Nutley Little League Wins District Title Monday Night
• Team Now Two Games Away from State Championship
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Enlarge This Photo | Photo by NJHometown |
Bill Montgomery with a big smile as he rounds second base after hitting a home run in the bottom of the second inning. His home run also scored catcher Craig Merkle who reached base on a walk.
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Enlarge This Photo | Photo by NJHometown |
Starting pitcher Vin Petracco on the mound facing Bloomfield's top Little League team this year.
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Enlarge This Photo | Photo by NJHometown |
Anthony Condito moved from first to the pitcher's mound at the top of the third inning. The inning ended with three men on bases with Nutley in the lead, 9-4.
Jul 13, 2010 – (Corrections to this story last made 2 pm Thursday.)
The Nutley American League Little League team is now two or three games away from qualifying for play in the N.J. State Championships after defeating Bloomfield last night (7/12) to capture the District Championship by a 15-4 score.
Next Monday, Nutley faces West New York in a game that will be played in Edgewater. The the winner of that game will travel to Trenton to qualify for the state championship preliminaries. The contest with Edgewater will be played in West New York.
"I've been coaching Little League for 28 years," says the team's coach Tom Rose. "But this team is something special: These guys can really hit!" That was apparent right from the opening inning last night as Nutley scored three first-inning runs and never to lose the lead.
Bloomfield opened the game with a walk by catcher Brian Rennie but Nutley's starting pitcher Vin Petracco set the stage for what was to come. Petracco struck out the second batter, shortstop Jimmy Guanelone before first baseman Joe Pratola grounded out to retire the side..
Nutley showed its strength quickly by batting thru its entire lineup, in fact 12 batters in all, to finish the inning with three runs scored and two men left on base. The highlight came when Petracco, batting third, blasted a home run into left field scoring Isaak Lindenbaum who led off the inning with a single.
That first inning had several big moments for Nutley. Sean Rodriguez doubled scoring Bill Montgomery, and Nick Miller also doubled. Singles included a hit by Andrew Aiello. The inning ended with bases loaded and Aiello tagged out on an attempt to steal home. Nutley was in the lead, 3-0.
Bloomfield fought back with two runs in the second frame when catcher Brian Rennie's homer run to left field also scored Donato Salcarto who reached based on a walk.
Nutley ended all doubts of its superiority in the bottom of the third by upping its lead to 9-3 highlighted by Bill Montgomery's home run and double by Andrew Aiello.
There were more Little League home runs scored last night by both teams. For Bloomfield, Joe Sibilia homered in the third. In the bottom of that same inning, Petracco homered to increase Nutley's score to 11-4. Finally in the bottom of the fourth, outfielder Sean Rodriguez homered to deep center pushing Nutley's lead over the 10-run advantage mark that officially ended the game.
Coach Tom Rose and assistant Anthony Sposato were introduced as the Nutley players participated in the trophy presentations.
For the record, Nutley's lineup last night included Isaak Lindenbaum, shortstop; Anthony Condito, first base; Vin Petracco, pitcher; Craig Merkle, catcher; Bill Montgomery, third base; Sean Rodriguez, centerfield; Nick Miller and John Zarro second base; Andrew Aiello, left field; Anthony Castronova, right field, Anthony Magnetta, left field, and Robert Duxbury.
Starting pitcher, Vin Petracco, is the son of Public Safety Commissioner Alphonse Petracco who was among the celebrating Nutley fans at the Little League field in Belleville last night.
[Corrections and additions for on this story, including the spelling of names, can be sent to news@njhometown.com]
