Mid-Monmouth making gains in East Region
Local all-stars closing the gap on region's top teams
BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

Mid-Monmouth Babe Ruth baseball keeps clawing its way toward the national tournament.

First, the all-star team had to get past Iron Area (Sussex and Morris counties), which dominated state Babe Ruth play. Mid-Monmouth cleared that hurdle and now has become the state's premier program. That was never more evident than this year, when the defending champion Mid-Monmouth South squad won its second straight state championship, beating its league neighbor, Mid-Monmouth North, in the final.

The next hurdle for Mid-Monmouth South to negotiate is the Babe Ruth East Region, and they are getting closer to clearing it.

Mid-Monmouth South was just one game away from playing for the East Region crown in Cecil, Md., last week, falling in the loser's bracket final to a team from Syracuse, N.Y., 11-1. It was their best finish to date at the Region.

"Every year it gets better," said manager Bob Ruhl. "Pitching is the big issue.

"The whole thing is to stay in the winner's bracket as long as you can and avoid playing two games in a day."

Although he had taken his deepest staff ever to Maryland, falling in the loser's bracket in the second game stretched his staff too thin. The two games in a day took its toll on both the pitchers and the team, and they fell to Syracuse, one game short of their goal.

Mid-Monmouth went 3-2 in Maryland and was the third-place team. Perhaps the surest sign that they are catching up to the Region was a 4-2 win over Delco, Pa., a team that is in the finals every year.

"Delco is a very, very strong team and [Jason] Nardi shut them down," said Ruhl.

The win over the Region's perennial power moved them into the loser's bracket final.

Mid-Monmouth beat host Cecil, 15-3, in its first game, and then fell into the loser's bracket with an 8-5 loss to Metro City, N.Y. They bounced back with a 9-2 win over Delaware, and that 4-2 victory against Delco.

Nardi, Jason Elo and Brett Brach were the backbone of a pitching staff that gave Mid-Monmouth its finest finish in the Region.

"I couldn't be happier with the way we pitched," said Ruhl. "We couldn't have done any better. We had a great group of guys."

Chris Mirrione and Tom Porricelli provided the key hits for Mid-Monmouth in their opening game win against Cecil. Because of the offensive outburst, Nardi pitched only three innings. Elo and Adam Garry each logged one inning.

Vinny Avilla ignited the offense in the loss to Metro City, smacking a home run with one runner on board. Rob Ruhl had a pair of RBI doubles and three RBIs overall.

Nick Tutrone and Damian Csakai (four hits) were the big hitters in the win over Delaware. Elo was outstanding on the mound, tossing a complete game.

Porricelli, Tutrone, Avilla and Ruhl strung their hits together in a big inning that was the difference in Nardi's 4-2 win over Delco.

Avilla provided the lone offensive highlight against Syracuse, ripping his second round-tripper of the tournament. Avilla's two home runs were the most of anyone in Maryland, and Ruhl had four doubles.

The all-star roster for Mid-Monmouth South was Damian Csakai, David Schoer, Tom Porricelli, Vinny Avilla, Frank Mormino, Rob Ruhl, Adam Szakawski, Nick Tutrone, Scott Micallef, Mike Hennessy, Mike LaCava, Jason Baggitt, Chris Mirrione, Brett Brach, Jason Nardi, Adam Garry, Sean Flanagan and Jason Elo.

Ruhl's coaching staff consisted of Bill Ticker, Adam Brusotti and JP Noval.