2012 New Jersey State Little League® Tournament Results
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New Jersey State Tournament
Little League Baseball Division (Ages 11-12)



Toward the past
2012

Toward the present

New Jersey State Tournament
Host - Pequannock (District 2)
At Washington Park

Participating Teams
Section 1 Champions Par Troy East (Parsippany) (District 1)
Section 2 Champions Livingston American (District 8)
Section 3 Champions Nottingham (Hamilton Square) (District 12)
Section 4 Champions Monroe Township (Williamstown) (District 21)

Click here to view 2012 district tournament results for New Jersey.

Tournament Results:

Opening Round (Friday, July 27):
Livingston American 11, Par Troy East 2
Nottingham 10, Monroe Township 0 (5 innings)

Winner's Bracket Final (Saturday, July 28):
Nottingham 8, Livingston American 0

Elimination Bracket Semifinal (four teams remain) (Suspended on Saturday, July 28 and completed on Sunday, July 29):
Par Troy East 14, Monroe Township 1 (elim.)

Elimination Bracket Final (three teams remain) (Sunday, July 29):
Par Troy East 11, Livingston American 1 (4 innings; elim.)

Championship Series (Monday, July 30 and Tuesday, July 31):
Par Troy East 4, Nottingham 3
Par Troy East 9, Nottingham 4 (TITLE)


Summary:

Par Troy East Little League could not have started the New Jersey state tournament on worse footing. The District 1 champions -- who had won the Garden State's championship in the 10-11 year old division the prior year, and had lost just four games in Little League Baseball all-star tournaments in three years of play -- were blown out in their opening round game against Livingston American Little League.

Livingston drilled a three-run homer in the top of the first inning and led big before Par Troy East came to bat. Not that it mattered, because Par Troy East managed just three singles in what became an 11-2 loss, and the District 1 champions faced a long climb through the bottom bracket if they hoped to stave off elimination.

But that second chance is the silver lining in a double elimination tournament. The king was knocked down, but he wasn't knocked out.

Par Troy East swept to a pair of win-or-go-home victories to earn a championship series berth opposite Nottingham Little League, and then defeated the District 12 champions on consecutive evenings at Pequannock Little League's Washington Park field. The second of these victories, a 9-4 win, gave Par Troy East its first-ever state championship in the major baseball division, and kept the team on course during a tournament run that eventually culminated in a berth in the Little League World Series.

Par Troy East broke to an early 3-1 lead in the second championship series meeting with Nottingham, but Dom Chiarello slammed his second home run of the game, a two-run shot in the top of the third inning that leveled the score. But Par Troy East responded, scoring three times before the first out was recorded in the bottom of the frame. Bener Uygun snapped the tie with a two-run homer -- on the previous pitch, his pop foul behind the plate just eluded the efforts of Nottingham's catcher -- and after Anthony Scannelli doubled, David Ton delivered a run-scoring single to give his team a 6-3 advantage.

Uygun drove in another run with a groundout in the fourth, and Par Troy East added two more in the fifth to seal a trip to Bristol, Connecticut, for the Mid-Atlantic Region tournament.

"They're a great team," said Nottingham manager Mark Sacco of his team's title game opponents. "They hit up and down the lineup. They have a tremendous coaching staff, great fans. They were better than us two nights in a row and that's gotta count for something."

"Every year we got further than the year before," explained Par Troy manager Mike Ruggerio of his team's progress. "That's really cool. At 10, we had a hiccup in sections. At 11, we got all the way to the states. At 12, we're all the way to the states and now we get to go to Bristol… it's not sinking in yet, but it's awesome."

Par Troy East's trip to Bristol was possible only after the team shook off its rough opening round performance against Livingston American.

"We just didn't have it," said Mike Ruggerio of his team's earlier loss. "Peak teams get up for you. Last year we won it, (so) they're going to be up for us. I tell the kids that, and that we didn't have it. Our starter didn't have it, and then the next guy didn't have it. They're twelve. Sometimes they're on, (and) sometimes they're off. Too many of them were off today."

But Ruggerio was not fazed by the defeat.

"They'll come back," said the Par Troy manager. "We've been playing together for four years, won a lot of games… (Our goal is) to win it. It's always to win it. For four years, we've been doing pretty well with it. This is a big year, and we want to do it again, but so does everybody else."

Ruggerio's team began to climb out of the bottom bracket, but its journey was complicated when their initial elimination game against Monroe Township Little League was suspended due to rain with Par Troy leading 6-0 in the second inning. The weather delay meant Par Troy East would need to win a pair of games the following day, and still have enough pitching remaining to battle a Nottingham team that marched into the championship series with a pair of shutouts.

Par Troy East's solution was to flex its muscles with a pair of mercy rule-shortened wins. The District 1 champions overpowered Monroe Township, 14-1 in four innings, then returned that evening to topple Livingston American, 11-1 in four innings. The first three hitters in the Par Troy East lineup -- Uygun, Emil Matti, and Scannelli -- combined for seven home runs in the two wins. Uygun drilled a two-run homer and drove in six runs in the first game, while Scannelli drove a three-run home run in the fourth inning. In the nightcap, Uygun and Scannelli connected for consecutive home runs to straightaway center field in the first inning, and then Matti (solo shot) and Scannelli (three-run blast) cleared the fences in the second. Matti later completed the scoring with a grand slam to lift Par Troy East into the state championship series in the major baseball division for the first time in the league's history.

Waiting for Par Troy East was Nottingham, who surrendered just eight hits across shutout wins over Monroe Township (10-0 in five innings) and Livingston American (8-0) in its first two state tournament games. Against Livingston, Nottingham hitters drew eight walks to complement the team's eight hits, and Jake Miller broke the game open with a grand slam home run in the third inning.

Nottingham capitalized on walks again in the first championship series meeting with Par Troy East, converting a single, an error, and four walks into three runs in the second inning to offset Uygun's earlier solo home run. Matt Adams, Chris Cote and Alex Coleman drew consecutive bases loaded walks that forced in the three Nottingham runs. But Par Troy East responded in the fourth, when Scannelli and Ton both walked and Vinny Prezioso followed with a lead-changing three run homer to center field.

Uygun, who entered in relief amidst Nottingham's earlier rally, closed out the game with 4-2/3 innings of relief and struck out eight batters.

"We left a pitch up to him (Prezioso), and he took advantage of it," said Sacco of the game's decisive blow. "We just fell a little short tonight, but what a great ballgame… Those guys showed how they got this far, and we hung with them."

"We know Nottingham's a good team," said Ruggerio. "We didn't win anything yet. We just gave ourselves another chance to play tomorrow."

The next day, Uygun's home run sparked Par Troy East as the District 1 champions completed their comeback, defeating Nottingham a second time and moving one rung further up the tournament ladder. Among the parties following their ascent was the manager of the team they had just defeated.

"This has been one of the most gratifying experiences of my (time) in baseball," remarked Sacco. "These boys ended number two in the state and played some of the most exciting baseball I have ever seen from 11-12 year old boys. We lost to a team that will be a great representative for the state, and I can't wait to follow their progress."

Follow Par Troy East at the Mid-Atlantic Region Tournament -- Click here to view results.


Linescores:

  Winner's Bracket Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 R H E
Livingston American 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
Nottingham 1 0 4 0 3 x 8 9 2
  Championship Series Game 1
Nottingham 0 3 0 0 0 0 3 2 1
Par Troy East 1 0 0 3 0 x 4 4 1
  Championship Series Game 2
Nottingham 1 0 2 0 0 1 4 8 2
Par Troy East 3 0 3 1 2 x 9 13 1


2012 New Jersey District Champions and Sectional Tournament Results

District Champions
in Section 1
District Champions
in Section 2
D1 - Par Troy East (Parsippany)
D2 - Wayne National
D4 - Ridgewood American
D17 - Somerset Hills (Bernardsville)
D20 - Sparta

Section 1 Tournament
Host - Piscataway (District 17)

Tournament Results:
1 - Ridgewood American 8, Wayne National 5
2 - Par Troy East 13, Sparta 2
3 - Ridgewood American 5, Somerset Hills 3
4 - Wayne National 3, Sparta 2 (elim.)
5 - Par Troy East 11, Ridgewood American 0
6 - Somerset Hills 3, Wayne National 2 (elim.)
7 - Ridgewood American 6, Somerset Hills 4 (elim.)
8 - Par Troy East 10, Ridgewood American 0 (4 innings; TITLE)

D5 - Rutherford American
D6 - Teaneck Southern
D7 - North Bergen South
D8 - Livingston American

Section 2 Tournament
Host - Livingston American (District 8)

Tournament Results:
1 - Livingston American 12, Teaneck Southern 2
2 - North Bergen South 12, Rutherford American 6
3 - Teaneck Southern 8, Rutherford American 7 (elim.)
4 - Livingston American 7, North Bergen South 6
5 - North Bergen South 14, Teaneck Southern 6 (elim.)
6 - Livingston American 12, North Bergen South 7 (TITLE)

District Champions
in Section 3
District Champions
in Section 4
D10 - Clark
D11 - North Howell
D12 - Nottingham (Hamilton Square)
D18 - Brick
D19 - Colts Neck

Section 3 Tournament
Host - HTRBA (Hamilton) (District 12)
At Van Horn Park

Tournament Results:
1 - Colts Neck 11, Brick 3
2 - Nottingham 3, Clark 0
3 - Clark 5, Brick 2 (elim.)
4 - North Howell 7, Colts Neck 5
5 - Colts Neck 11, Clark 0 (5 innings; elim.)
6 - Nottingham 10, North Howell 0 (5 innings)
7 - North Howell 12, Colts Neck 5 (elim.)
8 - Nottingham 15, North Howell 3 (5 innings; TITLE)

D3 - East Vineland
D13 - Cherry Hill Atlantic
D14 - Erial
D15 - West Deptford Township
D16 - Margate City
D21 - Monroe Township (Williamstown)

Section 4 Tournament
Championship Game Host - West Deptford (District 15)

Tournament Results:
1 - Margate City 11, East Vineland 10
2 - Cherry Hill Atlantic 16, West Deptford Township 7
3 - Erial 5, Margate City 1
4 - Monroe Township 5, Cherry Hill Atlantic 2
5 - East Vineland 9, Cherry Hill Atlantic 4 (elim.)
6 - West Deptford Township 8, Margate City 4 (elim.)
7 - Monroe Township 13, Erial 9
8 - West Deptford Township 9, East Vineland 5 (elim.)
9 - West Deptford Township 19, Erial 18 (8 innings; elim.)
10 - Monroe Township 21, West Deptford Township 1 (TITLE)




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