It’s under the moniker of the Hamilton/Northern Burlington Babe Ruth League but, for the most part, it was a Hamilton Township squad that helped the 15-year-old All Star team make it to the 2022 World Series.
Of the 13 players on the roster, 11 are from Hamilton. Josh Guire and Connor Collora are Bordentown residents.
And they went on one heck of a ride this summer.
“We never thought when we made up that team we could go to the World Series,” pitcher AJ Maddalena said. “Personally, I thought regionals would be it. But I think that once we won states and saw the other teams at regionals and just how deep we were in pitching and hitting — our whole team could hit — I thought, ‘Wow, we can do this.’”
League president Jean Anderson was also a little apprehensive about making it to Stafford, Virginia for the Series, but certainly embraced the journey as H-NB enjoyed its first World Series appearance in five years.
“I don’t think you ever start out thinking you’ll get that far, but the way those kids played you never could count them out,” Anderson said. “They roared back every time, at every level. They all grew as better players over the three months they were together.”
Anderson observed that the team was basically assembled in June, and was going against some squads that have been together for years.
When head coach TJ Bayless offered his services as coach, he knew there were holes to fill after last year’s team went winless in states. He brought in several players who he had worked with in Little League and travel ball.
“I made sure all the guys I’ve known since they were young came on to the team,” Bayless said. “Any time you have a core group of kids like that, mostly from Sunnybrae or from the travel program when I had the Rebels, it’s gonna be a little easier.”
When the team was finally assembled, it featured four players who were on the Hamilton West varsity last spring: Maddalena, Adrian Byra, Jayden Jennings and Triston Bonilla. Also on the roster were West JV players Dale Plunkett, Chase Porcella, Ryan Anderson, Henry Jimenez and Drew Maglowski, along with Steinert’s Jack Ivens.
Josh Klena, also from Hamilton, and Bordentown’s Connor Collora play at Notre Dame, and Bordentown’s Josh Guire rounds out the roster. Steve Maglowski was the pitching coach, and Stan Klek the first base coach.
“Aside from the talent this is the hardest working group you will ever see. They come laser focused day in and day out with one goal: every day they get better than the day before. We achieved that,” Bayless said.
In the Southern New Jersey State Tournament, hosted by H-NB at Switlik Park, Hamilton went 4-1 and hit over .300 as a team. Maddalena and Byra led the attack with seven hits each. Ivens had six, Klena five and Porcella and Jennings four each. Klena went 2-1 on the mound, while Collora and Anderson, the son of Jean Anderson, each won a game.
The Switlik Gang headed to Altoona, Pennsylvania for the Mid-Atlantic Regionals and went 5-0. H-NB hit .407 as a team and amassed 55 hits, with Porcella and Maddalena collecting eight each and Jennings, the son of Bayless, Bonilla, Ivens and Byra each lashing out six. Anderson and Klena each went 2-0 and Jennings notched a win.
The highlight of the regionals came in pool play, when H-NB erased a six-run deficit with a nine-run fifth inning for a 14-11 win over Mifflin, Pennsylvania. The same two teams met in the finals and Anderson went 6 1/3 innings in a 2-1 victory. One day prior, Klena pitched a complete game and shut out Hopewell in the semifinals.
It was on to Virginia, where the Bayless Bunch went 2-2 in pool play to become one of six teams to reach bracket play.
In the opener, H-NB beat itself for the only time this summer as it took a 1-0 lead into the sixth before allowing three unearned runs in a 3-1 loss to California, the eventual World Series runner-up. Hamilton bounced back with a 9-8 win over Wisconsin, relying on a seven-run inning for the win.
That was followed by a 6-4 win over Minnesota and a 3-0 loss to Massachusetts.
“We had the toughest draw of any team there,” Bayless said. “Jennings hit the ball really well the last four games, but they made six sliding catches on him in the outfield; diving plays on line drives. Byra, Anderson and Porcella all had that happen. The defense we saw was impeccable.”
In the bracket quarterfinals, H-NB was eliminated with a 3-1 loss to defending champion Bridgewater, the Northern New Jersey state champ.
Despite the loss, it was an impressive run. Maddalena felt that having seen varsity time as a freshman helped to deal with the pressurized games.
“It helped a lot with my confidence and I’m sure the other kids could say the same,” he said. “We got a whole lot of experience there. Mo (Mike Moceri) is a great coach, he taught us a lot, so it helped a lot. And when you play against 18-year-olds, the 15-year-olds seem like nothing.”
That wasn’t the case, however, when H-NB got to the World Series.
“There were some big kids there,” Maddalena said. “That’s the part that definitely got to me. It was like ‘Wow, some of these kids look like they’re 20.’ That’s the one thing we lacked was size. We just hit little bloop singles over the shortstop’s head.”
In the end, H-NB went 11-4 and checked all the boxes when it came to being a good team.
“I’d put our pitching staff up against anybody,” Bayless said. “We had eight kids who could throw very well. We could hit from top to bottom. I’ve never had a team like that before, where I never felt we were out of it. I trusted any kid with a bat in his hands no matter the situation.
“And defensively, man this is the best defensive team I ever coached. They don’t beat themselves, except for our one game with California. But they’re 15, that’s bound to happen. For the most part, they were super solid defensively. They made all the plays they should have and a lot of the ones where you’re like ‘Oh man, how did they make that play?’”
While Anderson was thrilled with the team’s exploits as a parent watching her son, she was also excited for what the World Series berth can do for a league on the upswing.
“For our program it’s great,” she said. “When you do well you give the program a little more notice. We’ve been growing over the last three years, this year is the biggest of the last three. It was already a good year and it became better. I hope it gets more kids to want to participate in all stars.”
Anderson is still pondering whether to return next year. She has been involved in Hamilton Township baseball for 18 years: 15 at Sunnybrae, including three as president, and six at H-NB, including three as president. For three years she was on the board of both leagues.
Anderson feels H-NB is in good hands; but if she leaves she wants a replacement that cares about the future of Babe Ruth baseball in Yardville. She had undying praise for what the parents did to help out this year but urged the public to come out and give their time, saying “we really need volunteers.”
If this is her last year, Anderson is going out on a high note.
“I really wish that every family could experience it,” she said. “Not many things leave me speechless. But coming back to win after trailing by seven runs takes a lot. The coaches did a fantastic job, they were 100 percent dedicated. These kids practiced five days a week even between tournaments.
“They never doubted what they could do. They were a working team, they just worked hard and they got a lot out of that effort. I hope they remember that. A lot of lessons could be learned from that whole experience.”
Hamilton–Northern Burlington Babe Ruth All-Stars Drew Maglowski, Dale Plunkett, Josh Guire, Ryan Anderson, Jayden Jennings, Connor Collora, Triston Bonilla, Chase Porcella, Adrian Byra, Jack Ivens, Josh Klena, Henry Jimenez, AJ Maddalena in Altoona, Pennsylvania after winning the regional trophy.,
