U14 Champs!

The U14 Chatham Cougars brought home the Championship trophy last night in a nail-biting victory against the Verona Barnstormers with a final score of 10-8.  Played under the lights at Shunpike, the game was an even match up against Verona and was a great night of summer baseball in the New Providence Green League.

Chatham took the field with Tyler Brock pitching and Anand Kenney catching.  Brock pitched an outstanding 4 innings, pitching his way out of some tough spots. Playing tight infield defense were Connor Kressler, Michael Karrat, Greg Slamm, Michael DePinto, and Thomas Lofaro.  Jack Greiner played 1st base, making some fabulous scoops to earn outs.  The outfield was adeptly manned by Connor Paschenko, Jack Maguire, Dillon Murray, and Chris Doherty.  The heads up play by the outfield prevented extra bases for the Barnstormers.

Timely hitting by the Cougars contributed to the win. Brock hit a bases-clearing double in the 4th to put the Cougars ahead 7-5. The Barnstormers moved ahead 8-7 in the top of the 6th, but a timely single  by Karrat drove in Kenney and Lofaro to reclaim the lead for Chatham at 9-8. Adding to Chatham’s run count, a thunderous hit by Greiner, which was ruled a double when it got stuck in Shunpike’s outfield fence, drove in Karrat to bring the score to 10-8.

After relief pitching duties by DePinto, Anand Kenney came in as closer in the top of the 7th and shut down the heart of the Verona offense with just 11 pitches.

The defensive play is what set the team apart this entire season, and it was on full display in last night’s win.  After giving up a couple of unearned runs, the entire team kept their focus and concentrated on the plays at hand.  This attitude was fostered by the coaching staff under the leadership of Jason Izsa, with help from John Maguire, Pat Murray, and Joseph Greiner.  

Congratulations U14 Cougars Champions!