By Justin Feil, Packet Media Group
The Hillsborough 11U Gold travel baseball team has gotten a little better each year since they started together.
The payoff for their improvement came last week when they celebrated their first District 10 Cal Ripken 50/70 championship with an 8-4 win over defending champion Bridgewater on Tuesday.
At this level, pitchers throw from 50 feet, and bases are 70 feet part.
“They (Bridgewater) have been one of the tougher teams for us in the past few years,” said Hillsborough manager Glen Eilbacher. “They were the defending district and state champions. They represented New Jersey in the regionals. For us to come out and beat them in the district final, and beat them for the fourth time this year says a lot about the kids on our team.”
Players on this year’s district championship team are Owen Bartolomeo, Andrew Drinkwater, Lance Eilbacher, Logan Eilbacher, Nathan Kepniss, Adam Movshin, Jack O’Donnell, Tommy Porowski, J.T. Losch, Ronak Parikh and Matthew Westcott. Coaches are Jeff Losch and Chris Westcott.
“There’s no MVP on this team,” Glen Eilbacher said. “They all know their role and do their job. What’s been the most important thing, taking a look at the stats from districts, everyone did something. We had four different pitchers, we had a couple kids with hits, a couple kids with runs, a couple kids hit home runs. Everyone did a couple things to help us get to that point.”
The group started playing baseball together as 7-year- olds, and they entered the district tournament as 8U, 9U and 10U players. They never advanced beyond a semifinal before this year. They were 0-3 in pool play at 8U before making semifinal appearances in each of the last two years, but this year they got over the hump and won it all.
“These kids have been working on this,” said Chris Westcott. “It’s a stepping stone. They bought in and did what they were supposed to do. There were a lot of opportunities to leave the team or go and do something else. Because they stayed the course, they’re now reaping the benefits. Not a lot of kids get to hold up that district banner. And they’re one of the ones that gets to do it, and I think that’s fantastic.”
Hillsborough plays in the USABL as well, and they reached the World Series in that league before a tiebreaker cost them a chance to move on. They beat eventual champion Northern Burlington in pool play.
In Cal Ripken play, they will represent District 10 at the state tournament that begins July 15 in Flemington. Host Flemington is also from District 10.
“It’s satisfying,” said Logan Eilbacher. “It feels good to have won it for the first time. It’s also good we get to move on to states and maybe regionals. The competition gets harder and harder and makes us get better.”
Tough competition and a dedication have helped push Hillsborough to the top. They play in a strong area and aren’t afraid to take on the best teams.
“I definitely try to schedule as many good teams as we can,” Glen Eilbacher said. “We’re willing to travel to play a good team at any point. The only way to get better is to play better.”
The Hillsborough Baseball League team uses competitive situations through the spring to gear up for district play. It’s the main focus for the travel team.
“It’s the thing we work up to,” Eilbacher said. “We use all the tournaments leading up to districts kind of as spring training. We ran a tournament on Memorial Day weekend. The tournaments lead up to districts. It’s been set in their minds that what we strive for is to win districts, represent Hillsborough and move onto the states to play potentially the other six to eight top teams in the state.”
Hillsborough proved itself the best of a strong district. They won their pool to earn a bye through the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, they met a Readington team that had also emerged from their pool and won, 11-1. That set them up in the finals against Bridgewater. Last year, they had tied them, 4-4, in pool play and a semifinal loss cost them a chance at a rematch in the district finals.
“A team like that sets the bar pretty high,” Eilbacher said. “When we start working out in January, that’s who we’re aiming at. We’re aiming at teams like that.”
In the final this year, Hillsborough fell behind early, but came back strong to take a lead that their pitching and defense would never relent. Drinkwater started the game on the mound before Hillsborough went to Bartalomeo and Parikh. They turned it over to their de facto closer Matthew Wescott, who finished it out.
Hillsborough trailed, 1-0, before a two-run single by Losch gave them the lead. Porowski powered a two-run home run to add to the lead, and after Bridgewater got a run back, Drinkwater blasted a two-run home run. Hillsborough tacked on a pair of insurance runs to back the solid pitching. After closing out Bridgewater, they’re ready for another level of competition at states.
Said Matthew Westcott: “It’s a good experience because you play better teams and you have to work harder to beat them.”
Having already made a bit of history with their first district title, Hillsborough isn’t ready to see its run end. They are dreaming of advancing past the next step.
“I think it’s satisfying,” said Lance Eilbacher. “And if we want to win and advance, we need to play good defense and hit the ball really well.”
Hillsborough has put together all the pieces to be successful. They have depth at pitching and versatility in the field defensively where they have kept a strong focus. Their offense has also grown through the years.
“I think it’s been building each year,” Glen Eilbacher said. “At this point, they’ve been very consistent. They don’t get down. They stay focused. If someone makes an error, someone else picks it up. It’s not just our second, third and fourth hitters that hit, it’s everyone top to bottom. One through 11, it really puts the pressure on the other team to make the plays.”
Hillsborough is gearing up for another run next week. They will play in a tournament this weekend to prepare and then they will represent the Hillsborough Baseball League and their hometown as District 10 champions in states.
“We’re super excited to have won the district, even more excited to go to states to play some of these better teams and I think if they pitch, play defense and do what they do offensively, we have just as good a shot as anyone there,” Glen Eilbacher said. “To get to regionals and be able to play Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania and New York, that would be another great opportunity for them.”
