Montville A 9, Kinnelon 1

Third Game of Montville Tournament

Both teams entered tonight’s game with a 2-0 record in the Montville Tournament. The Montville 10 y.o. Americans won tonight, July 12th, and increased their standings to 3-0. We were the visiting team this evening & were able to score our first run in the top of the first w/ a single & stolen base by Matt Kaiser followed by Paul Whitman’s timely single scoring Matt. Paul W.pitched the bottom of the 1st and left 2 runners on base w/ 3 ground ball outs. (Montville 1, Kinnelon 0). The 2nd inning went scoreless for both teams. In the top of the third, Jeremy Mizarji had a hard hit double to center field scoring Dan Sules who had reached on a walk. Both Paul Bello & Matt Kaiser singled in the inning but were LOB. In the bottom of the third, Kinnelon scored their first & only run & with bases loaded, Paul W. struck out the batter for the 3rd out.  (Montville 2, Kinnelon 1). Montville was scoreless in the top of the 4th. In the bottom half of that inning, Matt Kaiser had a  spectacular forward sliding catch in CF for the final out. In the top of the 5th,Jerry Elsing & Jeremy Mizarji singled & Paul Bello walked to load the bases. Matt Kaiser reached 1st base on a throwing error scoring Jerry. With the bases loaded, Danny Falk, steadily climbing out of his self-defined slump, hit a ground rules double that emptied the bases giving him 3 RBI's. Robert Geers singled Danny home for the 5th run of the inning. (Montville 7, Kinnelon 1). Eric Schenk pitched the 4th & 5th innings, not allowing any runs & facing 9 batters w/ 1K and 3 LOB. In the top of the 6th, Anthony Callendrello & Dan Sules walked, both advanced a base when Jerry Elsing reached 1st on a fielding error. Jeremy hit a double, his 3rd hit of the game, and scored Anthony & Dan, Jerry to 3rd. (Montville 9, Kinnelon1). Paul Bello pitched the bottom of the 6th facing only 3 batters with 1 K. Game balls went to Danny Falk for his breathtaking, slump-breaking, base- clearing double & to Jeremy Mizarji for his batting 3 for 3 with 2 sensational doubles, a single and 3 RBI’s.
Final score: Montville 9, Kinnelon 1

Montville A 14, Clifton 1

Everybody Gets A Hit!!

On July 7, 2001, it took only 3 ½ innings for the Montville10 y.o. Americans to complete the game against Clifton due to the “12 run rule”.  Paul Bello pitched the 1st 2 innings facing 10 batters, striking out 6 of them with 3 LOB and only one Clifton run scored in the top of the 2nd.  In the bottom of the first, Montville scored 2 runs on 3 hits.Matt Kaiser singled & stole 2nd, Paul Whitman doubled, stole third & scored Matt, and Robert Geers singled to bring home Paul W. (Montville 2, Clifton 0). We scored 9 runs in the bottom of the second!!  Travis Warech singled, Anthony Callandrello hit a loooong double, Travis to third, Ali Maqsudi singled Travis home & reached 2nd on an error, Paul Bello walked, Matt singled, got 2 RBI’s & stole 2nd, Paul W. doubled & got 2 RBI’s, Danny Falk doubled home Paul W., Robert walked, Eric Schenk sac’d Danny home, Travis singled home Robert, Anthony singled Travis to third & Jerry Elsing singled home Travis. (Montville 11,  Clifton 1). Eric Schenk pitched the 3rd inning facing only 3 batters with 2 infield outs & 1 out in LF by an outstanding, sun blinding catch by Ali Maqsudi!! In the bottom of the 3rd, Paul B. doubled, Jeremy Mizarji singled him home, Danny F. singled, Dan Sules singled home Jeremy and Eric singled home Danny F. (Montville 14, Clifton 1).  Eric Schenk closed out the top of the 4th facing only 4 batters. Anthony & Jeremy rec’d the game balls for 2 SUPER hits!! Final score – Montville 14,Clifton 1.



Montville A 5,  GlenRidge 0

That’s Three In A Row!!

On July 8th, the Montville 10 y.o. Americans won their third straight game. It was a pitcher’s duel until Montville broke through in the bottom of the fifth. Eric Schenk, Travis Warech and Jerry Elsing singled to load the bases. Jeremy Mizarji hit a clutch single to score the eventual winning run of the game. Paul Bello walked w/ the bases loaded for the 2nd run and Paul Whitman hit a double scoring 3 runs! Game balls went to Paul Bello for his stunning pitching including 7 strikeouts & to Paul Whitman for his well timed, base clearing double! Final score – Montville5,  Glen Ridge 0.

Montville A 12, Montclair N 1

Back On Track With A BIG Win!

On July 5th, the Montville 10 y.o. AmericanTravelers defeated the Montclair Nationals and were able to complete the game in 1 hour and 20 min. – about 10 minutes before the skies opened up and poured! Thanks Team! We scored 3 runs in the top of the 1st w/ 3 consecutive hits, a double by Paul Bello & singles by Matt Kaiser & Paul Whitman. Matt had the first RBI and Robert Geers, w/ 2 on, sacrificed for the second run. Eric Schenk singled & Paul W. scored. Jerry Elsing pitched the first inning facing only 3 batters w/ one K and one assist. (Montville 3, Montclair 0).  In the top of the 2nd, Ali Maqsudi singled & stole 2nd, Paul B. walked & both runners advanced on a steal. Matt Kaiser singled home Ali & Paul B.  Matt, who never seems to stop running, stole 2nd & 3rd & scored on a throwing error. Danny Falk walked, Robert Geers doubled, Danny to third, Eric Schenk singled home Danny, Robert to 3rd & Dan Sules doubled home Robert. We had 10 at bats in that inning. The bottom of the 2nd went quickly as Jerry Elsing faced only 4 batters w/ 1 K. (Montville 8, Montclair 0).  In the top of the 3rd, Ali walked & stole 2nd. Paul B. singled, reached 2nd on a bad throw & Ali scored. In the bottom of the 3rd, Jerry faced 5 batters w/ 1 K but Montclair scored 1 unearned run on 2 hits. (Montville 9,Montclair 1).  The top of the 4th went scoreless for us but Eric hit his third single of the game. Ali Maqsudi pitched the bottom of the 4th, facing 5 batters w/ 1 assist & 2 runners LOB.  Jerry Elsing  led off the top of the 5th w/ a single & stolen base. Ali singled & advanced Jerry to 3rd.  Paul B. sacrificed Jerry home & Ali to second & then stole 3rd. Matt Kaiser brought Ali & himself home w/ a BIG HOMERUN!!  The bottom of the 5th went smoothly w/ Ali pitching, facing 5 batters with 1 K & 1 assist. (Montville 12, Montclair 1). Ali finished off Montclair in the last inning w/ 1 K & 1 assist. Game balls went to Jerry Elsing for his remarkable pitching performance & 2 great at bats & to Matt Kaiser for his amazing homerun & breakneck base running. Special thanks to Rob for his assistance in reporting the game – next time you write. Final score -  Montville 12, Montclair 1.

Montville A 6,  MountOlive 7

Ouch!

In the semi-final play-off of the Mt. Olive Tournament on July 3rd, the Montville 10 y.o. American Travelers lost to Mt. Olive by 1 run. What a nail-biting game it was! Montville started out the top of the 1st with a bang. Matt Kaiser walked and advanced to 2nd on a single by Paul Whitman. Danny Falk walked to load the bases. Matt scored the 1st run and Paul & Danny advanced on a wild pitch. Eric Schenk walked to load the bases again. Robert Geers hit a clutch single that scored Paul & Danny, Eric to third. (M 3, Mt O 0). Paul Whitman pitched the bottom of the first and was able to hold Mt. Olive to only 1 run. Eric had an amazing catch in RF for 1 out and Jeremy Mizarji, playing 1st, flipped a grounder to Matt Kaiser playing 2nd & covering 1st for the final out. (M 3, Mt. O 1). The second & third innings were scoreless for both teams. Paul W. faced only 3 batters in the bottom of the 2nd & made 2 outs himself by catching a high pop & another hit hard right to him. Travis Warech caught a fly ball in CF for the other out. In the bottom of the third, Jeremy, on 1st, made the 1st out catching a ball in foul territory. Paul W., still pitching, caught a high pop & Matt Kaiser, playing 2nd, handled a hard hit grounder with a quick toss to 1st for the final out w/ 2 runners LOB. (M 3, Mt. O 1). In the bottom of the 4th, Paul W. pitching, the 1st 2 batters got on base. Jeremy got the first out at 1st base by a ground ball hit to him but Mt. O was able to sneak in 1 run. Paul Bello, SS, made a difficult play look easy on a hard hit ground ball – he held the runner on 2nd & got the out at 1st. The final out, a routine 4-3, Matt to Jeremy. (M 3, Mt. O 2).  In the top of the 5th, Paul Bello blasted a double & scored on Matt Kaiser’s single. (Yes, Tamara, the crowds roared!!). Matt advanced to third on a Paul Whitman single. Speedy Matt scored on a WP and Paul W. stole 2nd & 3rd.  Ali Maqsudi sacrificed Paul W. home for an RBI. (M 6, Mt. O 2). In the bottom of the 5th, Paul Bello pitched facing Mt. Olive’s meat of the order. Their hard hits combined with a tough inning for us allowed them to score 4 runs and tie the game. (M 6, Mt. O 6). Montville made a valiant attempt in the top of the 6th when Robert Geers started us off w/ a single. Jeremy Mizarji sacrificed him to 2nd but Montville was unable to bring him home.  Mt. Olive had last at bats and was able to score the winning run in the bottom of the 6th. Final score: Montville 6, Mt. Olive 7.
(I know I speak for all the fans and coaches – The Montville 10 y.o. Americans are a remarkable team and we are all so proud of them.  We were on the road (I should say many roads!) for 4 consecutive days and the tiring trip eventually took its toll on us. The team has every reason to hold their heads up high and be proud of themselves. Congratulations Montville on an exciting, well-played tournament!)

Montville A  6,  Blairstown 4
AnotherBig Win!

The Montville 10 y.o. American Travelers are now 2-1 in the Mt. Olive Tournament beating Blairstown on Monday evening, July 2nd, after facing Blairstown’s ace pitcher for 5 innings. Blairstown scored the 1st run of the game in the top of the 1st with Travis Warech pitching, but Montville ended that inning with 2 big outs. Both were rundown plays between 3rd & home – a 5-2-5 with Danny Falk tagging the runner out and a 6-2-5-1 with Travis tagging the runner for the last out. Montville tied the score in the bottom of the 1st. Paul Bello, batting 1st, hit the 1st pitch he saw for a single. Matt Kaiser, up next, had a bunt single advancing Paul B. to second. Both runners stole & Paul B. scored on a Blairstown throwing error. Danny F. was up next & was HBP. Travis followed with a single but neither was able to score.  (M 1,  B 1).  Travis held Blairstown scoreless in the 2nd inning w/ 2 K’s and Jeremy Mizarji ended the inning at 1st base catching a high pop in foul territory. Eric Schenk pitched the 3rd inning. He was able to hold Blairstown to only scoring 2 runs. He struck out the last batter to face him w/ 1 runner LOB. Paul Whitman pitched the 4th inning, held Blairstown to 1 run, w/ 1 K and an exciting last out assist- a double to CF led to an 8-1-2 out at home to end the inning. (M 1,  B 4). The bottom of the 4th was the turning point for Montville. Robert Geers and Paul Whitman both hit singles. Dan Sules went in to run for Robert on 2nd but Blairstown was able to get the out at 3rd when Matt Kaiser reached 1st on a FC. With 2 outs and runners on 1st & 2nd, Danny Falk hit a double to CF bringing home the 2 runners. Travis walked and both runners stole. On an overthrow to 3rd, Danny F. scored the tying run, Travis to 3rd. Travis, on a heads up play, stole home for the go ahead run.  (M 5,  B 4). In the top of the 5th, Paul W. faced 5 batters, striking out 3. In the bottom of the 5th, Eric Schenk singled and stole 2nd and 3rd. Paul W. singled him home. (M 6,  B 4). Paul Bello threw heat in the top of the 6th facing only 3 batters w/ 1 K & 1 assist to end the game. Paul Whitman received a game ball for being able to rise from his sick bed and pitch 2 impressive innings with 4 K’s and 1 assist and had 2 clutch singles, scoring 1 run and 1 RBI. Travis Warech received the other game ball for performing remarkably under his difficult circumstances. While pitching the 1st two innings, he delivered 2 K’s and 1 out on the 3rd base line tagging out the runner. He also scored the winning run.
Final Score: Montville A 6, Blairstown 4

Montville A  2,  Mount Olive 4

Montville’s 10 y.o. American Traveling Team played their first game against Mt. Olive on Saturday, June 30th at 10 a.m. Unfortunately, having to deal with the 90 degree on field temperatures following the long, complicated drive to avoid the Route 80 traffic dilemma,our boys were unable to capture a win but their playing was still quite remarkable. In the top of the first inning our coaches used a diversionary tactic that caught the Mt. Olive team by surprise and Montville scored their first run as quick-footed Matt Kaiser stole home. In the top of the third, Matt Kaiser walked and stole second base, Paul Whitman sacrificed Matt to third and Danny Falk doubled to bring him home. (Montville 2, Mt. Olive 0).  Paul Bello impressively pitched the first 3innings with 2 K’s, and 4 assists including a 1-3-2 double play which prevented a run from scoring and ended the third inning. Eric Schenk pitched the bottom of the fourth against Mt. Olive’s heaviest hitters. Eric held them to scoring only 2 runs by assisting in an exciting 1-6-3-6 double play that ended the inning. Paul Whitman handled both those outs at second base. (Montville 2, Mt.Olive 2). Mt. Olive scored another 2 runs in the 5th inning and Montville was unable to catch up even though Anthony Callendrello kept us alive in the top of the 6th with a 2 out double to centerfield. Jeremy Mizraji did a great job at first base easily handling 6 outs in the game. Paul Bello received the game ball for his remarkable pitching performance in the first 3 innings. Final score was Montville A 2,  Mt. Olive 4