A team from the Sayreville Little League won the 13- and 14-year-old New Jersey District 10 Baseball Tournament in 2016 and 2017. But in each year, Sayreville’s team fell short of winning the New Jersey Section 3 Tournament.
Sayreville won its third straight District 10 13- and 14-year-old title earlier this month. Only this time, Sayreville also won the Section 3 title, beating Howell Central Little League of Howell, 2-1, on July 19 in Berkeley, to capture Sayreville’s first sectional title since 1982.
Coach Bob Corby’s team nearly won the New Jersey Junior League State Championship as well, losing to Ridgewood in the final, 10-2, on July 29 in Lyndhurst. Sayreville would have advanced to the Northeast Regional with a win.
But the sectional title still made the season historic.
“The older guys were really mad because last year they thought they should have gone farther,” Corby said. “This year’s team is more balanced, with 13-year-olds playing valuable roles.”
Those 13-year-olds brought some motivation of their own into 2018, after losing in the 12-year-old sectional championship to Holbrook Little League of Jackson, the team that reached the Little League World Series last summer.
“The bulk of our team (this year) is from the 12-year-olds who won districts and lost to Holbrook. Those 12 kids got experience last year and were able to build on it,” Corby said. “Plus the older guys were really mad because last year they thought they should have gone farther.”
The combination of players from the younger club and holdovers from the older team was “the right mix,” said assistant coach Mike Novak, who is also the head baseball coach at Sayreville War Memorial High School.
This team had three primary pitchers in Ryan Anthony, Brian Zapoticzny and Dennis Whitford. Anthony and Whitford played on the 12-year-old team last year. Zapoticzny pitched for the 13-14 team.
Sayreville’s top five hitters were Michael Colonello, Aidan Ryan, Kevin Ryan, Tim Mayer and Zapoticzny. Colonello and Kevin Ryan were from the 12-year-old team. The other three were holdovers from the older club.
There was very little overlap across the Sayreville roster. Every player found a role early and played it well. More importantly, they all understood and embraced these roles. Just ask them.
“I play centerfield and control the outfield,” said Aidan Ryan. “The other guys are younger and I can lead them. They respect that.”
“I’m the leadoff hitter,” Kevin Ryan said. “I feel like in my first at bat I have to get on so I get my teammates pumped up.”
“I bat ninth and my job is to get on base so the top of the order can do damage,” said 14-year-old second baseman Matt Corby.
“My role on the team is to throw strikes as a pitcher,” Ryan Anthony said.
“I’m the catcher so my goal is just to get the strikes for the pitchers,” said Hunter Almida.
By winning the sectional championship, Sayreville accomplished its goal for the year, so the players were loose and confident in the state tournament. They won their first two games and headed into the Ridegwood matchup needing to win one out of two to clinch the state title.
Unfortunately, Sayreville lost, 13-10, on July 28, and again on July 29 in the double elimination format.
“It was a great run for our kids. We did something that has never been done in Sayreville Little League,” Novak said. “As the varsity coach, I’m looking forward to continuing the development of these kids. This was a great learning experience.”
