Demons split eight games
in Cooperstown, NY, tourney
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DENVILLE - The Denville Demons 12U baseball team spent a memorable seven days in Cooperstown, N.Y., the week of July 31-August 6.
The team played eight games in the Cooperstown Dreams Park and American Youth Baseball Hall of Fame Invitational Baseball Tournament - winning four and losing four - and the players and their families spent time visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame and checking out the many baseball shops in the town.
The players ate together three times a day at Cooperstown Dreams Park's dining pavilion and their games were played on the 22 professionally groomed and lighted fields located on the 150-acre facility. Each diamond is a natural grass field enclosed by eight-foot high stadium walls.
"We had a great time ... one parent described it as 'Disneyland for Baseball,'" said Mark Chegwidden, the team's head coach. "The facilities are first rate ... the food was good ... and the boys met a lot of kids from all over the country and traded pins throughout the week. I think they may have enjoyed that part of the week as much as the baseball."
The Demons were one of 104 teams participating in the week-long tournament, on of the 12 such weekly competitions conducted by Cooperstown Dreams Park during the summer.
The Demons - playing two games a day - went 3-3 in seeding games and then won their first game in the single-elimination portion of the tournament before losing the second game.
The Demons opened with an 11-4 loss to the Algonquin (IL) Storm and beat the Houston (TX) Slam, 10-9, on the first day of competition; Denville beat the Behlethem (NY) Bombers, 12-0, and lost to the San Carlos (CA) Express, 7-4, on the second day; Day 3 saw the Demons beat the Lenape Valley (PA) Tomahawks, 8-6; and lose a 3-1 decision to the Rowan (NC) Longhorns, 3-1.
The Demons were seeded No. 49 in the two-bracket, 104-single elimination portion of the tournament and defeated the Utah Horns, 6-5, before being eliminated by the Ohio A's, 10-3.
"We had two very exciting come-from-behind victories in the tournament," said Chegwidden. "We were down 9-2 to Houston in the fourth inning on the first day and came back to win with two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and, in our first single-elimination game, we rallied to score three times in our final at-bat to beat Utah by a run."
In the win over Houston, the Demons scored four runs in the fourth and two in the fifth to pull to within a run before winning it with two runs in the sixth with Ryan Chegwidden driving in the tying run with a single and Brian Chegwidden driving in the winning run with another single.
Down 5-3 to Utah going into their final at-bats, singles by Dillon Sinegra, Luke Nicolai and Ryan Washington's sacrifice fly accounted for the first run; Brian Chegwidden followed with a single to put the winning run on base; and Ryan Chegwidden then followed with a drive off the center fieldwall to bring in Nicolai and Brian Chegwidden with the tying and winning runs.
In the Demons' final tourney game, Matt Tavarone, Brian Chegwidden, Jon Cocchio and Tyler Brosius highlighted Denville's three-run third inning to give the Demons a 3-0 lead, but Ohio answered with seven runs in its half of the inning to take the lead for good.
Notes: Joe LaRiccia, Michael Chapman, Justin Weick and Collin Brunnock rounded out the Demons' Cooperstown roster ... coaches included Mark Chegwidden's brother Mike, Stephen Sinegra, Randy Weick, Kevin Washington, Joseph LaRiccia and Gary Cocchio.
