DENVILLE - Bob Taylor, manager of the Denville Dawgs entry in the 2011 Cerbo 11U 50/70 Summer Baseball League, saw his team lose its fifth game in as many outings on Sunday, July 10, a 16-4 defeat at the hand of Montville at Montville.
    Still, Taylor was able to point to several positives about his team.
    "Montville is a good team (4-1) and we played them better this time than we did earlier in the season when they beat us 25-2," Taylor said after the game. "Each team had seven hits but too many walks got us in trouble tonight and we had one bad inning - the third when they scored nine times.
    "Danny Buccafusca hit his first home run at the Little League level and we are all very happy about it ... I heard some fans say 'that's gone' as soon as he made contact ... it was very uplifting for our team to see Danny crush that ball."
    Buccafusca led the Dawg's seven-hit attack by going 2-for-2 with his home run, a double, one RBI and two runs scored.
    Buccafusca homered to lead off the Dawgs' top of the fifth inning - a towering shot that easily cleared the fence in right-center - for Denville's final run of the game.
    Earlier, The Dawgs took a one-run lead in the top of the first when Kevin Chegwidden led off the game with a single, stole second, took third on a single by Bryce Mott and scored when Jack Haley followed with a single to left.
    Montville came back with four runs in its half of the first inning to take a lead it never lost.
    Denville cut the lead to a single run in the third inning when Buccafusca led off with a double; Jake Sinegra drew a walk; and, after both runners moved up a base on a double-steal, Ian Beume doubled to bring in both Buccafusca and Sinegra and Denville trailed, 4-3.
    Montille put away the game with a nine-run third-inning.
    Beumee finished the game 1-for-2 with two RBIs; Mott was 1-for-2; Haley was 1-for-1 with an RBI; Luke Shea was 1-for-2; Chegwidden was 1-for-3 with a run scored; and Sinegra was 0-for-1 with a walk and a run scroed.
    Beumee, Luke Shea, Jack Haley and Chegwidden pitched for Denville.
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Dawgs' bats start to heat up in 15-10 loss to Ravens

     DENVILLE - The Denville Dawgs fought back from an early deficit by scoring 10 runs in three innings but still couldn't come up with their first win in the Cerbo 11U 50/70 Summer League's West Division as the Teel Ravens held on for a 15-10 victory in a game played at Franklin Lakes on Friday, July 1, 2011.
    Trailing 6-0 after two innings, the Dawgs (0-4) scored three times in the top of the third inning when Kevin Chegwidden walked and scored on Jack Haley's RBI double and, after Alec Shea walked, Luke Shea tripled over the center fielder's head to drive in both runners.
    The Ravens (1-3) countered with four runs in the bottom of the third, but the Dawgs bounced back with a five-run fourth inning to close the gap to 10-8. Joe Taylor, Dylan Berchin, Chegwidden and Jake Sinegra walked; Bryce Mott was hit with a pitch to get on base. Taylor, Berchin, Mott and Berchin scored on passed balls and Sinegra scored on an RBI single by Haley, his second RBI of the game.
    The Ravens answered with five runs in the bottom of the fourth before the Ravens closed out the game with a two-run top of the fifth inning before the game was halted due to the league's two-hour time limit. Luke Shea drew a one-out walk, stole second and scored on an RBI single by Taylor. Taylor eventually scored the Dawgs' 10th run of the game when he stole home.
    Haley finished with two of the Dawgs' five hits, going 2-for-2 with a double, two RBIs and one run scored. Taylor was 1-for-2 with an RBI and two runs scored; Berchin was 1-for-1 with a double, one walk and one run scored; and Luke Shea was 1-for-2 with his triple, a walk and a run scored.
    Chegwidden walked twice and scored twice and Mott, Sinegra and Alec Shea each scored runs.
    Danny Buccafusca, Luke Shea and Chegwidden handled the pitching duties for the Dawgs.
    "Our team was very aggressive on the bases tonight," said Dawgs manager Bob Taylor after the game. "And, even though we got only five hits, our bats came alive because we hit a lot of hard shots right at their fielders and they made the plays.
    "I think we have to be pleased with our progress so far on the bigger field ... I told the team that we would get better as we adjusted ... it is just a matter of time."
    The Dawgs next game is scheduled for Friday, July 8, against the Wayne PAL Wolfpack at Wayne Municipal Field in Wayne at 8 p.m.
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Dawgs held to two runs in loss to Montville Mustangs
    DENVILLE - The Denville Dawgs ran into the hot bats of the Montville Mustangs and were beaten, 25-2, in a Cerbo 11U 50/70 Summer West Division game played at Montville's Municipal Field on Wednesday, June 29, 2011.
    The Dawgs (0-3) scored their two runs in the fourth inning when Brandon Bubak, Jack Haley and Luke Shea led off with walks to load the bases. Bryce Mott flew out to left and Bubak was thrown out at home when he tried to score after the catch. Dylan Berchin walked to reload the bases and Alec Shea and Chris Carey drew walks to force in the two runs.

     Haley singled and Alec Shea doubled for Denville's only two hits.
    Mott, Jake Sinegra and Haley handled the pitching duties for the Dawgs.

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Mott 3-for-3 in loss to Readington Rattlers

    DENVILLE - The 0-2 record is made up of a 12-run loss and an 8-run loss, but Bob Taylor says he is "... looking forward to watching our team's development in the upcoming weeks."
    Taylor coaches the Denville Dawgs, an 11U baseball team that is competing in the Cerbo 11U 50/70 Summer Baseball League and the team's 14-6 loss to the Readington Rattlers at Diamond Nation in Flemington on Monday, June 27, 2011, the second game the team has played at the longer 50-feet pitching and 70-feet between bases distances the players had in Little League (45 pitching; 60 between bases).
    "Due to the weather, we had only one practice before the season started," Taylor said. "Still, I was very impressed with the improvement shown in the loss to the Rattlers ... to our kids' credit, they are facing teams that have been playing at this distance for some time.
    "We played at a beautiful all-turf facility against the Rattlers and the kids really enjoyed themselves ... we have a tremendous coaching and support staff and we're looking for more improvement in future games."
    The Rattlers (2-0) took a 4-0 lead with a four-run flurry in the bottom of the second but the Dawgs came back with two runs in the top of the third when Luke Shea walked, Bryce Mott singled, and Alec Shea followed with a single to bring in Mott. Mott later scored on a passed ball for the Dawgs' second run.
    The Rattlers came right back again, scoring three times for a 7-2 lead. They made it 10-2 with another three-run burst in the bottom of the fourth.
    The Dawgs scored three times in the top of the fifth when Dylan Berchin, Luke Shea and Mott opened the inning with consecutive innings with Mott's single driving in both Berchin and Luke Shea. Mott scored the third run of the inning when Alec Shea bounced out to second.
    The Dawgs got their sixth and final run in the top of the sixth when Joe Taylor and Kevin Chegwidden walked and, after they moved up a base on steals, Berchin drove in Taylor with an infield out.
    Mott finished 3-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored; Luke Shea was 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored; Berchin was 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored; Alec Shea was 1-for-3 with two RBIs; Taylor was 1-for-1 with a walk, four stolen bases and a run scored; Jake Sinegra had two walks; and Chris Carey and Kevin Chegwidden each had one.
    Luke Shea, Brandon Bugak, Alex Shea and Jack Haley pitched for the Dawgs.

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Dawgs fall behind early in Cerbo opening loss

     DENVILLE - The Denville Dawgs 11U baseball travel team fell behind early and never could recover in a 17-5 loss to the Cerbo Sun Devils in an opening-day game of the Cerbo 11U 50/70 Summer Baseball League played at Gardner Field on Sunday, June 26, 2011.
    The Sun Devils scored five times in the top of the first and added two-run flurries in each of the second and fourth in innings before Denville was able to score its first runs.
    Trailing 9-0 going into their fourth at-bat, the Dawgs broke loose for three runs when Alec Shea reached on a leadoff single, Jake Sinegra bunted him over, Luke Shea walked and, after the brothers Shea executed a double steal to  put runners on second and third, Alec Shea stole home for the first run.
    Joe Taylor drew a walk and stole second and Bryce Mott followed with a two-run single to bring in Luke Shea and Taylor with the Dawgs' second and third runs of the inning.
    The Sun Devils got those three runs back with a three-run sixth and put the game out of reach with five runs in the sixth inning - their last at-bat of the game.
    Denville scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth when Jake Sinegra led off with a single, stole second and third and, after Dylan Berchin walked, Sinegra scored when Luke Shea grounded into a force play at second. Taylor followed with a walk and, after both runners moved up a base on a steal, Luke Shea was able to score the Dawgs' final run of the game when Mott grounded out to shortstop.
    The Dawgs were held to five hits - Mott was 1-for-3 with three RBIs; She was 1-for-3 with a run scored; Taylor was 1-for-1 with a double and a run scored; Sinegra was 1-for-2 with a run scored; and Berchin and Jack Haley each had a walk.
    Jake Haley, Luke Shea, Mott and Sinegra pitched for the Dawgs with Shea having the best outing, working hitless and scoreless innings with one strikeout.
    The next game for the Dawgs is an 8 p.m. game on Monday, June 27, against the Readington Rattlers at the Diamond Nation Baseball Complex in Flemington.

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Dawgs set to open Cerbo play on June 26

     DENVILLE - The newly formed Denville Dawgs 11U baseball travel team will participate in the Cerbo League 11U 50/70 Summer Baseball Tournament West Division competition this summer.

     The Dawgs open tourney play with a 3 p.m. game against the Cerbo Sun Devils at Gardner Field-5 on Sunday, June 26, 2011.
    The Dawgs play a 10-game schedule, facing the Readington Rattlers (Flemington), Montville Mustangs, Teel Ravens (Franklin Lakes), Wayne Wolfpack and Sun Devils twice each. Playoff will begin on Monday, July 25; the East-West championship games have been scheduled for
Thursday, July 28, and the East champs will meet the West champs for the overall league title on Friday, July 29.
    Bob Taylor is the manager of the Dawgs and Steve Bubak, Gary Beumee, Steve Sinegra, John Haley, Jim Shea and Mike Chegwidden are the team's coaches.
    The player roster consists of Dylan Berchin, Ian Beumee, Brandon Bubak, Danny Buccafusca, Chris Carey, Kevin Chegwidden, Jack Haley, Bryce Mott, Luke Osifchin, Alec Shea, Luke Shea, Jake Sinegra  and Joseph Taylor.