DENVILLE - Chester scored five runs in each of the first two innings and the early scoring stood up as Denville suffered a 10-6 defeat and was eliminated from further play in the Roxbury 8s Baseball Tournament playoffs in a game played at Black River Field in Chester on Tuesday, July 19, 2011.
    Denville, which finished 5-3 in the tournament's regular season and 1-1 in the playoffs, opened the game with four runs in the top of the first inning without getting a hit and then added single runs in the second and fifth innings but couldn't overcome the early lead built by Chester (8-2).
    Walks to Christopher Carmagnola, Sean Beller and Stephen Carrie loaded the bases with two outs in Denville's first at-bat. Jesse Decker drew the fourth walk of the inning to force in a run; Brandan Sola also walked to force in Beller; Matthew DeLoreto forced in a run with a walk; and Gehrig Eckoff drew the seventh walk of the inning to give Denville a 4-0 lead.
    After Chester took a 5-4 lead in its half of the inning, Denville tied the game in the top of the second when Sean Fitzsimmons led off with a single, Steven Vittorio and Gavin Walsh walked to load the bases, and Bobby Egner hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Fitzsimmons.
    After Chester took a 10-5 lead with a five-run flurry in the bottom of the second, Denville scored the final run of the game in the top of the fifth when Egner opened the inning with a double and scored on Jack Forgione's two-out single.
    Denville threatened in the fourth inning  when DeLoreto and Eckoff walked to put runners on first and second. Matt Kochmer followed with a line drive that had hit written all over it, but the Chester second baseman speared the ball for the out. Fitzsimmons followed with a groundball that was headed to the outfield only to have the same second baseman reach it and throw to second for the force for the second out. Vittorio walked to load the bases but Chester got out of the jam without a run being scored.
    Denville also had bases loaded with two outs in the sixth when Decker walked and DeLoreto and Kochmer singled, but Chester once again escaped trouble and ended the inning and the game without a run being scored.
    Egner finished 1-for-2 with an RBI and had the only extra base - a double - in Denville's six-hit attack.
    Jack Forgione was 1-for-3 with an RBI; Carrie finished 1-for-2 with a walk and a run scored; DeLoretto was 1-for-1 with two walks and an RBI; Fitzsimmons was 1-for-3 with a run scored; and Kochmer was 1-for-3.
    Also, Carmagnola walked and scored a run; Beller walked twice and scored a run; Decker walked twice, drove in a run and scored a run; Sola had a walk and an RBI; Eckoff walked twice and had an RBI; and Vittorio and Walsh each walked once.
    Forgione, Beller, Carri and Kochmer handled the pitching for Denville and Carri had an especially good outing, working 2.1 scoreless innings striking out five and walking won before hitting his pitch count and bringing on Kochmer who got the last out on a strikeout.
    "Our season has ended, but this game was characteristic of how the team played every game - they just never gave up," said Denville manager Jay Kochmer after the game. "I can't wait to see these kids next year as 9-year-olds.
    "We had a great season and we played some great baseball."

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Beller drives in six runs in 14-3 win over Hanover

     DENVILLE - Sean Beller drove in six runs and pitched three innings of two-hit relief for the win when Denville defeated Hanover, 14-3, in a Roxbury 8s Baseball Tournament first-round playoff game at Gardner Field here on Saturday, July 16, 2011.
    Beller relieved starter Jack Forgione in the top of the first inning with one out, one run in and the bases loaded and got the next two Hanover batters to end the inning with no further scoring.
    Denville got all the runs it needed in the bottom of the first when Christopher Carmagnola and Patrick Kaiser singled, Beller followed with a two-run triple and then scored on Forgione's double. Walks to Jesse Decker and Brandon Solo loaded the bases and, after a groundout drove in a the fourth run of the inning, Gehrig Eckoff singled to give Denville a 5-1 lead.
    Beller pitched into the fourth inning and gave up two runs on two hits while striking out six batters and walking two. Stephen Carri pitched the last 2.2 innings and gave up no runs and only one hit while striking out six and walking none.
    Beller led Denville's 13-hit attack by going 2-for-2 with two triples, his six RBIs and two runs scored. Kaiser also had a multi-hit game, finishing 2-for-3 with a run scored.
    Carmagnola was 1-for-2 with a walk and two runs scored; Forgione was 1-for-2 with a double, one RBI and a run scored; Carrie was also 1-for-2 with a double, RBI and a run scored; Decker finished 1-for-2 with a run scored; Eckoff was 1-for-2 with an RBI; Matthew DeLoreto was 1-for-2 with two RBIs and a run scored; Sean Fitzsimmons was also 1-for-2 with two RBIs and a run scored; Steven Vittorio and Gavin Walsh each finished 1-for-2.
    Also, Sola walked twice, drove in a run and scored a run and Bobby Egner walked twice and score twice.
    Denville faces Chester American in a 6 p.m. second-round game on Tuesday, July 19, at Chester.

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Decker HR, Sola relief lift Denville to 15-11 win

    DENVILLE - Jessie Decker homered and drove in three runs as Denville pounded out 13 hits and Brandon Sola struck out the side with the bases loaded in final inning in a 15-11 victory over Mendham American, 15-11, in a Mendham 9s Baseball Tournament game played at Mendham on Thursday, July 14, 2011.
    Denville - with the help of Decker's three-run homer - jumped out to a 5-0 first-inning lead but soon found itself trailing, 9-8, after three innings. Another five-run inning in the top of the fourth gave Denville the lead for good at 13-9 althought Mendham closed to withing two runs in the fourth before Denville added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the fifth inning.
    Mendham proceeded to load the bases with no outs in the bottom of the fifth and final inning when Sola, the sixth of six Denville pitchers, was called on to relieve and ended the game with a flourish by striking out the final three Mendham batters.
    Denville had six players finish the game with at least two RBIs, led by Decker who went 1-for-2 with his three-run homer, a walk and two runs scored.
    Matt Kochmer was 2-for-2 with two RBIs and a run scored; Matthew DeLoreto was 2-for-2 with two RBIs and a run scored; Gehrig Eckoff was 1-for-2 with a two-run triple and a run scored; Jack Forgione was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored; and Stephen Carri was 1-for-2 with two RBIs and a run scored.
    Also, Patrick Kaiser finished 2-for-2 with a walk and a run scored; Christopher Carmagnola was 1-for-1 with a double, two walks and three runs scored; Gavin Walsh was 1-for-2 with a double and one RBI; and Sola walked three times, drove in a run and scored two runs.
    Kochmer, Sean Beller, Carmagnola, Carri, DeLoreto and Sola pitched for Denville. Carri was brought in with the bases loaded and one out in the third inning and struck out the next two batters to end the threat.
    Denville finished the regular-portion of the tournament with a 5-3 record and now moves on to face Hanover (3-4-1) in a 10 a.m. playoff game set for Saturday, July 16, at Gardner Field here.

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Denville's rally too late to catch Morris Plains

     DENVILLE - By the time the Denville 8-year-old All-Star team's bats started to produce runs, Morris Plains had built a three-run lead over three innings of play and Denville was was forced to play from behind the rest of the way before finishing on the short end of a 9-6 score in a Roxbury 8s Baseball Tournament game played at Gardner Field on Tuesday, July 12, 2011.
    "It turned out to be an exciting game because we started to come back, little by little," said Denville manager  
Jay Kochmer after the game. "We'd score and then Morris Plains would pull away again ... it went back and forth in the last three innings of the game.
    "We never had the lead but these kids never hung their heads, either ... they played hard from the first pitch to the final out and showed a lot of character in doing it."
    The loss put Denville's tourney record at 4-3 going into its next scheduled contest, a 6 p.m. game against Mendhkam American (1-6) at Boro Field in Mendham on Thursday, July 14, 2011.
    Against Morris Plains, Denville entered the bottom of the fourth inning trailing 3-0 but got on the scoreboard with two runs when Sean Beller's single was followed by three walks, the third to Brandon Sola to force in Beller, and a sacrifice fly by Sean Fitzsimmons.
    Morris Plains came back with three runs in the top of the fifth for a 6-2 lead only to have Denville rally again with another two-run inning to close to within two runs at 6-4.
    Patrick Kaiser's one-out single started the fifth-inning rally; Gehrig Eckoff doubled Kaiser to third; and Christopher Carmagnola drew a walk to load the bases. Matt Kochmer drew a walk to force in Kaiser and Beller followed with a sacrifice to bring in the second run of the inning.
    Once again, however, Morris  Plains answered with three runs in its next at-bat - the top of the sixth.
    In the bottom of the sixth and final inning, Denville had bases loaded with two outs when Kaiser singled in two runs - the final two runs of the game as Morris Plains got the final out without any more damage done to its lead.
    Kaiser had two of Denville's six hits on the day as he finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored. Eckoff was 1-for-2 with a double, walk and a run scored; Carmagnola was 1-for-2 with a walk; Beller was 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored; and Fitzsimmons was 1-for-3 with an RBI.
    Jack Forgione, Stephen Carri and Beller did the pitching for Denville, and the trio allowed a combined nine runs (four unearned) on eight hits while striking out seven and walking four.

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Denville loses to Rockaway in extra innings, 2-1

     DENVILLE - In a game that featured 18 hits, several solid defensive plays by both teams, but only three runs, Rockaway Borough beat Denville, 2-1, in seven innings in a Roxbury 8s Baseball Tournament game played at Harry Smith Memorial Field on Saturday, July 9, 2011.
    Rockaway broke a scoreless tie with a run in the bottom of the fifth inning and Denville (4-2) tied the score with its only run of the game in the top of the sixth when Stephen Carri's two-out single brought in Jack Forgione.
    When Rockaway failed to score in the bottom of the sixth, the game went into extra innings.
    Denville put two runners on base in the top of the seventh, but Rockaway got out of the jam with some solid defense.
    Rockaway opened its half of the first extra inning with three straight singles. On the third single, the lead runner was caught between third and home and, in the ensuing rundown, was able to score the winning run and end the game with a nice slide under the tag at home plate.
    Denville outhit Rockaway, 10-8, with Patrick Kaiser and Sean Fitzsimmons leading the way as each finished the game 2-for-3.
    Christopher Carmagnola finished the game 1-for-2; Matthew DeLoreto was 1-for-3; Forgione was 1-for-2 with a run scored; Carri was 1-for-3 with Denville's lone RBI; Jessie Decker was 1-for-3 with a double; and Gavin Walsh finished 1-for-3.
    Sean Beller, Forgione and Stephen Carri shared the pitching duties for Denville.
    Beller started and worked two scoreless innings, allowing but one hit and walking one while striking out two.
    Forgione worked two scoreless innings allowing one hit whjile walkikng four and striking out four; Carri finished, working the last three innings while givup up two runs on six hits and three walks while striking out  one.
    Denville faces Morris Plains in its next Roxbury 8s tourney game, a 6 p.m. contest at Gardner Field here on Tuesday, July 12.

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Denville wins, improves tourney mark to 4-1

     DENVILLE - Denville's second five-run inning of the game broke a 6-6 tie and sent the township's 8-year-old All-Star team to an 11-7 victory over Mendham American in a Roxbury 8s Baseball Tournament game played at Gardner Field on Thursday, July 7, 2011.
    Denville will take a 4-1 record into its next game, a 10 a.m. contest against Rockaway Borough at the Harry Smith Memorial Field in Rockaway on Saturday, July 9, 2011.
    Mendham American broke out to a 4-0 lead after its first-inning at-bat, but Denville came back with a five-run flurry of its own in its half of the inning as Matthew DeLoreto and Jack Forgione came up with the key hits.
    Denville took a 6-4 led in the bottom of the second, but Mendham tied the score at 6-6 with a pair of runs in the top of the third inning.
    Neither team scored in its next at-bat, but Denville broke the tie in the bottom of the fourth with another five-run outburst, this one started by key hits by JJ Decker and Patrick Kaiser and ending with a home run by Forgione that traveled well over the fence in left field.
    Forgione and Decker each had two hits to spark Denville's eight hit attack. Sean Fitzsimmons, Steven Vittorio, Kaiser and DeLoreto each had one.
    Brandon Sola, Bobby Egner and Christopher Carmagnola shared the pitching duties for Denville with each hurler giving up one hit to finish with a combined three-hitter.

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Vittorio 2-run double capts 6th-inning rally in 3-2 win

      DENVILLE - Steve Vittorio's two-out bases-loaded double in the top of the sixth and final inning drove in Gehrig Eckoff and Sean Fitzsimmons with the runs the Denville 8s All-Star team needed to beat Rockaway Township, 3-2, in a Roxbury 8s All-Star Baseball Tournament game played at Lake Denmark Field in Rockaway Township on Tuesday, July 5, 2011.
    Trailing 2-0 and held to only one hit for the first five innings, Brandon Sola started Denville's winning rally with a walk; Sean Beller singled and Gehrig Eckoff and Sean Fitzsimmons drew walks to force in Sola with Denville's first run of the game.
    After the first out was made, Jessie Decker hit a hard ground ball that Rockaway Township defended well in cutting down Beller at the plate for the second out, but Vittorio followed with his clutch double to right field to bring in Eckoff and Fitzsimmons with the tying and go-ahead runs.
    In the bottom of the sixth, winning pitcher Stephen Carri - the third of three Denville pitchers - walked the first man he faced to bring the winning run to the plate but Carri got out of the inning by striking out the next three Rockaway Township batters.
    Jack Forgione was the starting pitcher for Denville and he worked two innings, allowing one run on three hits and three walks while striking out five. Beller followed and pitched 1.2 innings, allowing no runs on one hit while strikout out four and walking two. Carri finished, working 2.1 innings while allowing a run on two hits and two walks while striking out five.
    Forgione, Beller and Vittorio were each 1-for-2 as Rockaway Township out-hit Denville, 6-3.
    Denville, now 3-1 for the tournament, faces Mendham American on Thursday, July 7, in a 6 p.m. game at Gardner Field.

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Denville held to three hits in loss to Randolph West

    DENVILLE - The Denville 8s All-Star baseball team played unbeaten Randolph West tough for three innings, but Randolph West showed why it is one of the best teams in the Roxbury 8s Baseball Tournament by exploding for 10 runs in the last two innings of a 12-1 victory over Denville in a game played at Heinstein Park in Randolph on Thursday, June 30, 2011.
    Denville (2-1) was held to only three hits by Randolph (3-0) pitching as Christopher Carmagnola doubled, Jack Forgione drove in Denville's lone run with a single; and Sean Fitzsimmons also had a single. Gavin Walsh, who had walked, was on second when Forgione delivered his RBI single in the top of the fourth to pull within a run of the lead at 2-1.
    But Randolph West answered with a five-run fourth inning and then brought on the mercy rule when it added another five runs in the fifth inning.
    Stephen Carri, Brandon  Sola and Forgione pitched for Denville and gave up a combined 12 runs (all earned) on 10 hits and six walks.
    Still, Denville manager Jay Kochmer said there were a lot of bright spots in the game.
    "When the last pitch was thrown and the teams were lining up to shake hands, you would never know we had lost the game," Kochmer said. "this is truly a great group of kids.
    "Out of the three games we have played in the tournament, this was by far the best defensive game. Time after time, no matter who was on the field, the boys made the plays."
    Kochmer went on to point out that Carri fielded his position well when in the 3.2 innings he pitched; that Jesse Decker made a nice catch on a drive to left field; that Carmagnola showed off his range at second by diving for a ball and, after coming up with it, getting it to first in time to nip the runner; that shortstop Gehrig Eckoff and second baseman Robert Egner made a nice forceout at second when Eckoff made a nice play on grounder,  got the ball quickly to Egner at first, and Egner had to come off the bag but tagged out the runner for the out; and that Patrick Kaiser "... also made a nice play at second base when he was in there."
    Denville's next tourney game is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Tuesday, July 5, against Rockaway Township (1-1-1) at the Lake Denmark Field in the township. 

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Denville uses 18-hit attack to stop Wharton, 14-2

     DENVILLE - Four Denville pitchers combined on a two-hitter and 11 Denville batters contributed to an 18-hit attack when the Denville 8s All-Stars beat Wharton, 14-2, in a Roxbury 8s Baseball Tournament game played at Gardner Field here on Tuesday, June 28, 2011.
    Wharton got single runs in its first two at-bats to take an early 2-0 before Denville's bats starting smoking and scored three runs in the bottom of the second, five in the third, one in the fourth and five more in the fifth for its 14-run total.
    The victory puts Denville's tournament record at 2-0.
    Christopher Camagnola got the third-inning rally started with a double and Bobby Egner had a two-run single to highlight the three-run second inning that gave Denville the lead for good.
    Sean Beller had Denville's only other extra-base hit - a triple - and Matt Kochmeer singled for his team-high third hit when Denville scored its five fifth-inning runs.
    Kochmeer finished 3-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored; Carmagnola was 2-for-2 with a double, walk, RBI and one run scored; Beller was 2-for-3 with his triple, two RBIs and a run scored; Jack Forgione was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored; Stephen Carrie was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored; and Brandon Sola was 2-for-3 with two runs scored as six Denville hitters had multiple-hit games.
    Matthew DeLoreto was 1-for-2 with two walks and two runs scored; Bobby Egner was 1-for-1 with two walks and three RBIs; and Stehpnen Vittorio, Jessie Decker and Sean Fitzsimmons each had one hit to complete the Denville 18-hit attack.
    Kochmer was Denville's starting pitcher and he worked 1.1 innings and allowed one run (earned) on no hits, and three walks while striking out three; Forgione threw 1.1 innings and gavbe up one run (unearned) on on hit and two walks while striking out four; Beller followed with 2.1 hitless and scoreless innings with two strikeout and two walks; and Carmagnola finished, working a scoreless sixth where he allowed one hit and struck out two and didn't walk a man.
    The defensive play of the game came in the third inning when, with runners on first and third with two outs and Beller pitching, the Wharton batter hit a slow roller to the mound that Beller fielded and threw home where Denville catcher DeLoreto made a nice catch and tag play to end the inning.
    Denville's next game is a 6 p.m. start against Randolph (2-0) at Heinstein Park in Randolph on thursday, June 30.

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'Team effort' leads Denville past Roxbury in opener

    DENVILLE - The Denville 8s All-Star baseball team broke out to an early lead and then had to hold off a pair of late-inning rallies before nailing down a 12-9 victory Roxbury National in a Roxbury 8s Tournament opening game held at Gardner Field on Saturday, June 25, 2011.
    Denville took a 2-0 led in the bottom of the second inning and scored five big runs in the third for a 7-0 lead. Brandon Sola had a two-out, two run single in the third inning and Sean Beller followed with an RBI single to bring in the fifth run.
    Roxbury scored five runs in the top of the fourth for its first runs of the game but Denville answered with a three-run rally of its own in the bottom of the fourth. Matt DeLoreto drove in two runs with a single and Sean Fitzsimmons knocked in a run with a single that proved to be the winning run because Roxbury came back again to score four times in the top of the fifth to cut the led to a single run at 10-9.
    Denville added two insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth and then Sola came in to get the save when he walked two batters to bring the tying run to the plate but was able to retire the side and end the game on a strikeout - his third of the inning.
    Sola led Denville's nine-hit attack by going 3-for-3 with three RBIs and one run scored; Stephen Carri was 1-for-1 with two walks and an RBI and three runs scored; Beller was 1-for-2 with an RBI; Gehrig Eckoff was 1-for-2 with a walk and two runs scored; Chris Carmagnola was 1-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored; and Jack Forgione and Matthew DeLoreto each got hits to round out the attack.
    With manager Jay Kochmer using a pitcher an inning, Carri struck out the side and walked one in his hitless inning; starter Matt Kochmer gave up two hits and struck out two in a scoreless inning; and Forgione struck out two and walked one in his hitless inning of work to  highlight Denville's top pitching performances in the game. Jesse Decker, Beller and Egner also pitched for Denville.
    "We had some awesome pitching, timely hitting and great defense in this one," Kochmer said after the game. "Forgione made a nice catch in right field ... Gavin Walsh made a heads-up play by throwing out a runner at first from his spot in right field ... and Egner caught a line drive back to the mound to end Roxbury's fifth inning.
    "It was a real team effort, though ... each player reach base at least once and almost everybody either scored a run or drove one in. These kids really came focused and ready to play.
    "It was an awesome first game!"
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Denville 8s set for first All-Star competition
    DENVILLE - The Denville 8s All-Stars baseball team will open play in the 14-team Roxbury 8s Baseball Tournament on Saturday, June 25, with a noon game against Roxbury at Gardner Field here.
    Jay Kochmer is the team's manager and his coaches for the tournament are Tom Forgione, Jeff Vittorio, Rick Eckoff and Glenn Sola. The players on the roster are Sean Beller, Christopher Carmagnola, Stephen Carri, Jesse Decker, Matthew DeLoreto, Gehrig Eckoff, Robert Egner, Sean Fitzsimmons, Jack Forgione, Patrick Kaiser, Matt Kochmer, Brandon Sola, Gavin Walsh and Steven Vittorio.
    Denville will play an eight-game schedule with the top eight teams in the standings at the end of the schedule then meeting in a single-elimination competition that will decide the Roxbury championship.