “They’re capable of doing it, they just gotta come ready to play. If they don’t, summer will begin tomorrow night.”
