The Holbrook 12U Little League team will now focus on claiming a state championship after winning the Section 3 title.
Holbrook, which hails from Jackson, captured the Section 3 tournament when it defeated Sayreville, 17-1, on July 21 at the Hamilton Township Recreation Baseball Association’s Van Horn Park in Mercerville.
Holbrook will open play in the state tournament against Washington Park at the Kittatinny Little League Complex in Newton. That game will be played on July 27 and will start at 8 p.m.
Manager Rob Grano credited his Holbrook players for being locked in before they played Sayreville on July 21.
“They were just really focused,” Grano said. “We had an intense practice before the game — probably the longest and most intense practice that we had all year. I could tell the guys wanted this one bad.”
Holbrook had also defeated Sayreville, 8-6, earlier in the tournament on July 18.
Grano said that the team had a new game plan, based on past performances.
“We noticed that teams were coming back on us a little bit in the past few games,” Grano said. “We would get big leads, then kind of be in a lull and let teams back into the game. We didn’t want to do that against a really good Sayreville team. Our plan was to get off to a quick start and to not let up until the game was over.”
Grano’s Holbrook teams have won the state tournament on the 10U and 11U levels, and he feels that his team has matured during their time together. The Holbrook 10U team won the Mid-Atlantic Regional championship in 2015.
“These guys have been playing together since they were 8 years old,” Grano said. “I feel like we’re battle-tested. I can see it in their eyes and in their body language — these guys aren’t nervous anymore. In the past, adversity in big games might have taken us off our game, but not this year.”
Grano hopes that the intensity and focus will carry over into the state tournament.
“We had another intense practice,” Grano said. “We want to continue to have this same energy in practice all week leading up to Thursday.”
Grano believes that the combination of experience, focus and momentum is on his side this year and believes his team has what it takes to go the distance.
“The best thing about this year is I think that we are peaking at the right time,” Grano said. “We’re playing our best baseball right now and just peaking at the time when we need to the most. I really do feel like we are heading toward something great.”
