The 2019 Sunnybrae 11-Year Old All Stars District 12 Champions. Submitted Photo
By Rich Fisher
Fish4scores.com
July 6: While the Sunnybrae Little League 12-year-old All-Stars are capturing the imagination of area fans with their penchant for comeback wins, the Brae’s 11-year-old team has quietly won itself another title.
The 11s defeated Lawrence, 12-1, on June 30 to win the D-12 championship and advance to the Section 3 Tournament. Sunnybrae has a first-round bye and will play the Clark-South Wall winner on Wednesday, July 10 at Clark Little League.
It’s the second straight crown for the team’s nucleus, as 10 players returned from last year’s 10-year-old District 12 champion. The Yardville Gang was unstoppable on offense, winning three games by a combined score of 31-3.
“They put forth a tremendous effort again,” manager Anthony Zuccarello said. “We have 11 kids on the team and every kid contributed in every facet of the game. Whether it was in the field, pitching, hitting. . . even helping us coach. We had kids coaching first base. It was a whole team effort, one through 11.”
There were, of course, a few players who caught everyone’s eye.
“We had a couple standouts,” Zuccarello said. “On the mound Frankie Mazzella and Josh Klena came through big time. At the plate AJ Zuccarello was really crushing the ball throughout the entire tournament. Max Pelzer and Matt Morris also came up with some clutch hits.”
Rounding out the roster were Connor Drudy, Anthony O’Rourke, Bobby Lipsett III, Joey Maglione, Ethan Eskow and Nick Conti.
