GMCSBL Final Game of the Season - South Brunswick 8 South Plainfield 6

The season finale was a better game on paper than it was in the field. The Tigers fell behind early but kept pace, for the most part, with a motivated South Brunswick team.

Looking to avenge an opening round loss to the Tigers in the U17 Don Mattingly State Tournament last week, South Brunswick struck for 3 quick runs in the 1st inning and 2 in the 2nd.

The Tigers came back with 3 in the 3rd and 1 in the 4th, but it was not enough to take the lead.

South Brunswick's Ariel Torres smacked a 3 run homerun in the 6th, sealing the victory for the Vikings. The Tigers tried to answer back in the 7th with 2 more runs but came up short for an 8-6 loss in their final 2010 GMCSBL game.

Brandon Downes finished with a double, single, a stolen base, 2 runs scored and 1 RBI. Stephen Petriello had 2 singles and 2 runs scored. Quinn Cochrane had 2 doubles, a single, and 3 RBIs. Dan Hansen had a single, sac fly, and 2 RBIs. Ryan Marcoux had a single, a stolen base and 1 run scored.

Charlie Huber took the loss after coming on in relief of Tom Bowden and Ryan Hutchinson who pitched the 1st and 2nd innings respectively.

GMCSBL Result: South Plainfield 2 Freehold Township 1 (8 Innings)

South Plainfield 2 Freehold Township 1 (8 Innings)

Another thrilling pitchers duel today as South Plainfield's Dan Hansen faced off against Freehold's Kevin Litus. Both pitchers threw scoreless baseball for 7 innings. Litus had a no-hitter for the first 7 innings. Hansen gave up a few hits early but held Freehold scoreless until the 8th.

Litus helped his own cause by leading off the 8th inning with a single up the middle. He moved to 3rd on an overthrow during a sacrifice bunt making it a first and third situation. A 6-4-3 double play then allowed Litus to score giving Freehold a 1-0 lead.

Litus had held the Tigers hitless for 7 innings, allowing only one baserunner during that time. (Alex Liszewski reaching on an E-6 in the 3rd inning). It was in the 8th inning that the Tigers came alive. Dan Hansen led off the inning with a double to left-center, ending the no-hitter. Chris Kukich came up next looking to sacrifice bunt, but was safe at first due to a wild throw by Litus. Hansen came around to score from second on the play. Kukich hustled to second on the over-throw. With the score now tied at one, Ryan Marcoux put down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move Kukich to third. Ryan Hughes and Alex Liszewski were then intentionally walked, loading the bases, to try to set up a force at any base. Quinn Cochrane then walked up to the plate with one out and bases loaded. With the Freehold infield in, Cochrane hit a hard grounder right at a shallow shortstop who couldn't handle it, driving in Kukich for the winning run.

Tigers win a walk-off, 2-1.

Hansen went the distance for the win, yielding 5 hits, 1 walk, 8 strike outs, and picking off 2 baserunners. He also had the only hit for South Plainfield.

A lot of credit goes to Freehold's Kevin Litus, who threw a fantastic 1-hit game for the loss.

GMCSBL Result: South Plainfield 11 Princeton Township 0

South Plainfield 11 Princeton Township 0

Photos Courtesy of Don Hunsinger

AJ Celantano delivers a pitch against Princeton Township

AJ Celantano got his first win of the season with an 11-0 shutout over Princeton Township. Celantano allowed only 2 hits and 4 baserunners during the game. He struck out 5 and walked one. Charlie Huber came in to close it out in the 6th by striking out the side.

Alex Liszeski is caught stealing (although he looks safe)

The Tigers had 12 hits to score 11 runs. Dan Hansen led the attack with a double, single and a triple, scoring 2 runs, and getting 1 RBI. Stephen Petriello had a single and a triple, scored 3 runs, and got an RBI. Chris Kukich had a double and a single, scored a run and had 2 RBIs. Nick DeMarco had a single and 3 runs scored. Tom Bowden had a single and 2 RBIs. Ryan Hutchinson had a single and an RBI. And Mark Tomei and Alex Liszewski, each had a single.

AJ Celantano attempts to pick off one of only 4 Princeton baserunners allowed in the game.

AABC U17 State Tournament Results: Hillsborough 10 South Plainfield 3

Game 3 doesn't go to the Tigers either.

It didn't get any better on Saturday as the Tigers were knocked out of the tournament by Hillsborough. The game went the full 7even innings. The Tigers produced only 3 runs on 5 hits.

Ryan Hutchinson led off the first inning with a walk. Mark Tomei then singled and advanced to 2nd on the throw to 3rd that failed to get Hutchinson. Dan Hansen then hit a ground out to short that scored Hutchinson for the 1st run.

In the 3rd inning, Alex Liszewski led off with a single followed by another single by Mark Tomei. AJ Celantano smacked a single to send Liszewski home but got nailed at second trying to stretch it into a double.

In the 5th inning Ryan Marcoux led off with a walk. Alex Liszewski reached on an error by the second baseman moving Marcoux to third. Ryan Hutchinson came up and hit a single to drive in Marcoux for the 3rd and final run.

Hillsborough scored 5 runs in the second inning on no hits. They later scored 4 runs in the 5th inning on 3 hits, and 1 run in the 5th inning on 4 hits.

Ryan Hughes, Charlie Huber, Nick DeMarco and AJ Celantano shared the pitching duties with Hughes getting the loss.

TOURNAMENT BRACKETS:

http://www.leaguelineup.com/pyramidbaseball/files/2010%20Don%20Mattingly%2017U%20Bracket.pdf

AABC U17 State Tournament Results: Middlesex 9 South Plainfield 1

Game 2 doesn't go to the Tigers.

Lack of run support didn't help the Tigers Friday as they dropped a crucial game against Middlesex. 1 run on 7 hits is all the Tigers could muster. The Tigers scored their only run in the top of the 1st, AJ Celantano singled and took second on a bad throw by the Middlesex shortstop. Dan Hansen came up and creamed a double over the right fielders head bringing Celantano home. Middlesex scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 1st inning and it was pretty much over from there. Middlesex scored 5 more runs to 8 run rule the Tigers after 5 innings.

Hit producers for the Tigers were Mark Tomei, AJ Celantano and Chris Kukich getting singles. Dan Hansen had 2 doubles while Ryan Hutchinson had 2 singles.

Pitching duties were divied up amongst Tom Bowden, Nick DeMarco and Charlie Huber, with Tom Bowden taking the loss.

AABC U17 State Tournament Results: South Plainfield 4, South Brunswick 1

South Plainfield Tigers at AABC U17 NJ State Tournament

Game 1 goes to the Tigers.

Another pitchers battle that went into extra innings this time, and South Brunswick blinked first. South Plainfield's Dan Hansen and South Brunswick's Alex Carroll traded innings until the Tigers broke it open in the top of the 9th inning at Nap Torpey Field in Bridgewater.

The first 3 innings were scoreless. Then in the top of the 4th, Dan Hansen led off the inning with a double to left center. Chris Kukich drove Hansen in for the first run with a single to right.

South Brunswick answered right away in the bottom of the 4th. Ariel Torres led off the inning with a triple. Joe Young followed with an infield ground out to score Torres and tie the game at 1.

It stayed that way with both pitchers holding the other team scoreless until the top of the ninth inning. Thats when the Tigers came alive with back to back base hits by Shane O'Connor and Alex Liszewski. Ryan Hutchinson moved both baserunners with a perfect sacrifice bunt. Then with O'Connor on third and Liszewski on second, AJ "Mr Clutch" Celantano did it again, coming up big with a 2 RBI double for the Tigers to take the lead. South Brunswick changed pitchers and Dan Hansen smashed an outside fastball down the right field line for a double, scoring Celantano for run number 4.

Tom Bowden came on in relief in the bottom of the 9th and closed it out for the Tigers.

Mark Tomei, Alex Liszewski and Dan Hansen each had 2 hits on the day. AJ Celantano, Chris Kukich and Shane O'Connor had 1 hit each.

Dan Hansen gave up 1 run on 4 hits, and struck out 7 for the win. Tom Bowden gets the save.

NEXT GAME: Friday July 16th at 5:30 p.m. at Prince Rogers Field in Bridgewater.

Hansen Strikes Out 20 In GMCSBL Playoffs

South Plainfield pitcher Dan Hansen throws to first base during a 2009
game. Hansen struck out 20 batters in GMCSBL action last weekend.

BASEBALL
July 14, 2010
By JOE MARTINO
STAFF WRITER

Hansen Strikes Out 20 In GMCSBL Playoffs

As the Greater Middlesex Coaches Summer Baseball League playoffs began, South Plainfield finally hit its stride, thanks in part to starting pitcher Dan Hansen.

The Tigers stood in fourth place in the Middlesex North Division at 5-5, but reeled off three-straight victories to clinch a spot in this weekend's AABC 17U Don Mattingly State Tournament at Prince Rodgers Complex and Nap Torpey Field, both in Bridgewater.

Hansen was brilliant in Saturday's 4-0 clincher over Woodbridge. He struck out the first nine batters he faced - including three on just nine pitches in the third inning - and fanned 20 for the game.

"It was the most dominant pitching performance I've seen at any level," said South Plainfield coach Nick McKee. "Earlier in the day he'd thrown 25 pitches in a college showcase so it was questionable if I was even going to start him, but he said he was ready to go and his arm felt great."

Hansen was dominant in Friday night's 2-0 playoff victory against Ocean as he struck out 14 batters, and enters the state tournament with staggering numbers for the summer: 4-0 with a 0.57 ERA, 44 strikeouts and just 4 walks.

"He was dominant in the spring for the varsity (9-1), but it looks like his velocity has jumped and he's mowing everyone down now," McKee added. "the last three times he's pitched, it looks like he's flipped the switch - unhittable."

St. Joseph, South Brunswick, and Middletown South are the other teams advancing from the GMCSBL, and Hansen will be on the mound for South Plainfield Thursday. Other qualifiers include Hillsborough, Bridgewater and Basking Ridge from the Pyramid League (Hunterdon, Somerset and Warren counties) and Pennsville.

___________________________________

Thursday, July 15
2010 AABC/Don Mattingly State Playoffs
5 GMCSBL TEAMS HEAD INTO AABC/MATTINGLY STATES TODAY
Bridgewater, NJ-

It didn't take very long for the Greater Middlesex Coaches Summer Baseball League to make noise on the AABC national scene. The newly affiliated league sent South Plainfield to the AABC World Series in its' first year of existence. The trip to New Mexico was one that S.P. would parlay into a seat atop the Start Ledger rankings for a good part of the high school season as New Jersey's number 1 team.

This year, the GMCSBL looks to return a team to the World Series in Farmington, NM, with 5 slugging squads looking to win the New Jersey State Championship and grab a bid out West.
South Plainfield is one of those teams looking to return to New Mexico. They will be joined by 3 other GMCSBL region winners in Middletown South, South Brunswick and St. Joe's. An at-large bid was recieved by Middlesex, the top point getter during the regular season.

Thursday will have 2 all GMCSBL matchups in the opening round with Middlesex and St. Joe's hooking up in a rematch of Saturday's region final (St. Joe's scored 12 unanswered runs for the 12-6 win) and South Plainfield facing off with South Brunswick.

The South Plainfield/South Brunswick game could be one of the best games of the tournament. South Brunswick has been the most complete and consistent team all summer. They are the Middlesex Co. South and Region Champion. South Brunswick can do it all. They can pitch behind undefeated Alex Carroll, and hit with slugger Nick Muha, Craig Cleffi and John Yurecko. South Plainfield possesses the best weapon in the tournament with lefty Dan Hansen. The southpaw has not lost all summer and has yielded one earned run. Hansen returns to the mound after striking out 20 vs. Woodbridge in the Regional Final on Saturday. If they have their full compliment of players, South Plainfield will be a tough out in this tournament.

With the group of teams from the GMCSBL headed out to Bridgewater, the prediction is that one of the 5 teams will advance. Choosing which team it will be is the most difficult part. The fun part is going to be watching it all go down at Nap Torpey Field and Prince Rodgers field in Bridgewater Twp starting Thursday.

Prediction: South Brunswick will return the favor from last year and win it out of the loser's bracket to advance to New Mexico!

Good luck to all of the teams in this year's tournament.
-Glenn Fredricks

http://www.eteamz.com/gmcsbl/

GMCSBL Result: South Plainfield 10, South River 9

Photos courtesey of Don Hunsinger

Centerfielder Mark Tomei makes the catch of the day robbing South River of a homerun.

Mark Tomei continued his assault on baseballs again Monday, going 4 for 4 and reaching base in 5 plate appearances to lead the Tigers in a come from behind win against South River.

South River out-hit the Tigers 14-9, and had the scoring lead for most of the game. But it just wasn't enough as the Tigers took advantage of some key opportunities and scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 7th for the win.

South River baserunner was called safe after shortstop Ryan Marcoux makes the tag.

Tomei led off the game with a homerun into the backyards in right field. No doubt about it. He followed up with 2 singles and a double while getting hit by the pitch once. The Tigers had 9 hits in the game and Tomei had 4 of them, along with 5 RBIs.

AJ Celantano hit the walkoff single, driving in Alex Liszewski for the winning run. Celantano finished the day with 2 singles and 2 RBIs.

The remaining 3 hits belonged to Nick DeMarco, Dan Hansen, and Shane O'Connor.

The Tiger pitching was parceled out to Nick DeMarco, Tom Bowden, and Charlie Huber, with Huber hanging in there for the win.

Firstbaseman AJ Celantano makes a nice stretch for the putout.

Brandon Downes, South Plainfield slugger, heads to East Coast Pro Showcase

July 10, 2010

By PAUL FRANKLIN
STAFF WRITER

The steady thumps can be heard every day, sometimes late at night when Mike and Kathy Downes are trying to fall asleep. The sound in the basement is like an intermittent beat of a drum, but in fact is the sound of a baseball being hit by a bat.
The culprit is their son, Brandon.
The reason, of course, is the dream.
"I can attest to that," said his mother with a smile one afternoon last week, upstairs in the kitchen. "I hear the ball and I hear him saying stuff to himself. He's in a zone down there."
Imperfection, however, causes baseballs to divert from the circular, blue netting of the "Instant Screen." The desired result, of course, is a line drive into the concrete block wall some six feet from where a soft toss machine lobs pitches to the kid.
Over the past 10 years his swings have also sent balls banging off the washer/dryer, water pipes and shattered windows.
One time a ricochet tagged him on the nose.
He no longer breaks the two windows to the right of the portable home plate. Eventually his father, a mason, cemented them shut.
Aside from his concrete field of dreams, the basement is essentially like many others: a little dark . . . a ping pong table here, a Foosball table there . . . posters on the walls . . . a blue plastic wash basket filled with baseballs, and, well, stuff.
In stark comparison is a large table filled with gold trophies. Tall trophies. More than two dozen of them.
That is the first hint of a talented baseball player as you walk down the narrow stairs to the basement. And that is why it comes as no surprise as to why the 17-year old will attend one of the country's most prestigious baseball showcases next month.
The East Coast Pro Showcase website says its ultimate purpose is, "to provide a venue for the premier youth baseball players across the Eastern United States to compete in a professional environment and allow evaluation opportunities for scouts from every Major League organization."
Games will be played Aug. 1-4 at the Detroit Tigers spring training facility in Lakeland, Fla.
In addition, the MLB team sponsoring the one Downes will play for, the Angels, will hold one practice at Yankee Stadium on July 27.
"That's gonna be really cool," said Downes, who will be a senior this year at South Plainfield High School. "I want to take batting practice. I can't wait."
He stands a good chance of reaching the seats at Yankee Stadium — even if he's a Mets fan. He hit 15 home runs this past spring, many of them bombs into the trees at South Plainfield's home field.
Generally an outfielder, Downes has a cannon for an arm and is actually catching this summer for three teams: Full Count, an AAU team; Senior Legion; and the Greater Middlesex County Coaches League.
Almost 6-foot-3, Downes is not the prototype catcher at 175 pounds.
"I like being involved in every play," he said of the position. "The outfield sometimes is boring. All I do is yell a lot. I like running down fly balls though, and I usually don't hit the cutoff man. My coach told me once to stop showcasing my arm."
Downes said that with a smile. An unassuming teenager, his athletic success has not gone to his head. He can be excited about his accomplishments and his potential, but he doesn't brag about it.
He credits his parents.
His dad played football and baseball at South Plainfield (mom was a cheerleader), older brother Michael played baseball for South Plainfield, and his sister Kelly will play her final year of softball at Drexel. She was an outstanding player at SPHS as well.
Rutgers, Virginia, Tennessee and Vanderbilt are among the colleges recruiting Downes, who is considering majoring in electrical or environmental engineering.
Even if he's drafted next year, he said, he is pretty sure he will attend college before taking a crack at professional baseball.
"I've been told I won't be ready," he said of pro ball. "And I don't think I will be."
Eventually, of course, he wants to. Eventually he wants to return to Yankee Stadium in a major-league uniform.
"I always wanted to play in the pros, but I never thought I'd get this close," he said. "I remember when I started playing baseball, I hit a lot of home runs and I would think, "I can't wait to hit them in the majors.' "
Until then he'll keep taking his swings in the basement, where the washer/dryer can serve as a left field foul pole, the water pipes as a shot into McCovey Cove, and where concrete windows continue to drum the rhythm of a dream.

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20100710/SPORTS0103/7100328/1109

GMCSBL Division Final - South Plainfield 4, Woodbridge 0

What was actually a great pitcher's battle between Dan Hansen of South Plainfield and Nick Stallone of Woodbridge turned into a memorable classic Saturday night at Community Park in North Brunswick. South Plainfield lefty pitcher, Dan Hansen, out-K'ed Woodbridge righty, Nick Stallone, 20 - 12. Hansen gave up 3 hits to Stallone's 4. Only 1 of Woodbridge's 21 outs was not a strikeout. The lone exception coming on a Woodbridge baserunning mistake. Hansen tossed a complete game for the shutout win, striking out the side in every inning except the 6th.

Brandon Downes gave the Tigers an early lead in the top of the first inning, by clocking a 1-1 pitch into the parking lot in back of left field for a solo homerun. As it turned out, thats all the run production the Tigers needed to close out the Barrons for a Divisional seed in the Don Mattingly U17s State Playoffs.

The Tigers went on to score 3 more runs. One run was scored, again by Downes, in the top of the 4th inning. Downes reached on an infield single, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on an RBI groundout to first by Stephen Petriello. Petriello also had a single in the top of the sixth.

The other 2 runs were scored in the top of the seventh. Ryan Marcoux was hit by a pitch, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Mark Tomei. Ryan Hutchinson scored the 4th run by reaching on an error by the Woodbridge second baseman, moving to third on Tomei's single and then scoring on a wild throw to first by the catcher.

Great game...........the Tigers are going to Bridgewater for the State Finals!! (AGAIN)

GMCSBL Result - South Plainfield 13 Red Bank Catholic 3

The hits kept coming on Tuesday as the Tigers defeated Red Bank Catholic 13-3 in six innings at Count Basie Field in Shrewsbury. Mark Tomei broke a few baseballs while hitting 3 doubles and a triple. Brandon Downes almost had a cycle, hitting a double, triple and a homerun that hasn't landed yet. Stephen Petriello had 2 singles, a double and a sacrifice fly. Dan Hansen and Ryan Hutchinson had 2 hits each. Nick DeMarco had a monster triple that drove in 2 runs. And Ryan Marcoux had a solo hit to add to the total.

Tom Bowden pitched another complete game in the scorching heat to pick up his 4th win of the season. He faced 27 batters and struck out 4 while walking none.

GMCSBL Result : South Plainfield 2 Ocean Township 0

Dan Hansen threw a 4 hit shutout against Ocean Township on Monday, striking out 13 and not walking any batters.

The offense was led by Stephen Petriello, who hit a deep sacrifice fly to right field in the first inning to score Mark Tomei who had gotten a lead off single, and took second on a wide throw, he then stole third. AJ Celantano scored the second run after a base on balls, stealing second, moving to third on Petriello's sac fly, and scoring during a double steal with Dan Hansen swiping second. The Tigers had seven hits and no errors. Tomei and Chris Kukich had two hits each. AJ Celantano, Dan Hansen, and Ryan Hutchinson had the other three hits.

That was it for the scoring, but it proved to be enough for Hansen to finish out the game with solid defense behind him.

GMCSBL Result -Spotswood 3 South Plainfield 2

No Newspaper Coverage............

Recap :

Ryan Hutchinson took a tough loss against Spotswood while giving up only 4 hits but surrendering 3 unearned runs. A total of 4 errors on the part of the Tigers handed the Spotswood team the victory.

Offensively, the Tigers out hit the Chargers but scored only 2 runs. Ryan Marcoux and Alex Liszewski both singled in the top of the 7th and later scored on RBI singles by Ryan Hutchinson and AJ Celantano (squeeze bunt). Mark Tomei had 2 hits and Stephen Petriello & Nick DeMarco had 1 hit each to round out the hitting.

Taylor Born and Sal Esposito made their GMCSBL debuts during the game.

http://www.eteamz.com/gmcsbl/