By Wayne Witkowski
Allentown’s American Legion Post 576 baseball team was one victory away from advancing out of the district tournament, losing in the Mercer finals to six-time state champion Brooklawn, 5-4, recently.
“It was a very good season for a completely new, young team that did a very good job of coming together in the end for a nice run,” manager Brett Miller said.
Allentown ended the season with a 16-11 record.
Allentown finished 3-2 in district play, beating Delaware Valley, 3-2, in its double-elimination opener before losing to Brooklawn, 4-3, in 11 innings. In that Brooklawn game, Allentown built a three-run lead that Brooklawn erased in the eighth inning, rallying for three runs with two out and the bases empty.
Allentown rebounded against North Warren, hammering out 29 hits for a comfortable victory, and then beat Deptford to set up the showdown with Brooklawn, which again rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the fifth inning and pushed across two go-ahead runs in the sixth for a 5-3 lead.
Despite the inexperience in which 13 players donned an Allentown Legion uniform for the first time, they matured quickly in handing league champion Hamilton 31 two of its three losses. All but four Allentown players can return next summer under age limit requirements.
“We have a lot to look forward to for next season,” Miller said.
Miller is an assistant coach in the spring at The College of New Jersey. His coaches with Allentown are Mike Fassl, an assistant coach at Ursinus College, and former Allentown High School and Allentown American Legion player Connor Lindsay, who comes off his junior season as a pitcher at Montclair State University.
The four players who completed their eligibility accounted for much of the team’s success.
Thomas Malik, who came off an outstanding freshman season at Alvernia College, where he was 5-2 with a 0.99 ERA and 65 strikeouts, was part of an experienced pitching corps that Miller said carried the team all year and was one of the players who cannot return next year along with catcher Gino Tortoriello, a graduate of New Egypt High School this season who was an all-league selection batting in the low .400s and led the league with four home runs. The other two are shortstop Brendan Munoz and first baseman Hal Shaw, who are both out of Allentown High School. Although Shaw missed much of the early season while taking summer classes at Sacred Heart University, where he looks to walk on to the baseball team, he and Munoz were second team all-league selections.
“Every year I’ve been a part of this program, we got to the semifinals of the losers bracket or the finals but never got to the states,” Malik said. “This was a young team with more of a rebuilding year, which was a pleasant experience to have everyone want to feel that state atmosphere. Midway through the year, the new kids came along and got used to league pitching.”
“Malik pitched against every good team. When we needed him to turn it on, he did,” Miller said, as Malik went 3-2 with a 1.30 ERA. “He was the staple for the pitching staff, playing six years since he was in eighth grade, which is the longest anyone can play in Legion. It seemed the question going into every summer is, “Is Thomas Malik back again this season?”
Malik included a perfect game in Legion against West Windsor — a 10-0 victory shortened by the 10-run rule in 2014. In two district appearances last month, Malik struck out 30 in 16 innings, solidifying his reputation as one of the top American Legion pitchers in the state.
“It was hitting my spots and utilizing my off-speed pitches,” Malik said. “As I’m getting older, I need to get stronger and put a little more behind the fastball. It’s not all about velocity if you’re not hitting your spots. It helps to have movement in your changeup, get the fastball inside and the slider away.”
Along with Malik, the staff included left-hander Ian Fitzgerald, an Allentown High School player headed this fall to Kean University; Sahill Thakur of Robbinsville, who was 4-0 on the mound; Chris Tereszczyn, a recent New Egypt High School graduate headed to Rowan University this fall; and Kyle Lysy, a recent Allentown High School graduate who is going to Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, as contributors.
Munoz and Aydon Chavis, the second baseman who will be a senior at Allentown High School, were the steady regulars in the infield that rotated at the corners, depending on who was pitching.
Matt Coiante, who will be a senior at Allentown High School, played in center field and was one of the leading hitters with a .380 batting average at the No. 3 spot.
“Our offense was powered by youth, which struggled at times,” Miller said. “But we did not have to score a lot of runs with the pitching we had — just play situational baseball.”
Miller said it was a learning experience for many who will be more familiar with things next summer.
