#b#Babe Ruth 15s Win South Jersey Title#/b#
West Windsor-Plainsboro’s Babe Ruth 15-year-olds won the New Jersey Babe Ruth league title championship this season, but the team was eliminated from contending for the Middle Atlantic Regional title. In playoff games the weekend of August 4 and 5 in South Colonie, New York, WW-P lost twice in less than 24 hours, falling short in a 10-team, week-long tournament.
On Saturday, August 4, WW-P suffered a 20-11 loss to host team South Colonie in the final game of pool play. WW-P then returned to play at 10 a.m. on Sunday, August 5, and lost a playoff game to Pennsylvania champions Media, 3-1.
As the regional tournament started, WW-P won its first two games in pool play. The team beat Northern New Jersey champ Paramus in 10 innings for the state bragging rights. The next victory came against Western New York champion North Syracuse, and WW-P then defeated Frederick, Maryland, to reach 3-0.
But going against the home team proved to be a roadblock. South Colonie beat WW-P for first place in Pool A as WW-P starting pitcher Adam Gostomski faced an onslaught as South Colonie’s hitters drove in 20 runs.
But for Manager Pat O’Brien and his squad, this season ranks as a success with plenty of dramatic and memorable moments to spare.
WW-P defeated perennial favorite North Burlington — last year’s 14-year-old champions — on Tuesday, July 24, on its way to the Southern New Jersey crown. Sidd Kumar, WW-P’s catcher, drove in the winning runs in that contest, and shortstop Dan Borup recorded a spectacular save in a relief pitching appearance. The next night, Wednesday, July 25, WW-P defeated Hamilton 4-3 to qualify for the Southern Jersey finals as Brandon Kocher delivered a clutch hit.
Facing Nottingham in the Southern New Jersey state tournament on Sunday, July 29, WW-P took the game down to its last at bat. Kumar kicked off a rally in the bottom of the seventh inning, and his teammates –– Sean O’Brien, Robert Armus, and pinch runner Patrick Menninger — kept it going as WW-P loaded the bases. Then CJ Markisz came through with a hit through the hole between shortstop and second base, and WW-P claimed the Southern New Jersey championship with a 3-2 victory.
In the matchup of the Garden State’s best, WW-P topped Paramus 5-4 in 10 innings as Armus hit a single with the bases loaded. Christian Waters, one of four WW-P pitchers used in that contest, earned the win.
#b#WW-P Legion Team Falls Despite Strong Performances#/b#
In American Legion action, WW-P bowed out of the state finals on Wednesday, August 1, with a 9-6 loss at the hands of Lyndhurst Post 139. Shortstop Ben Ruta came close to hitting for the cycle, and pitcher Ryan Dontas, going on three days’ rest, allowed a strong-hitting Lyndhurst team to score only five runs in the first six innings, but WW-P was overmatched.
Joe Jensen and Pat Boyle came through to keep the game close at 7-6 in the eighth inning, but Lyndhurst delivered timely hits to seal the win. Ruta stole the show with two singles, a double and a triple in a 4-for-5 performance, but even that was not enough.
A day earlier on Tuesday, July 31, pitcher Jack Liang provided a tremendous outing in WW-P’s Final Eight round opener of the state finals against Flemington Post 159, recording a complete game and giving up just five hits. But WW-P only managed to score once in its 2-1 loss. WW-P manager, Don Hutchinson, called Liang’s performance the best he’s ever seen from him. But some infield errors and missed opportunities cost WW-P the game.
Despite the losses at the state level, Hutchinson said this summer’s team displayed camaraderie and support for each other that made this year very special.
#b#Swimming#/b#
At the New Jersey Junior Olympics, held from Thursday, July 26, to Sunday, July 29, at the Sonny Werblin Aquatic Center at Rutgers University, West Windsor resident Patrick Park won the 50 free with a time of 24.32 seconds and the 100 fly with a time of 55.64 seconds. Park also finished second in the 100 free with a time of 53.12.
Emily Schroeder, also from West Windsor, finished second in the 100 free with a time of 59.93.
In 13/14-year-old events also held at Rutgers, West Windsor’s Roman Horozewski won the 200 free (2:04.07), 400 free (4:18.92), and 800 free (8:47.45), and finished second in the 1500 free (17.19.17) and third in the 200 IM (2:21.53).
In the 10 & under Junior Olympic events, Plainsboro resident Amelia Kudela finished second in the 50 fly with a time of 35.99 seconds.
At the 2012 Olympics in London, athletes with local connections have taken home medals.
The United States Women’s Eight Rowing Team, which trained at the Finn M.W. Caspersen Rowing Center in West Windsor, took home the gold medal on Thursday, August 2, beating out Canada and the Netherlands in 6:10.59. The U.S. Men’s Four team, which also trained in West Windsor, won the bronze. Council members Kamal Khanna and George Borek saw the rowers off before they headed to the Olympics, and they announced the accomplishments at the Monday, August 6 Council meeting.
Meanwhile, Plainsboro’s Rebecca Soni captured her second straight gold medal in the 200-meter breatstroke and set two world records in 24 hours. With her finish in 2:19.59, the 25-year-old beat her own record from the 2008 Olympics. According to a report in the Washington Post, Soni said that finishing in under two minutes 20 seconds had been her goals since her high school years at High School North, from which she graduated in 2005.
