Nottingham second baseman Sam Guarino throws to first during a state tournament game against Northern Burlington at Switlik Park on July 19. Nottingham won 8-6.
Hamilton pitcher Ray Anderson throws during a state tournament game against Brick American at Switlik Park on July 20. Hamilton lost 10-8.
It’s no secret that the emergence of travel baseball has chipped away at organizations like Babe Ruth baseball, but you would have a hard time proving that in Hamilton Township.
On the night of the Major League All Star game, five of the six township Babe Ruth All-Star teams were preparing for their respective Southern New Jersey state tournaments after advancing out of District One play.
Two squads from Nottingham—the 13- and 14-year-olds—both won district championships. Hamilton’s 14-year-olds were the runners-up and its 13-year-olds finished third. Nottingham’s 15-year-olds were eliminated when they finished fourth, but got a reprieve when Hopewell dropped out because it would only have eight players for the states due to players going on vacation.
And that right there is something you would never see in Hamilton.
“That was a shame,” Nottingham 13s’ manager Tom Argiriou said. “I don’t even know how you can participate in a district without having a team to go to states but that’s another story. The tradition is here and Babe Ruth baseball is real strong around here compared to a lot of places.”
Argiriou said Babe Ruth is a safe haven for Hamilton kids that bridges the gap between little league and America Legion ball, and the place where they learn how to play on the larger field they’ll use in high school.
“This area has always been and always will be strong at this level,” said Nottingham 14s’ manager Chris Ricci. “Whether travel teams are here or not. Nottingham and Hamilton at the Babe Ruth level, they’re always there, always in the finals. I know Hamilton has good teams, I know a lot of their kids and coaches and I see it.”
Ricci, whose son Matt plays travel ball but focused on Babe Ruth, guided his team to its second straight district title, as it also won last year as 13-year-olds. And while he was happy to see another Nottingham team go to states because Hopewell withdrew, he was sympathetic to the HoVal coaches and the eight players who were left without a tournament due to other families’ vacations.
“It’s unfair because they were good enough to get through,” said Ricci, who grew up in Hamilton and played at Steinert. “I would have loved to see them be able to bring kids up (from the lower age levels). They were in it. It’s a shame. I understand they make the decision, whether we agree with it or not, that’s their decision. It’s just different around here.
“But at Nottingham, that’s put right out in the open. If you’re gonna play on this team, this has to be your first priority, and if not, sorry. I think that’s one thing Nottingham does. It’s done at a parent meeting–‘Hey listen guys, this is purely optional, but if you go out and make the team it’s gotta be your first priority.’”
Nottingham’s 14 year-olds played like the tournament was their first priority, zipping to the championship with four straight victories. The first one was the key, as the gang from Veterans Park outlasted West Windsor-Plainsboro, 1-0, in nine innings.
That was followed by 5-3 and 13-7 wins over Ewing and Hamilton, and an 8-2 win over Hamilton in the finals.
“Last year, we were putting up a lot of runs, and the first two games this year we really didn’t put up a lot of runs,” Ricci said. “That first game with West Windsor is one of the better games I’ve been associated with at this level in terms of pitching and defense. That kept us focused and grounded, we knew it wouldn’t be easy, and it went from there.”
Team members for the 14-year-old champs were Dylan Bagley, Mark Barry, Joe Garey, Sam Guarino, Michael Malagrino, Dominic Morency, Andrew Moticha, Nathan Perez, Tommy Persichetti, Dominick Piccinetti, Matt Ricci, David Stec, Ahmed Tahoun and James Werosta.
While Ricci had to tweak some things after losing a few players and gaining a few others, Argiriou was putting together a 13-year-old team combining last year’s Nottingham and HTRBA Little League squads.
Nottingham was pushed to the limit by WW-P, which won the first leg of the district finals to force the winner-takes-all final game, which Nottingham won 8-4.
“I knew we had a good group, but I didn’t know how they were gonna come together because we had a mix of HTRBA and Nottingham kids so I just didn’t know how we could click,” Argiriou said. “A couple kids didn’t come out, they went to travel ball, so that made it a little more intriguing to see how we would do without the Nottingham All Star kids who didn’t come over to Babe Ruth.
“I was pleasantly surprised, and they really all came together in that last game.”
Indeed they did. After losing the first game to WW-P in 90-degree heat, the two teams had to come back and play another one 30 minutes later. With Alex Coleman and Nick Foster, two of the team’s best players, forced to exit due to the heat, the reserves came through. Will Cocroft had two hits and three RBI while Nico Guerieri had a hit and two RBI.
“They showed a lot of character in that game,” Argiriou said. “We lost two key kids and two of our subs really came through. That was definitely a team effort in that last game. Everyone contributed and picked up the slack.”
In winning Nottingham’s second straight 13-year-old district title, Argiriou was happy to uphold the league’s winning tradition.
“There was a little pressure to win it, you’re definitely playing for the pride of the league,” the manager said. “And it was definitely gratifying to win it. My son Tommy, it was the first time he ever won any type of championship like this since he began playing sports so I was happy for him. It was great for all the kids because of all the work they did to get ready.”
The remaining members on the roster included Andrew Marlow, Mathew Battis, Ryan Bremer, Chris Harkness, Thomas Kozemchak, Tom McParland, Ryan Meszaros, Gennaro Salzano, David Scott and Brian Williams.
“As we won the first three games they gained more confidence,” Argiriou said. “When we lost that game, it was a little doubtful but they were resilient in that championship game. Everybody picked each other up. Everybody had their own piece of that championship and made it part of them.”
And in doing so, showed that Hamilton Township can still succeed in Babe Ruth baseball even when travel ball dips into the talent pool.
,
