East Hanover wins NJ state championship
The East Hanover Little League 12year-olds have etched their name in Morris County baseball lore.
In Sunday night's winner-take-all New Jersey state championship game, East Hanover/Florham Park stunned Holbrook (Jackson), 4-3 at Buchmuller Park in Secaucus. East Hanover is just the ninth Morris County team to capture a Little League state title since the tournament was first held in 1957, and the first since Parsippany-Troy East won it all in 2012.
In a rematch of Saturday's game in which East Hanover defeated previously undefeated Holbrook, 2-0, the Hornets scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning on Sunday, and two more in the second to secure the victory.
"It's been a great experience for the boys and their families as well as for both towns. I felt like we were on even footing after Saturday's win," manager Joe Cheringal said. "We knew we had two of our best four pitchers available after they used both their best pitchers. Leading up to Saturday, we had played some hard-fought games. We were able to keep the momentum going and managed to jump out and take the lead in the first inning."
In the first inning, Anthony Abrantes tied the game when he grounded into a fielder's choice, scoring Tyler Ciasullo. In the next at bat, RJ Gossweiler singled to score AJ Rossi.
The Hornets then raced to a threerun lead in the second inning when Rossi smacked a two-out, two-run single.
Holbrook managed to pull within a run in the fourth inning at 4-3, but couldn't get anything going the final two innings. Gossweiler earned the win for East Hanover, giving up five hits, one earned run and four strikeouts in three innings. Braden Edelle threw the final three innings, striking out two on one hit and no runs.
"It feels good to represent New Jersey and I hope we can do good things in the regionals," Gossweiler said. "It was really cool being one of the four teams to represent the state. We met some new friends and had the chance to play at a nice field in front of a lot of people."
East Hanover (18-2), the Section 1 and District 1 champions, will face neighboring state champions Connecticut on Saturday at 4 p.m. (ESPN Plus) in the Mid-Atlantic Region in Bristol, CT. with berths in the 2023 Little League World Series on the line.
"We're solid heading up to Bristol (CT) for the region tournament. We've now played 20 games this summer and you can see the chemistry with the team," Cheringal said. "We don't blow teams away, but we do all the little things right."
East Hanover's road to the title began with a 6-5 win over Section 2 and District 6 champion Fort Lee on July 26. In Thursday's winners bracket, the Hornets dropped a 12-4 contest to Holbrook in four innings, pushing them into the elimination bracket final on Friday. East Hanover defeated Fort Lee, 8-3 for the second time in as many days.
That led up to Saturday's start to the championship series in which the Hornets handed Holbrook its first loss of the summer, setting up Sunday's finale.
"We knew we had something special before the summer season began. But you don't know what you have until they get on the field and play together," Cheringal said. "We pool kids from two towns, East Hanover and Florham Park, and there's approximately 55 players that try out. We have 12 kids on the team and 10 have been playing together for a long time. It's a special group of kids."
East Hanover looks to become the first Morris County team to capture the Mid-Atlantic Region and advance to Williamsport, site of the Little League World Series, since Par Troy East (Parsippany) in 2012 and the first New Jersey team since Elmora Youth (Elizabeth) in 2019.
Other Morris County teams to capture New Jersey Little League state titles include Parsippany Troy East (2012), Randolph (2007), Livingston American (2006 and 1974), Randolph West (2001), Pequannock (2000), and Morristown National (1985 and 1982).