The Freehold Township 13U Little League team must avoid any defeats this week as it seeks to advance to the Intermediate 50/70 Baseball League World Series.
Freehold Township, which won its second straight New Jersey state championship a week ago, was defeated by Commack, New York, by a score of 5-4 on July 23 in the Eastern Regional that is being played all week in Commack.
Freehold Township opened the regional tournament with a victory when it beat Pennsylvania’s Keystone, 5-1, on July 22.
But due to the setback on July 23, Freehold Township had to win on July 24 against Gates-Chili of New York. That game was played at 3:30 p.m. A victory will have sent Freehold Township to two elimination games on July 25. If victorious in each game, Freehold Township could win the regional with two more triumphs on July 26.
Freehold Township entered the regional tournament on a mission after it fell last year in this tournament that was played in Bristol, Connecticut. Freehold Township was confident after it qualified for the regional with its 22-4 victory over Buena to capture the state championship on July 16.
“We’re a lot more focused this year,” manager Jeff Gorman said at the time. “Last year, we were so excited to be there. It was an incredible experience. We took a tour of ESPN. We took it all in, and I think we got in over our heads once the games started. This year, we know this is a business trip. We’re going to have fun up there, but I know it’s not going to overwhelm us this year.”
That defeat to Commack will make winning the regional tournament a difficult task.
“It’s going to be hard for us to win,” Gorman said. “But it’s still possible.”
Gorman believes that his team can still make it out of the regional tournament and move on to the 50/70 Baseball League World Series that will be played July 30 through Aug. 6 in Livermore, California.
While not looking past the July 24 game against Gates-Chili, the manager admitted to being worried about the July 25 doubleheader.
“We play against two teams on [July 25]” Gorman said prior to those matchups. “Now that’s the bad day. If we somehow survive, we would have a sold chance to win two on [July 26] as well. It’s going to be hard, but it’s not impossible. We just have to stay focused and win one game at at time. If we do that, then we can beat the odds.”
