Rock has an amazing showing at BCCC Tourney!
Tuesday May 28, 2019
by Joe Youngberg
For those of you who did not have baseball this weekend and were able to enjoy the relaxation of a breezy beach, or the crispness of your freshly prepared pool… you missed one heck of a weekend of baseball.
Glen Rock played host city to 10u, 11u and 12u flights while our vets up at the 13u level played away all weekend. The grounds crew and snack stand volunteers did an incredible job, our fields looked amazing and all who came were well nourished and refreshed.
Glen Rock played a ton of baseball, around 15 games in total in 3-4 days. There were a lot of tremendous outings by our young athletes, so prepare for slightly more… “long winded” … version of our week in review.
10u Baseball –
10u was bracketed against some incredibly tough teams. Although they lost all three, two of the three were “hard fought losses” where our Rock boys fought incredible hard for the win. In game 2 vs. Teaneck, Teaneck broke out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning but Rock answered back when Michael Lacey #7 drew a key walk, sending John Colonna #8 home to bring the panthers to a score of 2-1. Teaneck drove in another run in the top of the 4th on a sacrifice taking the score to 3-1. In the bottom of the 5th, following a RBI single by Michael Lacey #7, Wyatt Morrissey #21 comes to bat and hits a triple to score Evan Settlow #42, evening up the clubs at 3-3. Teaneck was able to sneak two runs over the plate in the top 6, and despite Glen Rock getting the tying run to 1B in the bottom of the inning…”baseball happened” and Teaneck pulled away with victory in this incredible back and forth match up.
In the last game of the tourney for our 10u team, Ridgewood pulled out ahead early in the bottom 1st inning with a 5-0 lead. Glen Rock was able to get three back in the top of the 3rd on a hard hit double by Daniel Stutzke #28, a well-placed single by John Colonna #8 and then a 2 out run by Stutzke, stealing home on some heads up baserunning! Both teams kept it scoreless until the top of the 6th where Glen Rock mounted a 2 out rally on a single from Wyatt Morrissey #21 and double by Daniel Stutzke #28 to bring the score to 6-5 Rock. Ridgewood came out strong in the bottom of the 6th and mounted their own rally, where they walked it off on a single. Deserving of a shout out, Wyatt Morrissey #21 toed the mound for Glen Rock in this matchup. Wyatt went for a complete game, striking out 7 and only allowing 1 BB. Wyatt worked incredibly efficiently and had complete command throwing 75 pitches, 58 which were strikes.
11u Baseball –
Our 11u Team fought hard all the way to the top, but lost to the Montvale Mustangs in the Championship game by a margin.
In an interesting twist, Glen Rock opened up against the Mustangs, whom they would ultimately face in the Championship game. Glen Rock’s Alvin Li #76, Zack Kaplan #15 and Julian Paradise #14 took the mound for the Panthers in this “pitcher’s duel” style game. Each Rock pitcher only gave up 1 hit and 1 run each. They walked no one in this game. Glen Rock’s foe, “Gavin”, threw for 5.1 innings, striking out 9 and also only allowed 3 hits. Glen Rock’s Luke Brassil #3, Andy Arrighi #9 and Charlie Garret #4 each had a hit, with Luke Brassil and Andy Arrighi each driving in a run.
In game 2, Glen Rock emerged victorious in 6, by beating the Greenwich Thunder 7-3 in a late game victory. Glen Rock was down 3-1 in the 3rd where Brendan Burkhardt drove in Luke Brassil #3 on a sacrifice. In the top of the 5th, with 2 outs, Glen Rock goes ahead on a single by Brendan Burkhardt #7. On the same play, the Thunder blunder and Nikhil Lalwani #27 and Luke Brassil #3 are able to score on some key baserunning following a throwing error after Burkdardt reached. Speedy Lorenzo Vaccari #2 stole home, bringing the score to 5-3 at the end of 5. The Panthers pull ahead for good in the top of the 6th where Andrew Davidoff #99 singled driving in Zack Kaplan #15. Nikhil Lalwani #27 was able to place a well-timed bunt down, not only scoring Charlie Garret #4 but beating out the throw to 1st of the single. Glen Rock emerged victorious, 7-3.
11u faced off against Ridgewood in game 3 of the series. Glen Rock rolled right over the once mighty maroons 17-2 in just 4 innings of play. The highlight of this game was the offensive onslaught brought upon by Lorenzo Vaccari #2. Vaccari went 3-4 with a walk, drove in 4 RBIs and capped it all off with a Grand Slam to bring the score to 17-0 in the top of the 4th inning. The Panther’s Andrew Davidoff #99 went complete this game, going all 4 innings giving up 2 runs, on 3 hits striking out 2. Rock swung big with Brendan Burkhardt #7 going 3-4 on the game, Julian Paradise #14 going 2-2 and Zack Kaplan #15 going 3-4. Luke Brassil #3 and Alvin Li #76 each had 2 RBIs on the game.
In the semifinals Glen Rock faced off against the Highlands Bulldogs, beating the dogs by a score of 9-6. Glen Rock was able to score 9 runs on only 3 hits, capitalizing on the mistakes made by the Highland Bulldogs and being incredibly smart and aggressive on the base paths. The Panthers stole 18 bases in the game, led by Lorenzo Vaccari #2 with 6. Alvin Li #76 went 5 innings on the mound for Rock, striking out 7. Zack Kaplan #15 closed things up, pitching 1 inning, striking out 1.
In the 11u Championship game, the Panthers fell to the Montvale team by a large margin. Glen Rock fought back and brought the score to a reasonable 9-6 in the 5th inning. Montvale came in in the top of the 5th inning scoring 9 runs. Glen Rock couldn’t keep up and lost 18-6 in a disappointing loss in the final game.
12u Baseball –
Our Glen Rock 12u Team had a great tournament this year. The panthers started off strong against the General’s Baseball Academy, beating them by a margin of 12-4. 12u started off strong in the 1st inning with a triple by Evan Lagemann #99, a single by Peter Lagemann #34, two well timed walks by Steve Choi #19 and Aiden Alvino, and a RBI fielder’s choice by Thomas Petraitis. Glen Rock came out strong again in the 2nd, with a few key hits highlighted by a hard hit double by Thomas Petraitis. Glen Rock gave up 4 runs in the top of the 3rd inning, but that was all the Generals could command, and Glen Rock walked away with a 12-4 romp over the Generals in game 1.
In game 2, Glen Rock opened up with a run in the 1st inning against Belleville scoring 1 run on a single by Michael Flaccavento #22. Glen Rock began to pull away in the 2nd with another 2 runs scored on a fielder’s choice by Zach Silberstien #7, and a run scored on a single hit by Peter Lagemann #34. Glen Rock was able to mount the score up to 15-5 by end of this match-up. Glen Rock’s Steve Choi and Michael Flaccavento each came up with 2 hits on the game, with Flaccavento toping the RBI list with 3.
In game 3 of the tournament Glen Rock and Nanuet battled for the win and (to the dismay of the home town crowd) Nanuet emerged the victor. But in true Glen Rock form, Rory Tennant and his Cooperstown warriors wouldn’t go down without a fight. Glen Rock was down 5-1 going into the top of the 6th inning where a double by Peter Lagemann and another by Michael Flaccavento brought the score to a reasonable 5-3. Unfortunately, in the end, Rock succumbed in the battle against the Knights of Nanuet, ending their tourney run.
13u Team –
I don’t have much insight into the details of 13u’s run to the Championship game, but I can tell you that they did some damage on their way. Glen Rock swepped through the preliminary games, outscoring their opponents 36-1 on Saturday and Sunday. Ridgewood was the opponent for the semi-finals where Rock was able to pull away with a 3-2 win. Rock faced off against a tough Par-Troy Piranhas losing 6-2 in the final. All in all – Rock scored 41 runs in the tournament, and gave up only 9 runs. An incredible run!
Some Player Spotlights
We had a great weekend with some great plays and performances. Before we announce the Player of the Week, I’d like to share some individual player highlights with our league.
At the 12u Level, we have Brendan Lagemann. Evan had a tremendous tourney, going 6-10 with a triple, 2 doubles and 3 singles on the weekend. Lagemann helped his team drive in 30 runs in 3 games. Lagemann also had two amazing stops at Shortstop, diving for the ball and making some great plays!
At the 10u level, Rock’s left fielder Patrick O’Keeffe had an incredible play to save a run, where he caught a fly ball, crow hopped like a pro, and had a perfect throw to Catcher Bryan Youngberg from left field to tag an advancing runner at home.