Tyler Solymosi extends to throw a pitch during a game this season.
Ask local baseball fans which Hamilton teams were the most successful this summer, and they just might neglect to include one major squad: the Hamilton Little Lads 12-year-old All-Stars. The boys won the Cal Ripken District One and Southern New Jersey State championships before ending their season in the Mid-Atlantic Regionals, but their run was overshadowed by other tournaments.
But the Little Lads did a few things that deserve accolades as well.
“First off, District 12 is a phenomenal organization, but Hamilton Little Lads and Cal Ripken baseball has some very quality baseball, too,” Lads manager Jim Petersohn said. “And Hamilton Township itself has some very quality baseball players, and we feel we have some of them on this team.”
Petersohn noted that the 12s’ success can help boost registration “and lets people know there’s another organization around here.”
He also endorses the fact that Ripken baseball—which falls under the Babe Ruth umbrella—makes the distance between bases 70 feet and the distance from mound-to-plate 50 feet, unlike the 60-40 in Little League.
Petersohn said it helps prepare players for high school, and team members Connor Luckie and Zac Brown both played Little League and are big proponents of Cal Ripken.
“I think the competition in Cal Ripken is better,” Brown said. “The base running was more aggressive, and the off-speed pitches were harder to hit.”
Luckie agreed, adding that he feels Cal Ripken is becoming just as popular as Little League.
“I think our team can compete with any Little League team,” he said.
It couldn’t have been too hard for the Little Lads, who blasted 28 home runs in 14 tournament games, which they played over 18 days.
Hamilton was utterly dominant in winning its second straight District One title, as it went 4-0 and outscored its opponents 34-1 while hitting 12 homers.
In the states, the Little Lads fell to the Washington Blue team in the winner’s bracket finals, meaning they had to win three straight games for the title while Washington only had to win one. Hamilton defeated Moorestown 11-2 in the loser’s bracket finals and then topped Washington twice to win the league’s first state title since back-to-back crowns in 2006-07.
In game one, Hamilton rallied from 3-0 and 7-3 deficits and was three innings away from elimination. But the Lads rallied for a 10-7 win and then rolled to a 7-1 victory in the finals.
“I didn’t feel any doubts,” said Brown of having to fight out of the loser’s bracket. “We knew what we did wrong and we knew we weren’t in the game that day and we had the players to beat them. With this team we just came back because we knew we could beat any team.”
Petersohn agreed, saying that the team knew it would be able to bounce back.
“We had the pitching, we had the offense and we played phenomenal defense in all three—districts states and regionals,” he said. “They weren’t intimidated at all.”
The run ended in Delaware, when the Lads went 1-3 in pool play and were eliminated from the Mid-Atlantic Regionals. But they did not go down fighting, as the final game against the Bronx—which would have advanced them to bracket play—featured a near comeback and controversial call that went against the Lads in a 5-4 loss.
“I thought we were very competitive down there,” Petersohn said. “The first game hurt us, a 3-2 loss. We got a walk-off home run [by Gavin Martin] in the game we won. I thought we did a nice job down there.”
Petersohn put the squad together with Luckie’s mom, Karen.
“We call her the General Manager—Cashman,” Petersohn said. “We had this vision in mind. Last year we won districts and went 2-2 in states. I thought we played very well and then we added a few components to the team.”
The Lads brought in three new players, with David Zamora being the one of the biggest additions. Zamora, a pitcher, hit .625 with four home runs and nine RBI in the regionals.
But adding assistant coach Mike Moceri, Jr., the former Steinert standout who serves as the Hamilton West pitching coach, has the most major impact.
“With Mo coming in, it was a different mindset,” Petersohn said. “I think some of them were afraid they wouldn’t be starters anymore. He was moving people around, he just really challenged the kids and they really stepped up and saw their potential.”
It didn’t hurt that 11 of the 13 players plan to attend Hamilton West.
“That’s one of the reasons Mo got involved with this,” Petersohn said. “I think Mo is the main selling point to all these parents. He only had us for three-and-a-half weeks and the stuff he taught them and the confidence level he has brought on to them is phenomenal. He’s one of the finest young baseball coaches around.”
Petersohn said he had no problem taking a step back and allowing Moceri to take a more active role, noting that “we worked well together, we were good cop-bad cop.”
“Coach Moceri just always knew what to say and do,” Luckie said. “He always had the team up. He had fun and he would be serious at the same time.”
Luckie was also one of those guys who knew what to do, as he was outstanding behind the plate throughout the tournament season.
“He’s one of the finest young catchers you’re ever gonna see, he must have thrown out over 10 runners,” Petersohn said. “He’s also one of the smartest young baseball players you’re ever gonna meet. He’s so smart, he could coach this team right now.”
Luckie, who said he fell in love with the position when he first put on the gear at age 8, had a stable of pitchers to work with, as Zamora, Martin, Brown, Nick Nemes, Tyler Solymosi and Nate Rodriguez all took turns on the mound.
Also on the team were Solomon Rios, Ryan Taylor, Connor Kasa, Andrew Nixon, Tommy Cramer and Logan Cook. The coaching staff featured George Taylor, Ian Martin and Don Nixon, and the scorekeeper was Jeff Brown.
Petersohn also noted the contributions of Hamilton West head coach Mark Pienciak, Broad Street Park manager Mike Petrowski, former Hamilton Babe Ruth commissioner Harry DeBonis, the Hamilton Little Lads organization and his players’ parents, who all helped play a part in the journey that began last October.
“We started back then with strength and conditioning and practicing once a week,” Petersohn said. “We’ve actually played in a lot of competitive travel tournaments as a Lads All Star team. We were a couple games over .500, but I had a feeling that helped us by playing better competition and facing better pitching.”
Those tournaments, coupled with last year’s district title, had the players feeling good entering this season.
“I felt totally confident we could beat any team as long as we didn’t give up or get too cocky,” Brown said.
And it made for a memorable first half of the summer for the squad.
“It was probably one of the best experiences of my life,” Luckie said. “I had a fun time going through it. It was just fun hanging out with all my friends and playing.”
And championships aside, having that fun is really what it’s all about.
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