MENDHAM 9s TOURNAMENT
Denville beats Madison, 6-1,
finishes 12-2, tied for 2nd
-
DENVILLE - Ben Winstead, Michael Kaiser and Connor Chegwidden combined on a four-hitter when Denville defeated Madison, 6-1, in a game played at Gardner Field here on Saturday, July 31, the final day of the 2010 Mendham 9s All-Star Baseball Tournament.
The victory was Denville's 12th in 14 games in the 15-team tournament and puts the All-Stars into a tie for second place with Tri-Town (12-2). Both teams finished a game behind tournament champions Par-Troy East (13-1). Tri-Town beat Morris Plains, 13-1, at Morris Plains and Par-Troy East beat Mendham, 13-7, at Parsippany on Saturday's final day.
Winstead started the game for Denville and pitched the first three innings, allowing one run (earned) on two hits while striking out five and walking six.
Kaiser pitched the fourth and fifth innings of shutout ball, allowing two hits while striking out three and walking none. Chegwidden closed with a hitless and scoreless sixth inning with two strikeouts and one walk.
Denville scored all the runs it need in a five-run second inning when Tommy Romano singled, Ryan Ackerman and Robert Plumb singled with Romano scoring on Madison throwing error on Plumb's single.
Kyle Conklin then drew a walk to load the bases and Alex Kellett also walked to force in Ackerman with Denville's second run of the inning.
Chegwidden hit into a force out for Denville's second out of the inning as Plumb scored; Damon Lattuga singled to bring in Kellet with run No. 4; and Winstead followed with a single to drive in Chegwidden with the fifth and final run of the inning.
Madison scored its only run in the top of the third inning, but Denville got that run back in the bottom of the sixth when it scored the final run of the game.
Chegwidden and Lattuga drew walks to lead off the inning and, after Chegwidden stole third, Winstead grounded out allowing Chegwidden to score.
---
Denville nips Mendham, 10-8
DENVILLE - The Denville All-Stars participating in the Mendham 9s Baseball Tournament gave themselves a very good shot at finishing in second place at the conclusion of tournament play this coming weekend.
Denville beat Mendham, 10-8, at Mendham on Wednesday, July 28, to improve to improve its tournament record to 11-2 and retain its share of second-place with Tri-Town. The loss was Mendham's third of the tournament and knocked it out of a tie for second place. On the same day, Randolph West (10-3) was upset by Roxbury National, 8-7, and also lost a share of second place.
Par-Troy East (12-1) has clinched the tournament title and, even should it lose to Mendham this Saturday, July 31, at Par-Troy East, and end up tied for first with either Denville or Tri-Town or both, Par Troy wins the tournament championship via the tournament's head-to-head tie-break rule since Par-Troy beat both Denville and Tri-Town during the tournament season.
Denville plays its final tourney game against Madison (0-13) on Saturday, July 31, at Gardner Field at 10 a.m., and Tri-Town (11-2) and Morris Plains (1-12) play Friday (July 30) night at Morris Plains. If both Denville and Tri-Town their last games, they will share second place.
The Denville-Mendham game on Wednesday had its share of excitement as both team scored five times in the first inning; Denville took a five-run lead after it batted in the fifth; Mendham rallied to cut the lead to two; and, in the final inning, Mendham had the tying run at the plate when with one out before relief pitcher Connor Chegwidden got the last out of the game on a strikeout.
Nine of Denville's 10 runs were scored with two outs.
In Denville's first inning, Connor Chegwidden walked, Tommy Scalic singled him to third, and Ben Winstead drove in the first run of the game with a fielder's choice. After the second out was made, Tommy Romano reached on an error as Scalic scored. Chris Chegwidden drew a walk and Erich Frie's single brought in Romano with the third run. Ryan Ackerman followed with a double to bring in Chris Chegwidden and Frie with the fourth and fifth runs of the inning.
Mendham wasted no time in getting back those runs and it was 5-5 after one full inning.
Denville took a 6-5 lead in the top of the fourth when Chris Chegwidden drew a one-out walk; Ackerman singled with two outs; and Damon Lattuga followed with another single to drive in Chegwidden with the go-ahead run.
In the top of the fifth, Connor Chegwiden got things started with a two-out walk. Scalici reached on an error and, after both runners moved up on a passed ball, Winstead beat out an infield bouncer for a single as Connor Chegwidden came in to score.
Michael Kaiser followed with a double to bring in Scalici and Romano's single brought in Winstead and Kaiser for Denville's third and fourth runs of the inning.
Mendham wouldn't go away, however, and came back with three runs in the bottom of the fifth to pull to within two at 10-8.
Mendham kept Denville off the board in the top of the inning and then came back and had a man on second base with one out to bring up the tying run to the plate.
Denville catcher Robert Plumb threw out the Mendham baserunner trying to steal third and Connor Chegwidden, who came in to pitch in the bottom of the sixth win one man on and one man out, then struck out the final Mendham batter to end the game.
Scalici, the second of three Denville pitchers, got the win. He worked 3.1 innings and allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits while striking out two and walking one.
Ackerman pitched the first two innings, giving up five runs (four earned) on four hits while striking out none and walking one.
---
Denville one game out of 1st place after 19-6 win
DENVILLE - It's getting tight a the top of the Mendham 9-Year-Old All-Star Baseball Tournament ... and Denville is right in the middle of it.
Five teams are within a game of each other at the top of the standings as of games through Monday, July 26. There are two game left for each of the five teams.
Denville beat Morristown American, 19-6, at Ginty Field in Morristown on Monday and is 10-2 and one game off the pace set by Par-Troy East.
Par-Troy East (11-1) suffered its first loss of the tournament Monday, an 8-7 defeat at the hands of Randolph West, which improved to 10-2 to retain its piece of second place. Tri-Town (10-2) defeated Mendham, 9-5, on Monday as Mendham became the fourth team in the 15-team tournament to post a 10-2 mark after 12 games.
Denville travels to Mendham for a 6 p.m. game on Wednesday, July 28, and then closes out the tournament schedule with a 10 a.m. game against Madison at Gardner Field here on Saturday, July 31.
Denville wasted no time in getting the jump on Morristown American on Monday, scoring three times in the top of the first inning when Connor Chegwidden singled, Ben Winstead drew a walk and, after both moved up on a passed ball, Tommy Romano singled both of them home and eventually scored on a single by Chris Chegwidden.
Damon Lattuga opened Denville's five-run second inning with a walk and Kyle Conklin singled him to third from where he scored on an infield out by Alex Kellet. Conklin scored when Robert Plumb reached on a two-base error and, after Connor Chegwidden, walked, Scalici's single brought in Plumb. Winstead and Romano each followed with RBI singles to drive in the fourth and fifth runs of the inning.
Denville added a run in the third when Chris Chegwidden reached on an error, went to third on Erich Frie's single, and scored when Lattuga grounded out.
Kellet started the scoring for Denville's four-run fourth inning when he walked, stole second and scoring a single by Connor Chegwidden. A single by Scalici and a walk to Winstead loaded the bases; Chris Chegwidden brought in a run with a walk; and Frie followed with a double to drive in Scalici and Winstead.
Denville scored its final six runs in the top of the fifth - all with two outs. With Scalici and Romano on base, Chris Chegwidden drove in the first run with a two-out single; Frie followed with a two-run triple; Ryan Ackerman doubled home Frie for the fourth run of the inning; Lattuga followed with an RBI single to bring in Ackerman and, after Conklin and Kellet walked to load the bases, Plumb was hit by a pitch to force in the sixth run.
Winstead started and worked three innings, allowing three runs on two hits while striking out three and walking four. Connor Chegwidden pitched hitless ball for the next two innings, striking out three with one walk. Conklin pitched the final inning to close the game for Denville.
---
Ackerman, Scalici combine to no-hit Chester
DENVILLE - Ryan Ackerman and Tommy Scalici combined for a no-hitter and Denville scored 15 runs on 18 hits in a four-inning, mercy-rule shortened 15-0 victory over Chester in a Mendham 9s Baseball Tournament game played at Gardner Field on Saturday, July 24.
The win gave the Denville All-Stars a 9-2 tournament record and a share of third place in the 15-team tournament standings. With the standings complete through 10 games, Par-Troy West was 10-0, Mendham was 9-1, and Denville, Randolph West and Tri-Town were tied at 8-2.
Ackerman pitched the first two innings and gave up five walks while striking out two. Scalici completed the shared no-hitter when he struck out three and walked but one in his two innings of work.
Denville opened the scoring with a five-run first inning when Connor Chegwidden walked, Scalici and Ben Winstead followed with groundouts and, with two outs, Denville had six consecutive hits as Michael Kaiser, Ty Franchi, Tommy Romano, Chris Chegwidden, Erich Frie and Ryan Ackerman all reached to account for the five-run inning.
In the second inning, Damon Lattuga doubled, Alex Kellet walked and, after Robert Plumb singled home Lattuga, Winstead hit a two-out, two-run single to give Denville an 8-0 lead after two.
Denville added three more runs in the third inning when Tommy Romano and Chegwidden singled and, after Frie forced Romano, Ackerman singled in Chegwidden. Damon Lattuga walked, took second on a fielder's choice and scored behind Ackerman when Robert Plumb followed with a two-run single.
In the fourth inning, Scalici tripled and scored on a single by Winstead; Kaiser followed with a double to drive in Winstead; Ty Franchi singled to knock in Kaiser; and Franchi scored Denville's fourth run of the inning when Ackerman hit a two-out double.
Denville's next game in the tournament is a 6 p.m. game on Monday, July 26, against Morristown American at Ginty Field in Morristown.
---
Denville beat Morris Plains on 8-run 6th inning
DENVILLE - The first eight batters reached base and scored in the top of the sixth and final inning and Denville went on to break a 4-4 tie to record a 12-4 victory over Morris Plains in a Mendham 8s Baseball Tournament game played on Thursday, July 22, at Morris Plains.
The Denville All-Stars will now take an 8-2 tournament record into their next game, a 10 a.m. start on Saturday, July 24, at Gardner Field here in the township.
Connor Chegwidden opened Denville's eighth with a walk that was quickly followed by Tommy Scalici's double; Tommy Romano's single, a walk to Michael Kaiser, Ben Winstead's single, an error that allowed Chris Chegewidden to reach, and consecutive walks to Ty Franchi and Erich Frie - all of whom eventually scored.
The score was tied 1-1 after three innings and 4-4 after five innings until Denville exploded for its eight runs.
Denville scored in the second on Kaiser's leadoff double and Franchi's two-out triple and then added three runs in the top of the fourth when Connor Chegwidden walked, Scalici singled and, with two out, Winstead doubled them both home and Winstead later scored ona single byh Chris Chegwidden.
Morris Plains answered with three runs of its own in the bottom of the inning and, after neither team scored in the fifth to break the 4-4 deadlock, Denville came through in the sixth inning to pick up the win.
Winstead was the starting pitcher for Denville and he worked three innings and allowed one run (earned) on one hit while sriking out three and walking four.
Connor Chegwidden followed, working 1.2 innings and giving up three runs (one earned) on two hits and a walk before being relieved by Kaiser, who got the win by retiring all four batters he faced, three of them on strikeouts.
---
Scalici's relief outing beats Hanover, 8-4
DENVILLE - Tommy Scalici threw four strong innings of relief and Denville made the best of five singles to defeat Hanover, 8-4, in a Mendham 9s Baseball Tournament game played at Gardner Field here on Monday, July 19.
Scalici relieved starter Ryan Ackerman to start the third inning and gave up only an unearned run on three hits while striking out four and walking none the rest of the way to pick up the victory. Ackerman worked two innings and gave up three runs (one earned) on on hit while striking out three and walking three.
Denville's five singles came off the bats of five different players - Tommy Romano, Chris Chegwidden, Erich Frie, Kyle Conklin and Scalici.
Denville's tourney record is now 7-2 with the win as it continues to hold onto fourth place in the 15-team tournament.
Hanover scored three times in the top of the second but Denville answered with three of its own in the bottom half of the inning.
Ben Winstead and Chris Chegwidden reached on walks and, after moving up a base on an out, Frie brought in them both with a two-run single. After Damon Latuga drew a two-out walk, Conklin singled in Frie.
Denville scored four times in the bottom of the fourth to take a 7-4 lead.
Chris Chegwidden got the rally started with a walk and Ty Franchi reached on an error and Frie drew another walk to load the bases. Ackerman and Lattuga both drew bases loaded walk to force in two runs and the third run came in when Conklin grounded out.
After Robert Plumb walked with two outs to reload the bases, Connor Chegwidden drew Denville's sixth walk of the inning to force in Lattuga with the team's fourth run.
Both teams scored a run in the fifth with Denville getting its run when Winstead walked with two outs, stole second and third, and scored on a single by Chris Chegwidden.
Denville's next game in the tourney is scheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m. against Morris Plains at Morris Plains.
---
Franchi 4 RBIs help defeat Randolph East, 15-5
DENVILLE - Three Denville pitchers combined on a three-hitter and nine Denville hitters - led by Tyler Franchi's two hits and four RBIs - rapped out 13 hits in a 15-5 victory over Randolph East in a Mendham 9s Baseball Tournament game played Saturday, July 17, at Gardner Field here.
Ben Winstead was Denville's starting pitcher and gave up two hits in two innings; Connor Chegwidden followed with three hitless innings; and Tommy Romano closed and gave up one hit in the final inning.
Denville's bat were consitent througout the game as the 9-year-old All-Stars scored in each of their five at-bats with Michael Kaiser, Damon Lattuga and Winstead each matching Franchi's two-hits for the game and Tommy Scalici, Ryan Ackerman, Kyle Conklin, Robert Plumb and Chegwidden each getting one hit.
The victory puts Denville's record at 6-2 and tied for fourth place in the 15-team tournament. Par-Troy East and Mendham have posted 6-0 records to date, Randolph East is 5-1 and Tri-Town has also reported two losses.
Randolph East (3-4) took an 1-0 lead after one at-bat, but Denville came back with four runs in its half of the inning as Scalici and Winstead had RBI singles and Kaiser hit a two-run double over the center fielder's head.
Denville made it 6-1 when Ackerman and Lattuga led off the second inning with back-to-back singles and, two outs later after both had moved up a base, Plumb singled to drive in both runners.
Randolph East scored twice in the top of the third to cut the lead to 6-4 but Denville answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Kaiser walked, Winstead doubled and Chegwidden walked to load the bases and Franchi drove in two runs with a single and Chegwidden came in to score on an RBI groundout by Erich Frie.
Denville extended its lead to 13-3 with a four-run flurry in the bottom of the fourth inning. Lattuga singled and stole second and scored on a single by Conklin. After Alex Kellet walked, Plumb bunted the runners over and Chegwidden followed with a two-run triple and later scored the fourth run of the inning on an error.
In the fifth inning, Kaiser doubled and Winstead and Chegwidden drew walks to load the bases once again for Franchi, who duplicated his third-inning effort by singling home two runs for his third and fourth RBIs of the game.
Denville's next tournament game is scheduled for Monday, July 19, at Gardner at 6 p.m. against Hanover.
---
Ackerman-Chegwidden 2-hit Roxbury American, 6-1
DENVILLE - Ryan Ackerman and Connor Chegwidden combined on a two-hitter to lead Denville to a 6-1 victory over Roxbury American in a Mendham 9s Baseball Tournament game played Monday, July 12, at Roxbury.
Ackerman pitched the first 4.2 innings and allowed one run (earned) on two hits while striking out eight batters and walking four. Chegwidden relieved Ackerman in the fifth inning and finished the game by retiring all four batters he faced.
Kyle Conklin's two-run single in the first inning started Denville's scoring for the game. Ackerman walked and Damon Lattuga singled to start the rally and, after both runners moved up on a passed ball, Conklin delivered runs-producing hit.
Denville scored three times in the fourth inning when Michael Kaiser singled and Ben Winstead and Chris Chegwidden followed with walks to load the bases. Erich Frie's one-out double drove in Kaiser and Winstead and Ackerman followed with a single to drive in the third run of the inning.
Kaiser, who finished the game with three hits, drove in the final run of the game for Denville with a sixth-inning single. Tommy Scalic led off the inning with a single and went all the way to third on Tommy Romano's sacrifice bunt before Kaiser hit his run-scoring single.
The win puts Denville's tournament record at 5-2, a record upon which it will try to improve Wednesday, July 14, when Denville travels to Morris Plains for a 6 p.m. game.
---
Scalici belts 3-run triple in 7-5 loss to Par-Troy East
DENVILLE - A five-run third-inning rally just wasn't enough as the Denville All-Stars lost a 7-5 decision to Par-Troy East in a Mendham 9s Baseball Tournament game played at Gardner Field here on Sunday, July 11.
Trailing 2-0 going into the bottom of the third, Denville took a 5-2 lead only to see Par-Troy East come back with a four-run outburst of its own in the top of the fourth inning to regain the lead. Par-Troy added a run in the sixth inning to create the final 7-5 final score and then held off a Denville two-on, one-out rally in the bottom of the sixth to earn the victory.
Alex Kellet got Denville's third-inning rally started with a lead-off walk and Robert Plumb and Connor Chegwidden each singled to load the bases.
Tommy Scalici cleared the bases with a triple, giving Denville a 3-2 lead. One out later, Michael Kaiser doubled home Scalici and Ben Winstead followed with a single to bring in Kaiser.
Winstead pitched the first three inning for Denville and gave up four runs (three earned) on four hits while striking out three and walking three. Scalici finished, throwing the final three innings and allowing three runs (two earned) on three hits while striking out one and walking one.
Denville, which is now 4-2 in the tournament, returns to action on Monday, July 12, with a 6 p.m. game against Roxbury American at Kiwanis Park in Roxbury.
---
Pitching key in 6-1 victory over Morristown National
DENVILLE - The Denville 9s All-Star baseball team bounced back from its first loss in the Mendham 9s Baseball Tournament with a convincing three-man pitching performance in a 6-1 victory over Morristown National in a game played on Wednesday, July 7, at Morristown.
Ryan Ackerman, Ben Winstead and Michael Kaiser each pitched two innings and held Morristown National to one run on one hit while striking out 13 batters.
Tommy Romano led Denville's nine-hit attack with three hits and three runs scored.
Denville (4-1), which lost to Tri-Town, 10-7, earlier in the week for its first tournament loss, wasted no time in taking the lead as the Denville All-Stars scored three runs in its first at-bat.
Connor Chegwidden got things going by drawing a one-out walk, Romano followed with a single and Michael Kaiser doubled in one run. Ben Winstead reached on an error as another run scored and Chris Chegwidden grounded into a fielder's choice and Ty Franchi reached on an error as the third run crossed the plate.
Morristown scored its only run in the bottom of the first, but Denville answered with two runs in the top of the fourth to take a 5-1 lead.
Connor Chegwidden drew another walk to start the rally and Romano followed with another single. After both runners moved up a base, Winstead followed with a two-run single.
Denville scored its final run in the fifth inning on singles by Romano, Kaiser and Winstead.
Ackerman pitched the first two innings and allowed one run (earned) without giving up a hit. He struck out four and walked three.
Winstead followed with two innings of hitless ball, getting all six of his outs on strikeouts while walking one. Kaiser finished with two more hitless innings, striking out three and walking three.
Denville's next game in the tournament is a 10 a.m. game against Par-Troy East scheduled for Gardner Field at 10 a.m.
---
Tri-Town hands Denville first tourney defeat
DENVILLE - The Denville 9s All-Star baseball team lost its first game in the Mendham 9s Baseball Tournament on Monday, July 5, when it fell to Tri-Town, 10-7, in a game played at Pepe Field in Boonton.
Denville (3-1) led 5-1 after three innings, but Tri-Town (3-0) tied the score with a four-run rally in the bottom of the fourth and then added five more runs in the next inning.
Denville had two runs in and two on with the tying run at the plate when the last out of the game was recorded.
Tommy Scalici was the starting pitcher for Denville and he worked the first three innings and gave up only one run while striking out three. Connor Chegwidden finished and gave up nine runs in this three innings, but only four of them were earned.
Robert Plumb led Denville's six-hit attack with two hits. Michael Kaiser, Alex Kellet, Scalici and Chegwidden each had one hit. Denville showed its patience at the plate by drawing 13 walks.
Denville's next game is scheduled for Wednesday, July 6, a 6 p.m. game against Morristown National at Morristown.
---
Franchi delivers walk-off hit to beat Randolph West
DENVILLE - Ty Franchi delivered a two-run, walk-off single in the sixth inning when Denville rallied to defeat Mendham, 5-4, in a Mendham 9s All-Star Baseball Tournament game played at Gardner Field here on Thursday, July 1.
Denville, which is 3-0 in tournament play to date, started its sixth-inning rally with a singles by Mike Kaiser and Chris Chegwidden. After both runners moved up a base on an infield out, Franchi brought them both home with his game-winning and game-ending single.
Ben Winstead got the win, getting the last two outs in the Randolph sixth inning, one on a strikeout.
Ryan Ackerman was the starter and held Randolph to four runs on just four hits while striking out five in his 5.1 innings of work.
"Ty Franchi had the big hit for us, to be sure," said Denville manager Sean Plumb after the game. "But a lot of credit for keeping us in the game after that first inning goes to Ryan Ackerman - there is no way we would have been that close and in the position to win the game without the pitching of Ryan."
After Randolph took a 3-0 lead in its first at-bat, Denville chipped away by scoring a single run three of the next four innings to tie the score.
In the first inning, Chegwidden's fielder's choice brought in Tommy Scalici, who had walked. In the second, Kyle Conklin's RBI single drove in Kyle Conklin, who had reached on a walk. Denville tied it in the fourth with Conklin once again delivering the run-scoring hit, another single that drove in Erich Frie, who had reached on a walk.
Randolph broke the 3-3 tie with a single run in the top of the sixth inning, but Denville came back once again with its two run-rally with Franchi sending everybody home with his clutch two-run single.
Denville is back in action on Saturday, July 3, with a 10 a.m. away game against Tri-Town.
---
Chegwidden, Scalici, Kaiser lead Stars to 7-3 win
DENVILLE - Connor Chegwidden and Tommy Scalici combined pitching talents to lead the Denville 9s All-Star baseball team to a 7-3 victory over Roxbury National in a Mendham 9s Baseball Tournament game played at Roxbury on Wednesday, June 30.
Chegwidden struck out four batters in his 3.1 innings of work and Scalici struck out three as he finished up with 2.2 innings on the mound for Denville, which improved its tourney mark to 2-0 with the win.
Michael Kaiser was 3-for-3 with two RBIs to lead the Denville attack against three Roxbury pitchers.
Scalici finished with two hits and scored twice; Robert Plumb also had two hits; and Ben Winstead, Ty Franchi and Ryan Ackerman each finished with one hit.
Denville goes after its third win on Thursday, July 1, when it plays host to Randolph West in a 6 p.m. game at Gardner Field.
---
Winstead, Chegwidden, Conklin spark Denville
DENVILLE - Ben Winstead pitched three innings of one-hit ball for the win and Connor Chegwidden and Kyle Conklin each had two hits as Denville defeated Par-Troy West, 10-6, to open the 2010 Mendham 9s All-Star Baseball Tournament at Gardner Field here on Saturday, June 26.
Winstead started and gave up one run and struck out six in his three innings of work. Tommy Romano and Michael Kaiser closed out the game on the mound for Denville to secure the victory.
Erich Frie, Chris Chegwidden, Robert Plumb, Winstead, Kaiser and Romano each had one hit for Denville.
