Hamilton 14s have busy summer in front of them
The summer of 2016 was a pretty impressive one for the Hamilton Babe Ruth League 13-year old All-Stars as they reached the Middle Atlantic Regional and were just a bad bounce away from the World Series.
So, as they open the BRL District One tournament on Friday at Trenton Babe Ruth, it’s not about 2017, it’s about unfinished business.
“This group has all the athletic ability to be successful,” said Jim Petersohn, the Hamilton/Northern Burlington manager. “It’s going to be the mental approach that is going to determine our team’s success. It’ll come down to the willingness to put team goals ahead of individual stats and accepting their roles on the team.”
There are only four leagues participating in the tournament, but three of the four will advance to the Southern New Jersey state tournament to be hosted by Hamilton/NB.
The event gets started at 6 p.m. Friday with Ewing/ Hopewell facing the host Trenton team and that will be followed by Brick American taking on Hamilton/NB.
Hamilton/NB is also hosting the Middle Atlantic Regionals so that group has a lot of baseball in front of them.
“We will not overlook any teams in the district despite the disappointing turnout of four teams,” said Petersohn. “I’m not worried about playing too much. I’m worried about not playing enough. We have 15 quality players and getting quality playing time has been an issue.”
Petersohn and all the managers know at this level it’s all about throwing strikes and playing solid defense.
Brick American is welcomed to District One this season just as the Northern Burlington league has merged with Hamilton.
“From a league standpoint enrollment went up from last year especially from the NB side,” said Petersohn, who is also the Hamilton president. “The merger has been a huge success and the Northern Burlington people have been great to work with. All three of our all-star teams have the talent to be very successful and playing baseball deep into the summer.” Jake Babuschak, Zac Brown, Thomas Cramer, Michael Giambelluca, John Gibbs, Connor Luckie, Gavin Martin, Nicholas Nemes, Thomas Niedermaier, Danny Perdomo, Nathan Rodriguez, Tyler Solymosi, Carson Wehner, Anthony Wilk, David Zamora. Manager: Jim Petersohn. Coaches: Frank Gatto, Mike Moceri.
Hopewell Valley/Ewing
Robbie Avanzato, Tommy Belsky, Jacob Elam, Jaden Ellmer, Trey Hill, Spencer Markiewicz, Xavier Park, Alex Paul, Thomas Quigley, Grant Sherman, Jayson Shin, C.J. Szafranski, Drew Zalescik. Manager: Tom Belsky. Coaches: Bob Markiewicz.
Trenton
Kahzir Brown, Cristian Cruz, Kristion Da’Jon Hayes, Lavor Funderburg, Anyory Jimenez, Nathaniel Johnson, Jahkeeze Lane, Jaycop Perez, Edwarly Rodriguez, Jonathan Rodriguez, Jovanny Rodriguez, Isiaiah Jordan Seals, Zykeem Isaiah Williams. Manager: Luis Rodriguez. Coaches: Alonzo Weeks.