DISTRICT ONE 11s ALL-STARS
Denville finishes tourney run
as runnerup to Mendham
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DENVILLE - This was the top of the fifth inning and there was a renewed excitement in the Denville 11-year-old All-Star baseball team's dugout.
Mendham had just finished batting in the fourth inning, failing to score on a bases-loaded, no-outs situation. Mendham took a 10-1 lead into that inning and needed to score but one run in order to end the game due to the 10-run, 4th-inning mercy rule used in the District One Little League Baseball Tournament for 11-year-olds.
Denville got out of the inning without that run being scored and, even though Mendham got the run it needed the very next inning to defend its district title with a 11-1 victory, Denville manager Gary Faccenda will never forget the excitement his players - losing by nine runs and with time running out on the game and their season - showed in their dugout at Freedom Park in Randolph Township on Saturday, July 24, 2010.
"Some of them were talking about this being the start of the biggest comeback ever," Faccenda explained. "Others were talking about how great it was if they could come back and win the districts.
"Getting out of that inning was great for the boys ... it really gave them a nice boost. It was good to hear and feel their excitement."
To recap, Mendham had loaded the bases when its first three hitters singled, causing Faccenda to go to his "do or die" prevent defense - reposition right fielder Will Kenny to the second base side of shortstop, play his new five-man infield in, and put his two outfielders in the gaps about 20 feet off the infield.
Reliever Conner Walsh got the first out on a 3-2 fastball that the batter took for strike three; Richie Boyle fielded a first-pitch hard grounder to short and threw to catcher Ian Stempert for the force at the plate for out No. 2; and, with the Denville defense back to normal, second baseman Jared Sorce fielded another first-pitch hard ground ball cleanly and flipped the ball to Boyle at second for the force to end the inning.
"That was a big inning for the boys and it got them excited again, " Faccenda said. "But they have been playing like that all throughout the tournament ... the boys never give up - they never felt as if they were out of any game and never stopped fighting."
Mendham starter and winner Cameron Miller, however, retired Denville in order in the top of the fifth and Mendham came back in its half of the inning with a leadoff single and a one-out double to nail down their second straight district title.
Denville scored its run in the first inning when leadoff hitter Nicholas Vittorio was hit with a pitch, Kenny followed with a sacrifice bunt attempt that was placed so well that he beat it out for a single. After a strikeout for the first out and with cleanup hitter Owen Roche at bat, both runners moved up on a wild pitch. Roche then hit a slow roller to shortstop that he beat out as Vittorio scored the first run of the game.
After a forceout at third for the second out, Walsh kept alive the inning by drawing a walk to bring up Porth with the bases loaded. Porth leaned into a 2-2 fastball, but it went right at the Mendham third baseman who fielded the ball cleanly and stepped on third base for the final out of the inning.
Vittorio, called on to pitch because Denville's top three starters - Faccenda, Justin Giacobbe and Boyle - were ineligible to work due to Little League pitch- count and days-off regulations, faced four batters in a scoreless Mendham first only to fall victim to a Mendham nine-run explosion that saw eight runners cross the plate before the first out was made. Mendham had eight hits and two walks in the big inning, with DeGraff's two-run homer that crashed into Mendham's 10-foot electronic scoreboard the biggest.
"We had used Nicholas in spot relief and he had done well, giving up four hits and two runs in five innings," Faccenda said. "We told him to go as hard as he could for as long as he could ... he gave us a gutsy effort.
"Mendham has to have the best hitting team in our district ... the entire lineup can hit the ball, as they proved with their nine-run second inning."
Denville's best threat to score again came in the fourth when Porth reached on an error and Stempert walked to put runners on first and second with two outs. Sorce followed by sending a hard grounder toward the first base hole that got past the Mendham first baseman and hit Stempert running from first to second, resulting in an out call by the base ump.
"It was my understanding that once the ball went past an infielder who had a chance to play the ball and hit a runner, it wasn't an automatic out and I disputed the call for that reason," Faccenda said. "The ump said that, in his opinion, the second baseman moving to the ball would have had a chance to field the ball and that was why he made the out call.
"We checked the rule book and the ump was correct in his reading of the rule. I still questioned whether or not the second baseman would have had a play on the ball, however, and the umpires did get together and talk it out. But the ump who made the out call was adamant that the second baseman, too, had a shot to make a play on Sorce's ball, so the call stayed and Stempert was ruled out and Sorce was given credit for a single.
"Everything was done by the book, but I will still wonder what might have happened to Mendham's 9-1 lead had the call been reversed in our favor and we had been able to bat with the bases loaded at that point."
Denville finished the game with five hits - all infield singles - as Vittorio, Roche and Walsh each added hits to Kenny's bunt single and Sorce's hit-runner basehit.
As for Denville's pitching, Stempert and Walsh followed Vittorio to the mound as Mendham finished with 14 hits - six for extra bases.
Faccenda reminded his team that their 4-1 pool play record and 2-2 mark in the double-elimination portion of the tournament - with six of the nine games played under "must-win" conditions - was a great accomplishment.
"Losing to Mendham is nothing to be ashamed of ... they are well prepared, talented and their coaches Ed Powers and Larry Bell do a terrific job teaching their boys baseball and how to be good citizens," Faccenda said. "Ed and I speak quite often during tournament time about the experiences we were both having with our great kids and about the memories that are being created."
After the game, Faccenda got a good example of just that when Jeff Vittorio, the team's coach who was helping him pack up the team's gear, told him that the nine games they just went through with the Denville All-Stars was the best tournament experience he had ever had in baseball.
"We all went to the Walsh's house for a post-game party and a game of 'man hunt' soon broke out," Faccenda said. "Later, there was talk about upcoming vacations, a movie night we have for next week to celebrate our tournament season, and talk of when football, soccer and fall ball were going to start.
"They are a great group of boys and they had a great tournament ... we’re all very proud of what they did and how they acted on and off the field."
Notes: The All-Stars out-scored their opponents, 69-47, and out-hit them, 95-54 ... Denville had a team batting average of .415 compared the their opponents' .302 ... the team's on-base percentage was .516 ... as a team, Denville struck out only 38 times in 258 at-bats while Denville pitchers recorded 69 strikeouts in nine tournament games ...
Vittorio finished as the team's top hitter, going 15-for-25 to bat .600 ... there were five other .400-plus hitters - Porth, .476 (10-for-21); Stempert, .474 (9-for-19); Boyle, .464 (13-for-28); Faccenda, .417 (10-for-24); and Walsh, .417 (10-for-24) ... Vittorio's on-base percentage was .719 ... Boyle had the most at-bats, 28 ... Boyle also led the team in runs scored with 10; Kenny scored nine times and Walsh and Sorce each had eight runs scored ... Vittorio's 15 hits were a team high while Boyle finished with 13 ... Boyle had a team-leading five doubles ... Kenny hit the only triple and Porth had the only home run for Denville in tournament play ... Porth's 11 RBIs led the team; Faccenda finished with nine and Roche had eight ... Vittorio drew a team-leading six walks ... Adam Wagner, who proved invaluable as a defensive replacement, finished with an on-base percentage of .318 ...
Faccenda was the team's busiest tournament pitcher with a 3-1 record and an ERA of 3.60, giving up 10 runs (9 earned) on five hits while striking out 26 and walking 24 in 15 innings pitched ... he pitched a four-inning no-hitter and a four-inning one-hitter ... Giacobbe was 2-0 with an ERA of 3.00 and allowed four runs (all earned) on seven hits while striking out nine and walking eight in eight innings ... Stempert (1-0) worked a total of 6.2 innings; Vittorio (0-1) pitched six innings; Boyle (0-1) threw 5.2 innings; Walsh (0-0) was used in two games for 2.6 innings; and Porth (0-0) was used once for one-third of an inning ...
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It's Denville vs. Mendham for tourney title
DENVILLE - It's "Mendham Again" for the Denville 11-year-old All-Star baseball team and, if all goes well, it will be "Mendham Again" again, too.
Denville reached Little League Baseball's District One championship finals for 11-year-old teams with a 9-4 victory over Randolph West in the losers bracket final played on Thursday, July 22, at Freedom Park in Randolph Township.
Tyler Faccenda and Richie Boyle led led Denville's 12-hit attack as Faccenda was 3-for-3 with a double and five RBIs and Boyle finished 3-for-3 with an RBI and scored four times.
Denville, which is 6-2 overall in the tournament and 2-1 in this double-elimination portion of the tourney, will face Mendham (6-1 and 2-0) on Saturday, July 24, at Freedom Park at 7:30 p.m. If Mendham wins, Mendham is the District One champ; if Denville win, the two teams will return to Freedom Park on Sunday, July 25, for another 7:30 p.m. game with the winner getting the championship trophy.
Mendham is no stranger to Denville this season since it was Mendham that beat Denville, 10-5, just this past Tuesday in the opening round of the district finals to send Denville into the losers bracket.
Against Randolph West on Thursday, Denville never trailed as it completed its escape from the losers bracket with its victory over Randolph West on Thursday evening.
Justin Giacobbe pitched a workman-like five-plus innings and Nicholas Virrorio relieved in the bottom of the sixth and retired all three batters he faced for the save.
Giacobbe gave up four runs (three earned) on seven hits while striking out two and walking five and kept Randolph West from breaking out with a big inning. Giacobbe reached his pitch count of 85 pitches while walking the first batter he faced in the sixth and final inning and Vittorio came in and retired the side on a strikeout, a comebacker and a soft line drive to Boyle at shortstop for the final out of the game.
Denville, losing the coin flip for home team, took a 1-0 lead in its first at-bat when Boyle and Owen Roche hit back-to-back two-out singles and Faccenda followed with a sharp grounder over the third base bag for a single that brought in Boyle for the first of four runs he scored during the game.
Randolph tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second inning on a single, walk, error and wild pitch.
Denville scored three times in the top of the third to take the lead for good with Boyle leading off with a walk and Faccenda drawing a one-out walk to start the rally. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch and Boyle scored the go-ahead run on yet another wild pitch.
Connor Walsh followed with a walk to put runners on first and third, but Jared Sorce (running for Faccenda) was nipped at the plate on the front end of an attempted double steal for the second out of the inning, Walsh taking second on the play.
Danny Porth lined a single to left with Walsh scoring on a close play at the plate and Porth taking second on the throw. With Ian Stempert batting, Porth went to third on a short passed ball and continued on in to score when the low throw from the catcher bounced away from the third baseman.
Leading 4-1, Giacobbe needed only eight pitches to retire Randolph in the bottom of the third inning and Denville got right back to work and scored another three runs in the top of the fourth.
Will Kenny's liner to right-center hit the fence on one hop for a triple, with Kenny sliding into third to beat the throw. Boyle followed with a stand-up double down the left field line to make it 5-1 and Roche followed with a single to send Boyle to third. Sorce - running for Roche - stole second to put runners on second and third Faccenda doubled in both runners on a shot to right-center that hit the top of the fence and bounced back into the field of play.
Randolph scored a run in the bottom of the fourth to trail 7-2, but Denville came right back again with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth to boost its lead to 9-2.
Kenny forced Vittorio, who had walked, and Boyle followed with a single to left for his third hit of the game. After both runners moved up on a wild pitch, Faccenda drove in his fourth and fifth runs when his two-out fly to left-center fell between the two outfielders.
Randolph scored twice in the bottom of the fifth and had runners on second and third with two outs when Walsh, playing second, made a nice catch and throw on a slow roller for the final out of the inning.
Denville failed to score in the top of the seventh and Vittorio did his 1-2-3 thing in the bottom of the inning and Denville was in the finals against Mendham.
Boyle and Faccenda had plenty of offensive help as Roche finished 2-for-4 with a run scored; Porth was 1-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored; Kenny was 1-for-4 with his triple and scored twice; Stempert finished 1-for-2; and leadoff hitter Vittorio was 1-for-3 with two walks.
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Denville's 8-run 4th keeps district title hope alive
DENVILLE - It's one down and two to go in the "revenge" department for the Denville 11-year-old All-Star team participating in the District One 11s Baseball Tournament.
Denville got its first "revenge victory" with a 9-7 win over Madison in a losers bracket game played Wednesday, July 21, at Rosedale Field in Madison. Madison beat Denville, 9-1, earlier in the tournament when Madison finished 5-0 and Denville was 4-1 in Pool B as both teams advanced to the district's double-elimination finals.
Denville is now looking for its second revenge win on Thursday, July 22, when it plays Randolph West in a district losers bracket final at Freedom Park in Randolph with the game scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. Randolph West just happens to be the team that knocked Denville out of this same tournament last year.
Waiting for the Denville-Randolph West winner is Mendham, which beat Denville, 10-5, in the district final opener just two days ago and knocked Randolph West into the losers bracket with a 3-0 win on Wednesday.
The championship game is scheduled for Saturday, July 24, at Freedom Park at 7:30 p.m. If Mendham wins, the tournament ends with Mendham the District One champ. If Mendham loses, the same two teams return to Freedom Park the next day at 7:30 p.m. to decided the district champ.
Denville, which finished 4-1 in pool play and is now 1-1 in the finals, won the game in the bottom of the fourth inning when it erased a 2-1 deficit with an eight-run outburst to take a 9-2 lead, a lead that enabled Denville to hold off Madison's last-gasp sixth-inning five-run rally that created the final 9-7 score.
"The boys came in very loose for the game," said Denville manager Gary Faccenda after the game. "They were ready to take care of business and show Madison they were a much better team than the one they played two weeks ago."
The teams traded third-inning runs with Madison taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the inning when starter and winner Tyler Faccenda hit a Madison batter with the bases loaded and Denville answering when singles by Adam Wagner and Nicholas Vittorio and a walk to Richard Boyle loaded the bases and Owen Roche followed with a sacrifice fly.
A single, a sacrifice bunt and another single in the top of the fourth gave Madison a 2-1 lead, but Denville found its bats in the bottom of the inning and erupted for eight runs on six hits, two walks and an error to take a lead it never lost for the rest of the game.
Faccenda started the big inning with a walk, Danny Porth's bunt went for a single and, after a double steal, both runners came home when Jared Sorce ripped a line-drive double to left field. Justin Giacobbe walked and Vittorio bunted safely to load the bases for Will Kenny, who hit a first-pitch single to center to bring in Sorce for a 4-2 lead.
Lefty-swinging Roche then crossed up a Madison defensive that was playing him to pull by slashing a double down the left-field line to bring in two more runs. Connor Walsh reached on an error as the sixth run of the inning scored and, following a double steal, Faccenda sent a sharp single past the Madison first baseman to drive in two more runs and give Denville its 9-2 lead.
Madison's five-run sixth inning rally included a two-out, three-run homer by Matt O'Donnell, who had hit a grand slam in the two team's earlier meeting. After O'Donnell's homer, the next Madison batter drew a walk but was picked off first base when Boyle, who was catching at the time, threw down to Roche at first who tagged out the Madison player for the final out of the game.,
Faccenda pitched the first four innings and gave up two runs (both earned) on three hits while striking out four, walking five and hitting two batters. Vittorio followed Faccenda to the mound and pitched a 1-2-3 fifth inning with two strikeout and Stempert closed, pitching the final inning, giving up only one earned run during Madison's five-run blitz while allowing four hits, striking out two and walking one.
Eight different players accounted for Denville's nine hits with Vittorio the only player to have more than one hit as he finished 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored.
Sorce was 1-for-2 with a double, two RBIs and a run scored; Roche finished 1-for-2 with a double, three RBIs that included a sac fly, and a run scored; Faccenda was 1-for-2 with a walk, two RBIs and a run scored.
Also, Kenny was 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored; Porth was 1-for-3 with a run scored; Wagner was 1-for-2 with a run scored; and Giacobbe drew a walk and scored a run.
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Denville falls to Mendham, faces Madison next
DENVILLE - The Denville 11-year-old All-Star baseball team gets a chance for revenge today (Wednesday, July 21) when the team squares off against Madison in a District One 11s Little League Baseball Tournament game scheduled for 6 p.m. at Rosedale Field in Madison.
Madison is the team that handed Denville its only defeat in the pool play portion of the tournament, a 9-1 decision early on in tourney play.
On Tuesday (July 20), Denville and Madison dropped into the losers bracket of the four-team, double-elimination tournament when Denville lost to Mendham, 10-5, at Park Avenue Field in Mendham and Madison lost to Randolph West, 6-5, at Rosedale Field.
Mendham and Randolph West will meet in a winners bracket game Wednesday at Freedom Park in Randolph Township at 7:30 p.m. with the winner moving into the championship round where it will play the team that emerges from the losers bracket in games on Saturday, July 24, at 7:30 p.m. and - if needed - Sunday, July 25, at 7:30 p.m.
Denville - which will be eliminated from further tournament play with one more loss - must win four games to be declared the District One champion.
It's a rough road and Denville manager Gary Faccenda knows it ... but for today, he and his players have only Madison on their minds when it comes to baseball.
"The coaches and players are excited to get a chance at a very good Madison team once again," said Faccenda after Tuesday's loss to Mendham. "The boys feel they didn't play their best against them the first game and look forward to playing a better game this time."
Against Mendham, Denville starter Tyler Faccenda - the manager's son - had first-inning control problems and was replaced before reaching the 20-count pitch limit that would have required him to have a day's rest between appearances.
Faccenda opened the inning by striking out the Mendham leadoff hitter on three pitches but then walked the next two batters and hit the third to load the bases. After falling behind 3-0 on the next batter, manager Faccenda took out pitcher Faccenda.
"He was just missing and it was getting to him ... I decided to pull him then to keep him under the pitch count needed to use him again the next day - just in case we needed him."
Reliever Richie Boyle completed the walk credited to Faccenda to force in Mendham's first run. A ground rule double that bounced over the center field fence made it 3-0 and the next batter hit a sac fly to make it 4-0 before Boyle struck out the next two batters to get out of the inning.
Denville got its first run in the fourth inning when Owen Roche drove in a run on a groundout to second base.
But Mendham extended its 4-1 lead to 8-1 with a four-run outburst in the fourth inning before adding two more runs in the fifth to complete its scoring.
Denville scored a run in the top of the fifth and then finished with a three-run rally in the sixth and final inning, scoring its runs on a double by Will Kenny and a two-run single by Roche.
Nicholas Vittorio, who led off the game with a hit but was stranded, finished with two hits as did Ian Stempert and Roche as Denville finished with nine hits for the game. Kenny doubled and Boyle and Walsh singled for the other three hits.
"The players played with a lot of heart and spirit, no matter how many runs we were down," Faccenda said after the game. "They never thought they were out of the game ... they kept fighting back.
"You have to admire them for they way they kept playing ... all the coaches are very proud of these kids."
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Denville beats Tri-Town to advance to district finals
DENVILLE - Danny Porth did what Danny Porth has been doing a lot of lately when he came to bat with two men on in the second inning of Denville's District One 11-year-old Baseball Tournament game against Tri-Town at Gardner Field on Friday, July 16.
He got a hit.
Porth turned on a 2-2 fastball and sent it screaming to the fence in right-center for a two-run double to drive in the winning runs in a 7-2 Denville victory over Tri-Town, a victory that put him and his teammates into the four-team, double-elimination district finals of the tournament.
Denville finished 4-1 and in second place in Pool B behind unbeaten Madison (5-0), which beat Denville, 9-1, in their first meeting. Denville and Madison join Pool A winner Mendham (4-1) and runnerup Randolph West (3-2) in the district finals that start Tuesday, July 20, with Denville visiting Mendham for a 6 p.m. game at Park Road Field and Randolph West traveling to Madison for a 6 p.m. game at Rosedale Field.
Porth had been hotter than hot for Denville with seven hits - including a homer and a double - in his last 10 at bats coming into the game against Tri-Town. He also had eight RBIs in those 10 at-bats.
After being retired in order in the bottom of the first inning, Owen Roche became Denville's first baserunner when he opened the second inning by reaching on an error. Connor Walsh followed with a sharp single to center to put runners on first and second and starting and winning pitcher Ian Stempert drove in Denville's first run with a single to center.
With runners on first and second, Will Kenny lined a shot to left-center that reached the fence on one hop for double as Walsh came in to make it 2-0.
That brought up Porth and Porth didn't disappoint as he drove in Stempert and Kenny with his double off the wall to give Denville a 4-0 lead. Porth alertly took third on the throw to the plate and scored when Adam Wagner followed with an RBI groundout.
With the bases empty, leadoff hitter Nicholas Vittorio got things going again when he reached on a two-base error and scored when Richie Boyle followed with a single to center for a 6-0 lead. Tyler Faccenda's groundout moved Boyle to second, from where he scored when Roche, the 10th batter of the inning, singled to center for the seventh and final run of the inning.
Tri-Town reached Stempert for a run in the fourth and added its second run in the sixth off Vittorio.
Stempert got the win, throwing four innings of two-hit ball in which he allowed one run (earned) on two hits while striking out eight and walking three. Vittorio worked the last two innings and gave up one run (earned) on three hits while striking out three and walking two.
Vittorio worked out of a sixth-inning jam in dramatic fashion when, with the bases loaded, one run in, and the tying run in the on-deck circle, he struck out the side to end the game. Vittorio fanned the first batter on three pitches, came back from a 3-1 count to strike out the next batter, and ended the game with a four-pitch strikeout.
Denville finished with eight hits with six of them packed into the seven-run second inning.
Kenny and Walsh each had two hits as Kenny finished 2-for-3 with an RBI double and a run scored and Walsh was 2-for-2 with a run scored.
Porth finished 1-for-2 with his two-run double and a run scored and is now 8-for-12 with 10 RBIs in his last 12 at-bats. Stempert, Boyle and Roche each had identical stat lines of 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored; Wagner had an RBI and Vittorio finished with a walk and a run scored.
The winner of the Denville-Mendham will meet the winner of the Madison-Randolph West game in a winners bracket game on Wednesday, July 21, at 7:30 p.m, at Freedom Park in Randolph Township. Tuesday's losing teams will meet at the site of the better seeded team, also on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
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Faccenda one-hitter beat Roxbury National, 13-2
DENVILLE - Tyler Faccenda followed his no-hit victory of 10 days ago with a four-inning one-hitter as Denville defeated Roxbury National, 13-2, in a District One 11s Baseball Tournament Pool B game played at Kiwanis Field in Roxbury Township on Thursday, July 15.
The victory gives Denville's 11-year-old All-Star team a 3-1 record in Pool B and puts the team one victory away from assuring itself of a spot in the district finals, a four-team double-elimination competition between the two top teams in Pool A and Pool B that will determine the 11-year-old Division One championship team.
Denville could lose it final pool game and still get into the second phase of the competition, but would take help from other teams and Denville coming out on top in any of several tie-breaking procedures. Madison is 4-0 going into its final game as it closes in on the Pool B title.
"We have the inside track to finish second in our pool," said Denville manager Gary Faccenda - Tyler's father - after the game. "The best way for us to do it is just to win our final pool game."
Faccenda the pitcher and Denville certainly looked like winners against Roxbury National as Faccenda held the home team to two runs (one earned) and Denville's bats came alive in the third inning to produce 10 big runs.
Faccenda finished with eight strikeouts and walked four and gave up his only hit in the bottom of the fourth inning when Connor Young led off the inning with a line double off the fence in left-center. A stolen base and a walk put runners on first and third and then Young scored on the business end of a double steal that saw the Roxbury runner from first get thrown out by Denville catcher Ian Stempert.
Faccenda notched his seventh strikeout for the second out, issued his fourth pass, and then nailed down strikeout No. 8 for the final out of the game as the 10-run mercy rule ended the game.
Roxbury National took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second when a walk, wild pitch and an error led to an unearned run.
Denville answered with a 10-run third inning, an inning in which it got 10 of its 16 hits for the game.
Will Kenny opened the inning with a bunt single and raced to third when the late throw to first base sailed into right field. Nicholas Vittorio followed with a single and Denville had tied the score at 1-1.
After Vittorio took second on a wild pitch, Richard Boyle singled in Vittorio to give Denville a 2-1 lead. Faccenda followed with a bunt single and Stempert loaded the bases by beating out another bunt for a single.
After Boyle was forced at home on a grounder by Jared Sorce, Justin Giacobbe followed with a two-run single to extend the lead to 4-1. An error on a double steal attempt made it 5-1 and Danny Porth singled for his fifth consecutive hit over two games to give Denville a 6-1 lead.
Kenny reached on an error as Porth scored Denville's seventh run of the inning; Vittorio delivered his second RBI single of the inning to make it 8-1; Boyle followed with his second hit of the inning to put runners on first and second; Faccenda's infield single was misplayed into a two-run error and Denville had its 10-run inning.
Denville scored its final three runs of the game in the top of the fourth when Adam Wagner reached on a one-out error; Giacobbe followed with an RBI double off the fence in right-center and, after he took third, scored when Porth beat out an infield roller to second for his sixth straight hit; and Vittorio drove in the third run of the inning with a two-out single, his fourth single of the game.
Vittorio's 4-for-4 game also included three RBIs and two runs scored and Porth and Giacobbe also had perfect days at the plate with Porth finishing 3-for-3 with a walk, two RBIs and two runs scored and Giacobbe going 2-for-2 with a double, walk, three RBIs and two runs scored.
Boyle finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored; Faccenda was 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored; Kenny was 1-for-3 with two runs scored; and Stempert was 1-for-2 with one run scored.
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Porth, Giacobbe lead way in 14-1 victory
DENVILLE - After being held to one run in their previous game, the Denville 11-year-old All-Stars scored seven runs on six hits in their first at-bat against Rockaway Borough and cruised to a 14-1 victory in a District One 11s Little League Baseball Tournament game played on Monday, July 12, at Harry K. Smith Memorial Field in Rockaway.
Danny Porth, who finished the game 3-for-3 with five RBIs, accounted for the final two runs of the inning when he crushed a home run over the center field fence for his first Little League homer.
"Danny practically floated around the bases ... it was his first Little League home run," said Denville manager Gary Faccenda after the game. "The team was very excited because ... it was almost as if they wanted to send a message things were going to be different than the Madison game (a 9-1 defeat)."
Message received loud and clear as Denville finished with 15 hits in the four-inning mercy-rule shortened game and the three pitchers Faccenda used in the game finished with a combined one-hitter, losing their shutout in the bottom of the fourth when Denville already had established a 15-0 lead.
The victory gave Denville a 2-1 record in the Pool B portion of the tournament. Madison is 3-0; Roxbury National is 1-1; Chester and Tri-Town are each 1-2; and Rockaway is 0-2. The top two teams in Pool B and Pool A will meet in a four-team, double-elimination competition that will decided the District One champion for 11-year-olds.
Nicholas Vittorio led off the game with a single to center but was forced at second by Richie Boyle. Tyler Faccenda reached on an error and both moved up a base on a wild pitch and were able to score when Conner Walsh drilled a single to center. Ian Stempert walked and Jared Sorce followed with a one-hop double off the left field fence to score Adam Wagner, who was running for Walsh.
Starting pitcher Justin Giacobbe followed with a two-run single for a 5-0 Denville lead and then Porth turned on a fastball over the middle of the plate and sent it soaring over the center field fence to drive in the sixth and seventh runs of the inning. Vittorio got his second single of the inning but Rockaway got out of the inning with no further damage.
Denville made it 10-0 in the second inning when Walsh walked, Stempert bunted for a hit and Sorce drew another walk to load the bases. Giacobbe walked to force in Walsh and Porth got his third and fourth RBIs of the game when he followed with a two-run single up the middle.
In the third, Boyle led off with a double and eventually scored on the business end of a successful double steal; Giacobbe got his fourth RBI of the game with a single; and Porth drove in his fifth run when he followed with a double.
Denville scored its final run in the top of the fourth when Vittorio got his third hit of the game, went to second and third on a passed ball and a groundout, and scored Denville's 14th and final run on a sacrifice fly by Faccenda.
Giacobbe got the win for Denville, working the first three innings and allowing no runs on no hits while striking out seven and walking three. Vittorio got two outs while giving up Rockaway's run in the bottom or the fourth and, in order to stay within a 20-pitch count that would insure his eligibility to pitch the next day, was relieved by Porth who walked the first batter he faced and then ended the game with the help of shortstop Boyle, who made a sliding grab while ranging to his left and was able to tag the bag at second for a game-ending force play.
"Justin mixed his speed well in his three no-hit innings," Faccenda said. "He had a little trouble with the mound at first (two walks) but once he got in his groove, he was untouchable as he struck out seven of the last batters he faced
Vittorio had the other defensive play of the game for Denville in the second inning when, playing shortstop with men on first and second and one out, he made a lunging catch of a line drive headed up the middle and completed the unassisted doubleplay by tagging out the Rockaway runner before he could get back to second.
Denville is scheduled to play its next game on Wednesday, July 14, against Tri-Town at Gardner Field at 7 p.m. Its final game is against Roxbury National on Thursday, July 15, at Kiwanis Field in Roxbury at 7 p.m.
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Madison's 6-run 6th seals Denville's 9-1 loss
DENVILLE - So much for looking good in pre-game warmups.
Denville 11-year-old All-Star manager Gary Faccenda was concerned that his team's six-day layoff between games due to a rainout might be harmful so he watched them closer than usual as they warmed up for their District One Little League Baseball Tournament Pool B game against Madison at Rosedale Field in Madison on Sunday, July 11.
His players looked sharp, none the worse for wear ... and they looked ready -- rarin' to go!
"They really did look good ... one of the best warmups I've seen," Faccenda said. "I felt relieved ... I felt we were ready to go out there and play our best."
And then the game started. Madison took an early 2-0 lead and then broke open a close game with a six-run outburst in the fifth inning to claim a 9-1 victory over Denville - a win that put Madison at 3-0 in pool play and a loss that left Denville with a 1-1 pool play record.
"We couldn't really get our bats going," Faccenda said after the game. "Every time we got something going - a little momentum - we couldn't finish the way we usually do."
There were also three close calls that went against Denville, calls that Faccenda refers to as "questionable" in polite company, but calls that nevertheless Faccenda admits "... took some wind out of our sails.
"Baseball is a game of close calls and they usually even out ... we're still waiting to get even."
Madison took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning when Madison's No. 9 hitter came up with two outs and runners on first and second and lined a hard basehit to center that skipped past the outfielders as both runners scored.
Denville came back with its only run of the game in the top of the third when Justin Giacobbe lined a one-out single into left-center; NIcholas Vittorio lined a two-out single to center to put runners on first and second. Richard Boyle followed with a double to left as Giacobbe scored and Vittorio had to stop at third. Madison got the next batter to fly out to end the inning.
Denville had two on with two out in the top of the fourth when Ian Stempert singled and Ian Porth reached on an error but Justin Giacobbe was ruled out after he seemingly beat out an infield single with Stempert scoring what seemed to be the tying run.
"The umpire ruled Justin never touched first base and called him out," Faccenda said. "That was the third close call against us and this was the one that took a lot out of the kids."
Madison made it 3-1 in the bottom of the inning when it scored on a walk, an error and a line-shot RBI single up the middle.
After Denville went down in order in the fifth - with the final two outs the result of "... two very nice defensive plays by their infield," according to Faccenda.
Vittorio's hard grounder between first and second was short-hopped by the Madison second baseman, who then threw to first in time to record the second out of the inning. Boyle followed with a sharp grounder to the glove side of the third baseman, who lunged for the ball and field it cleanly and had time to throw out Boyle.
Madison put away the game with a six-run outburst in the bottom of the fifth, bunching three singles and two walks into two runs before the Madison No. 5 hitter hit a grand slam to give Madison its 9-1 lead.
In the top of the sixth - Denville's final at-bat - Tyler Faccenda singled and Jared Sorce reached on an error to put runners on first and third with one out only to have the Madison pitcher strike out the last two batters of the game to end the threat and he game.
Denville, held to six hits, got a 2-for-3 performance from Faccenda while Giacobbe finished 1-for-2 with a walk and a runs scored; Boyle was 1-for-3 with his RBI double; and Vittorio and Stempert each finished 1-for-3.
Boyle, Faccenda, Stempert and Vittorio did the pitching for Denville
"Madison is a good club and is certainly in the driver's seat for the pool title," Faccenda said. "But, the way I see it, we control our own fate and we can advance, too, if we win our next three games and finish 4-1.
"We are going to have to hit better, though."
But not warm up better.
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Sorce, Walsh, Boyle bats back Faccenda's no-hitter
DENVILLE - After the game, it was a tough call determining which was the hottest - the weather, the pitching arm of Tyler Faccenda, or the bats of Jared Sorce, Conner Walsh or Richie Boyle.
Faccenda pitched a four-inning no-hitter and Sorce, Walsh and Boyle each had two hits as Denville beat Chester, 11-1, in a District One 11s Little League Baseball Tournament opening-round Pool B game played in 90-plus-degree heat at Gardner Field on Monday, July 5.
Faccenda struck out eight and walked seven in the mercy-rule shortened game, holding Chester scoreless until the top of the fourth when two walks and two wild pitches led to its only run of the game.
Denville did not score in the first inning, even though Nicholas Vittorio singled and Richie Boyle doubled.
The bats started to heat up for real in Denville's second turn, however, when Conner Walsh led off with a single, Will Kenny walked and both scored when Ian Stempert doubled down the left field line. Sorce followed with another double to bring in Stempert and Sorce scored when Boyle's fly ball to left hit the fair line for his second double in as many at-bats.
In the third inning, Walsh doubled with one out; Kenny singled Walsh to third; and Walsh scored on a throwing error when Denville attempted a delayed double-steal. After Kenny took third on a wild pitch and Sorce walked, Denville tried another double steal and Kenny was able to score when Sorce got caught in a rundown in which he escaped by getting safely back to first.
Sorce moved to second on a wild pitch and came in to score the third run of the inning when Adam Wagner followed with a two-out single to center.
After Chester scored in the top of the fourth, Denville came back with four more runs to create the 10-run margin that invoked the tournament's mercy rule.
Faccenda led off the inning by reaching on a bad-hop single and Stempert, courtesy-running for Faccenda, stole second and third and scored on Owen Roche's groundout. Walsh then drew a two-out walk, went to second on a passed ball and scored on Danny Porth's single up the middle. Porth stole second and scored on Sorce's single for a 10-1 lead.
Sorce took second on a wild pitch, took third on a delayed double steal and continued around to score on a throwing error on the play to give Denville an 11-1 lead and end the game.
Sorce finished the game 2-for-2 with a double, a walk, two RBIs and three runs scored; Walsh was 2-for-2 with a walk and three runs scored; and Boyle was 2-for-3 with two doubles and an RBI.
Stempert was 1-for-1 with a two-run double; Wagner was 1-for-1 with an RBI; Porth finished 1-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored; Kenny was 1-for-2 with two runs scored; Faccenda was 1-for-3 with a run scored; Vittorio was 1-for-2 with a walk; and Roche was 0-for-3 with an RBI groundout to round out Denville's 11-run, 10-hit attack.
Denville had two "highlight reel" defensive plays, the first of which came in the second inning when, with runners on second and third and no outs, Chester's No. 7 batter lined a hard shot to right-center that Kenny one-handed on the run and got the ball back to the cutoff man so quickly the runner at third didn't even attempt to score after the catch.
The second defensive play of note came in the top of the third with a man on and no outs when Stempert, playing second base, snagged a line drive heading for right field and threw to first basemen Roche in time to double-up the Chester runner trying to scramble back to the bag.
Denville is off until the weekend when it plays Rockaway Borough on Saturday, July 10, at Harry Smith Memorial Field in the borough in a 1 p.m. game, and then faces Madison on Sunday, July 11, in a 1 p.m. game at Rosedale Field in Madison.
Notes: Denville, Rockaway, Tri-Town, Chester, Roxbury National and Madison make up the six-team field in Pool B ... Randolph East and West, Mendham, Morristown National, Hanover and Par-Troy West make up Pool A ... Madison beat Roxbury National, 7-4, in the only other Pool B game Monday ... Mendham beat Randolph East, 15-3, and Hanover edged Morristown National, 11-10, in Monday's Pool A games ... the two top teams in each pool move on to a four-team, double-elimination competition that will decide the District One champion ...
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Denville 11s to open District One vs. Chester
DENVILLE - The Denville Little League 11-year-old All-Star team will play its first game in the 2010 District One Baseball Tournament on Monday, July 5, when it plays host to Chester at Gardner Field #2 at 7 p.m.
Denville, with manager Gary Faccenda and coach Jeff Vittorio at the helm, is one of the six teams in Pool B with Madison, Tri-Town, Roxbury National, Rockaway and Chester. The six teams in Pool A are Randolph East, Randolph West, Hanover, Mendham, Par-Troy West and Morristown National.
Each team in the tournament will play the other teams in its pool once with the 1-2 finishers in each pool at the end of the round-robin pool play entering the second phase of the tournament schedule, a four-team double-elimination competition that will lead to the crowning of the District One champion.
