ROXBURY 8s BASEBALL TOURNEY
Improvement was the key
as Stars end summer play
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DENVILLE - The Denville 8-year-old All-Star team in the Roxbury 8s Baseball Tournament was able to out-hit the Roxbury Nationals, eight to seven, but the players didn't keep up in the run department as Denville lost a 15-6 decision to Roxbury at Kiwanis Field on Tuesday, July 19.
Denville, which leaves with a 2-7 record in tourney play, jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of first-inning runs, but Roxbury National answered with five runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 5-2 lead.
Both teams matched two-run rallies in the second inning and Denville came out with two more runs in the top of the third to pull to wthin two runs at 7-6. Roxbury scored five runs in the bottom of the third and added two in the fourth and one in the fifth to take a 15-6 lead while holding Denville scoreless from the third inning to the end of the game.
"I thought when we got it to 7-6 we could mount a comeback," said Denville 8s manager Lee Blum after the game. "But they came back with a big five-run inning and we never did score again.
"This wasn't the way we wanted to end our tourney schedule, but the kids worked hard right until the end. The kids improved with each passing practice and game and you can't ask for more than that.
"The coaches were proud of the players' accomplishments and are already looking forward to next season."
Denville took a 2-0 first-inning when Danny Gavine and Anthopny Colucci each drew bases-loaded walks, forcing in Mike Denucci and Nick Paton.
Paton singled in Andrew Rush and Luke Malatesta's fielder's choice allowed Chandler Keith to score in Denville's two-run second inning.
In the third, Luke Malatestas hit a two-run single, driving in Danny Gavin and Chris Tavarone.
Paton and Denucci each had two hits for Denville, with Paton going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scpred and Denucci finishing 2-for-4 with a run scored.
Colucci was 1-for-2 with an RBI, Tavarone finished 1-for-3 with a run scored; Malatestas was 1-for-3 with three RBIs; and Rush was 1-for-3 with a run to round out Denville's hit total.
Jonathan Blum drew three walks in his three appearances; Garvin was 0-for-2 but drove in a run and scored a run; Keith drew two walks and scored a run in two plate appearances.
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'Bounce-back' win has Denville set for playoffs
DENVILLE - Denville's 8-year-old All-Stars are entering the playoff phase of the Roxbury 8s Baseball Tournament with an upbeat feeling in spite of the fact the team lost six of its eight previous games in the tournament.
For the second time in their last four games, manager Lee Blum's players have bounced back from a bad defeat to record a victory, this one a 10-2 win over Roxbury National at Gardner Field here on Saturday, July 17.
"We were held to only three hits in a 12-0 loss to Randolph East earlier in the week," Blum explained. "These kids came back to play a very inspired game against Roxbury ... this team has shown it can bounce back after tough games and they are very excited to be going into the playoffs."
Denville started out 0-5 with two one-run defeats in the tournament with its fifth loss a 15-0 loss to Roxbury American. The next game, however, Denville bounced back with a 6-3 victory over Tri-Town for its first tourney win. The loss to Randolph East followed and then Denville came back to nail down win No. 2 against Roxbury National.
Nick Paton, Anthony Colucci, Michael Denucci and Jonathan Blum pitched for Denville and finished with a combined four-hitter with 10 strikeouts and only five walks in six innings.
"All our pitchers threw well and had good control the entire game," Blum said. "It was our best-pitched game of the tournament ... five walks in six innings in 8-year-old game is very good."
Denville's defense was also exceptional, handling all eight chances in the field without an error. Third baseman Andrew Rush had four chances, including "... a diving catch to end the fifth inning when Roxbury had runners on base."
Denville took a quick 2-0 lead when Blum the player singled in DeNucci and Luke Malatesta in the first inning.
In the third, Denville added five runs when Blum's second single drove in Denucci again; a single by Paton drove in Malatesta; Colucci drove in Paton with a single; and Chris Tavarone knocked in the final two runs of the inning with a single, one of his three hits for the game.
Denville completed its scoring for the game with a three-run flurry in the fourth with Paton's two-run single the key hit of the inning.
Tavarone led Denville's 13-hit attack by gong 3-for-3 with two RBIs. Blum, Paton and Colucci each had two hits with Blum finishing 2-for-2 with four RBIs; Paton going 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a run scored; and Colucci finishing 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Denucci and Malatesta each finished 1-for-2 and each scored twice; Michael Cardone was 1-for-3 with a triple and a run scored; Troy Ejdys was 1-for-2 with a run scored; and Danny Gavin, Chandler Keith and Rush each scored a run.
Denville's next game will be a playoff game on Tuesday, July 20, against a foe and and a time and place that have yet to be determined.
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Denville gets first win on 'best game of the season'
DENVILLE - Lee Blum was concerned how his Denville 8-year-old All-Star team was going to play after suffering a 15-0 defeat in its previous game, a defeat that put his team at 0-5 in the Roxbury 8s Baseball Tournament.
As it turned out, Blum had nothing to worry about at all.
Denville rebounded nicely and scored a 6-3 victory over Tri-Town in a game played at Mountain Lakes on Thursday, July 15.
"We had lost our first two games and then lost two straight one-run games and I thought were were getting close to breaking through," explained the Denville 8s manager after the Tri-Town game. "Then we lost big to Roxbury Americn and that was a big disappointment to the kids.
"But they came back very well ... they played with great enthusiasm and confidence and ended up playing their best game of the season ... I am so proud and happy for these kids ... they certainly deserved this victory because they worked so hard for it."
It was a game won on many fronts - pitching, hitting and defense. Michael Denucci and Anthony Colucci combined for 5.1 innings of one-hit scoreless relief; timely hitting was the key as Denville bunched all nine of its hits into three run-scoring innings; and Denville's defense played errorless baseball.
Denville broke out to a 1-0 lead against Hanover at its first at-bat, but Hanover got that back and more as it scored all three of its runs in the bottom of the first inning.
Denville battled back with two of its own in the top of the second and then scored the three runs it needed to make a difference in the third inning. From that point on, it was all zeroes on the scoreboad as the pitchers and defenses took over the game.
Denville used singles by Denucci, Luke Malatesta and Michael Cardone for its first-inning run with Cardone getting the RBI by driving in Denucci.
In the second inning, Andrew Rush singled, Nick Paton walked and, after both runners moved up on a passed ball, Troy Ejdys and Danny Gavin followed with RBI singles and the game was tied at 3-3.
Denville scored the game's final three runs in the top of the third when Denucci walked, Jonathan Blum followed with an RBI double and, after Cardone singled, Nick Paton came through with a two-run double to drive in Blum and Cardone.
DeNucci came on in relief of Nick Paton during Tri-Town's three-run first inning and pitched one-hit ball with two strikeouts for the next 1.2 innings. Colucci closed with 3.2 innings of no-hit, no-run ball with one strikeout.
The infield of Cardone at first, Blum at second, Rush at third and Colucci and Denucci at short handled 14 chances flawlessly. Blum also had high praise for the job that catcher Chris Tavarone did behind the plate for the entire six innings.
"He made a great catch on a foul popup," Blum said. "And he did a nice job handling the pitchers."
Nine different players accounted for Denville's nine hits as Paton finished 1-for-2 with his two-run double; Cardone was 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored; Ejdys and Gavin were each 1-for-2 with an RBI; Blum was 1-for-2 with his RBI double; DeNucci was 1-for-2 with two runs scored; Luke Malatesta and Tavarone were each 1-for-3; and Rush finished 1-for-2.
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Denville loses 14-13 decision to Rockaway's late rally
DENVILLE - Manager Lee Blum called it "... the toughest defeat of them all" when talking about the 14-13 loss his Denville All-Stars suffered to Rockaway Township in a Roxbury 8s Baseball Tournament game played at Marcella Field in Rockaway Township on Thursday, July 8.
It was "tough" because Rockaway Township rallied for four runs in the bottom of the fifth and final inning to eke out the one-run victory and send Denville to its fourth straight loss - and second straight by one run.
"The kids played hard all game, but Rockaway just came back late," Blum said after the game. "It was another great effort that resulted in another close loss ... but the kids aren't quitting and they keep getting better."
Denville gets another chance to crack into the win column on Saturday, July 9, when Blum's team plays host to Roxbury American in a 10 a.m. game scheduled for Gardner Field here.
Denville scored in each of its five at-bats and Rockaway Township answered in kind, coming back from a 12-3 lead with five runs in the fourth inning before ending the game with a four-run fifth.
Denville took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Jonathan Blum's bases-loaded walk forced in Mike Denucci.
After Rockaway Township answered with two runs in its half of the frist, Denville regained the lead with three runs in the top of the second when Luke Malatesta singled in two runs and Anthony Colucci drove in another with a single.
Denville took a 9-4 lead with a five-run flurry in the top of the third, with the big hits Denucci's two-run single and Colucci's RBI single. Rockaway Township scored a single run in the bottom of the third to cut the gap to 9-5.
In the fourth, Mike Cardone's three-run homer with Malatesta and Troy Ejdys on board gave Denville a 12-3 lead. Rockaway Township got five in the fourth, but Denville still led 12-9.
Denville gots it final run on Chandler Keith's solo home run in the top of the fifth, but Rockaway Township came back with its winning four-run rally in the bottom of the fifth to finish the game.
Nick Paton, Cardone and Colucci shared the pitching duties for Denville and Blum pointed out that catcher Chris Tavarone "... did a real nice job of handling the pitchers -- he caught a great game."
Colucci led Denville's 12-hit attack by going 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Malatesta, Blum and Cardone each finished with two hits as Malatesta was 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored; Blum was 2-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored; and Cardone was 2-for-3 with a homer and three RBIs.
DeNucci finished 1-for-2 with two RBI and two runs scored; Paton was 1-for-2 with two runs scored; Chandler homered in three trips; Danny Gavin scored two runs; and Troy Ejdys and Tavarone each scored once.
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Malatesta had HR, 4 RBIs in Denville 13-12 loss
DENVILLE - The Denville 8-year-old All-Star team lost a barn-burner 13-12 decision to Wharton in the Roxbury 8s Baseball Tournament on Tuesday, July 6, at Gardner Field in Denville.
Each team scored in every inning until Denville came to the last inning and, needing a run to tie and two to win, was stopped by Wharton pitching.
"We asked the boys to be more aggressive at the plate and they were, as the bats woke up," said Denville manager Lee Blum after the game. "And I was happy that our pitching came around at the end of the game and that we also showed some aggressive baserunning."
Both teams scored five times in the first inning. Wharton added another five runs in the top of the second and Denville countered with two in its half of the inning. In the third inning, Wharton scored one run and Denville took its first lead of the game at 12-11 with a five-run rally. Wharton regained the lead at 13-12 with two runs in the top of the fourth and then held Denville scoreless it final at-bat to seal the victory.
For Denville, Luke Malatesta was 2-for-2 with four RBIs and scored twice with his big hit a three-run home run in the first inning. Troy Ejdys singled in a run in the first inning and finished 1-for-2 with an RBI and a run.
Chris Tavarone was 1-for-2 with two runs scored and got the second-inning rally started with a double.
Nick Paton was 1-for-3 with a run; Mike Cardone was 1-for-3 with two runs scored; and MIke DeNucci was 1-for-2 with two runs scored to account for the hits in Denville's seven-hit attack.
Anthony Colucci walked, had an RBI and scored a run; Jonathan Blum had a walk in one official at-bat; Danny Gavin scored a run; and Chanadler Keith had two walks and an RBI.
Ejdys, Keith, Coluccia and Blum shared the pitching duties for Denville. Blum struck out five batters during his 1.2 innings of work.
Denville's next game is against Rockaway Township on Thursday, July 8, at Marcella Field at 6 p.m.
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Edjys hits three-run double in loss to Mo'town
DENVILLE - The Denville 8-year-old All-Star team fell behind early and couldn't catch up the rest of the way in a 16-5 loss to Morristown American in a Roxbury 8s Baseball Tournament game played at Ginty Field on Thursday, July 1.
Denville, down 8-0 after two full innings of play, came up with a nice four-run rally in the top of the third to close the gap to four runs, but Morristown came back to add eight more runs in the next two innings to seal the victory.
Danny Gavin drew a leadoff walk and Chandler Keith followed with a single to get Denville's big inning started. Anthony Colucci and Mike Cardone followed with walks with Cardone picking up an RBI when his walk forced home Gavin with the first Denville run.
With the bases still loaded, Troy Edjys put a charge into the ball and cracked a double that cleared the bases for Denville.
Denville's only other run of the game came in the fifth inning when Colucci doubled and came in to score on a two-base throwing error.
Edjys finished the game 1-for-2 with his three-run double; Colucci was 1-for-1 with a double, two walks and two runs scored; Keith was 1-for-2 with a run scored; and Luke Malatesta was 1-for-2.
Cardone was 0-1 but drew two walks and scored once and Chris Tavarone was 0-1 but drew a walk.
Denville will be idle over the July 4the weekend and will return to tournament play on Tuesday, July 5, with a 6 p.m. game against Wharton at Gardner Field here in the township.
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Coach pleased with All-Star effort in loss
DENVILLE - In the end, Denville 8s All-Star coach Lee Blum was pleased with his team's play in its 11-9 loss to Randolph West in a Roxbury Little League 8s Baseball Tournament game played at Gardner Field here on Tuesday, June 29.
Both teams scored five runs in the first inning and Randolph West added another five in the second inning with Denville answering with four of its own to trail 10-9 after only two innings play. Neither side scored in the third and Randolph West added the final run of the game in the top of the fourth and Denville was held scoreless in its half of the inning when the game reached its time limit and was halted.
"There were a lot of walks and a lot of scoring early on with both sides," said Blum after the game. "But our team battled hard and came back twice ... our pitchers finished strong and we will be ready for Morristown American in our next game."
Denville and Morristown American will meet on Thursday, July 1, in a 6 p.m. game at Morristown.
Denville got only one hit - a second-inning RBI single by Michael Cardone - but took advantage of 16 walks to push across its nine runs.
After falling behind 5-0 before it even came to bat, Denville came back with a five-run flurry of its own as Chandler Keith started the inning with a walk and, before it was over, Cardone, Jonathan Blum, Michael DeNucci, Anthony Colucci and Nick Paton had all drawn bases-loaded walks to force in Denville's five runs.
It was more of the same in Denville's four-run second inning with Cardone's RBI single highlight of the inning.
Cardone finished the game with one hit, one walk, two RBIs and one run scored.
Luke Malatesta walked twice and scored two runs; Blum walked had two runs-scoring walks and scored once; DeNucci walked twice with the bases loaded; Paton drew two walks, one with the bases loaded; Chris Tavaron walked twice and scored a run; Andrew Rush walked one and scored a run; Troy Edjys walked once and scored twice; Anthony Colucci walked once and drove in a run; and Keith walked twice and scored a run.
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Denville to open tourney play vs. Randolph West
DENVILLE - The Denville 8-year-old All-Star baseball team will open play in the Roxbury 8s Baseball Tournament on Tuesday, June 29, with a 6 p.m. game against Randolph West at Gardner Field here in the township.
The 14-team tournament has been split into two pools of seven teams each with Denville placed in Pool A, where it will play an eight-game schedule, facing each of the other Pool A teams once and playing two randomly selected teams from Pool B.
At the end of this round-robin schedule, each pool will seed its team 1 through 7 and a single-elimination competition will be held - with the top seeds of each pool drawing a first-round bye - to determine the tournament champion.
First-round games will be played at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, July 20; second-round games are scheduled for 6 p.m. on Thursday, July 22; the semfinals are set for 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 24; and the championship and consolation games will be held on Tuesday, July 27, in Robury at sites and times to be determined.
Denville's schedule of games
Tuesday, June 29 - Randolph West at Gardner Field, 6 p.m.
Thursday, July 1 - at Morristown American, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, July 6 - Wharton at Gardner Field, 6 p.m.
Thursday, July 8 - at Rockaway Township, 6 p.m.
Saturday, July 10 - Roxbury American at Gardner Field, 10 a.m.
Tuesday, July 13 - at Randolph East, 6 p.m.
Thursday, July 15 - at Tri-Town, 6 p.m.
Saturday, July 17 - Roxbury National at Gardner Field
Tuesday, July 20 - First round of playoffs, TBD
