By Wayne Witkowski
Pitcher and third baseman Matt Potok and shortstop Zach Rogacki understand the excitement they feel as Jackson Little League’s 12-year-old All-Stars prepare for their June 25 opener at 10 a.m. at their Justice Turf 2 home field in the District 18 tournament.
They are the only players on the team that were one win away in the regional finals last year — a loss to Redland, Pennsylvania — to heading to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, for the Little League World Series. Redland went on to win the United States championship in the Little League World Series.
There was plenty of excitement on the way to that game, as the team won the district and state tournaments before heading to Bristol, Connecticut, for the region tournament and a TV broadcast on ESPN.
“As great as last year was, it’s important for these kids to carve out their own identity. I try to instill that,” said Jackson 12s manager Jeff Goeke, who is joined by coaches Joe Crotchfelt and Brian Carrillo. “This is a good group. They look great in practices and do what they are asked. And now [that] school’s out, they can turn up the intensity.
“We want to make sure they know it was a great run last year, but we have to set goals. The first one is a district championship. We’re one of the favorites there. We try to break it down to steps because it’s so impractical, so improbable to go on a run like last year’s team.”
“We tell the players that practice, effort and teamwork are needed, and that showed from the success of last year,” Tim Calcaterra, league president, said. “The overall regimen is the same, and the kids are working hard with the coaches. We expect no less than their best.”
Pool play for the Jackson Little League 12-year-old All-Stars continues June 29 at 6:30 p.m. at Stafford, July 1 at 7:30 p.m. at home against Manchester and July 2 at noon at Berkeley.
As for the rest of last year’s 12-year-olds that played on a field of 46 feet from the mound to home plate and 60 feet along the basepaths, they’ve moved up to the Intermediate All-Stars for 13-year-olds that play on a larger 50/70 field.
They’ll open in district play at 7:30 p.m. June 23 against Beachwood on Jackson’s Justice Grass B field. Many familiar names from Jackson Little League 12s of last season are on the team, highlighted by pitcher Sean Slusser and power-hitting first baseman Jake Wendell. There’s also center fielder Ryan Lasko and Austin Parikh, who got some clutch hits. Matt Feld, who missed the great run with an injury last season, also is on the Intermediate All-Stars along with standouts Joe Arcarese, Tyler Beck and Caden Brooks.
The rest of the team includes Bobby Bammann, Tyler Charzewski, Justin Glaser, Dan Greenwood, Jordan Naffaa and Max Selenko.
Tim Beck manages the team, and John Brooks and Ole Naffaa are coaches.
Tom Cartnick, who played a leading role on Jackson Little League 12s last year, has skipped Intermediate to play for elite Junior level travel ball. Cartnick, who won the state Home Run Derby a few days earlier, belted a walk-off home run to center field on a 3-0 pitch that lifted Jackson to a 7-6 victory over Somerset Hills for the Joe Graziano New Jersey Little League state championship last summer. It was a sweet victory for Jackson, managed by Evan Glaser, which had fallen short in the state championship game the two previous years.
Goeke feels this year’s 12-year-old team has the pitching depth and power at the plate to go far.
“I think our strength is a lot of pitching depth. I have seven to nine kids out of the 13 on the team who I have complete confidence for them to pitch in All-Star games,” Goeke said.
That will be needed because after the end of pool play with games July 1 and 2, the single elimination round begins the following day.
“And we have power,” Goeke said. “A lot of kids have grown and we’ve seen a lot of home runs from kids in the regular season who did not have that [power] last year.”
Many of the players come from Frazier Baseball Team Gray and Volpe Foundation Team Black — the top two teams in the league. Volpe Foundation won the regular-season title, but Frazier Baseball won the league tournament.
About 450 youngsters played in the Jackson Little League program this spring — a typical enrollment in recent years — which was solidified by the success of last year, said Al Goldberg, league vice president. Goldberg had been the league president the past two seasons.
“We saw [last season] that it’s attainable to have a national champion,” Goldberg said.
The Frazier Baseball selections for the All-Stars include catcher Nick Storaci, second baseman Will Starr and left-handed closer/backup first baseman Zach Crotchfelt. Coming off the Volpe team are Potok, third baseman Sage Goeke and center fielder Andrew Patire. Jason Casper and C.J. Allen play in left and right field, respectively. Versatile players Nick Catanese, Ben Goldberg and Dylan Archer also will see action in utility roles.
Many played on the 11-year-old All-Stars last year that lost to Toms River in the district semifinals.
