The Nottingham Little League 12-year-old All Stars had their season ended by a talented Toms River team this year, and it concluded one of the most consistent eras you could ever hope for from a team.
The nucleus of the squad won its final tournament as 9-year-olds and an early 11-year-old tournament before District 12 play. Nottingham won the 10-year-old and 12-year-old District 12 tournament titles, and finished second in districts to Sunnybrae as 11-year-olds.
From their final tournament as 9-year-olds through this summer’s Section 3 Tournament, the Square Boys reached the finals of seven straight tournaments. They finished 40-15-1 overall in five all-star seasons starting at age 8.
“It was great playing with these guys,” said Brendan James, who combined with Jacob Sloss and CJ Pittaro to form the heart and soul of the team. “We’re a very close group and I’ve made friends that I will have forever.”
That thought process seemed to be a common thread among the leaders. The five-year run was as much about relationships as it was about winning.
“The past five years meant a lot to me because I played with my friends and as we went along, we picked up some new people to join our family,” Sloss said. “At every practice and every game we worked together and picked each other up when someone made an error or when they struck out.
“It was very rewarding because I was able to play with my best friends and had very good coaching. The best thing is that we will see and play each other in Babe Ruth.”
“It was the best five years of my life and having it end winning the district title really made it special,” Pittaro said. “I wouldn’t have wanted to play with any other 13 kids. It’s a memory I will have for the rest of my life.”
This year’s team had plenty of expectations thrust upon it, but that’s nothing new. Every Nottingham team has expectations as witnessed by the 51 District 12 titles won by the league. And the 12s are always the most visible since that’s the age-group that winds up on the grand stage of Williamsport.
Not to mention, after winning one title and coming within a game of winning a second, Nottingham had shown it had what it took to compete for district gold.
Finally, there was the fact that the Nottingham 12s had won the previous three D-12 crowns, so the pressure was on not to give up the streak. It got even more intense when Nottingham was dropped into the loser’s bracket by West Windsor after the second game, but the Sayen Gang roared back to win four straight and beat WW twice in the championship round at James Reed Field.
“We just wanted to make sure we played at NLL every day,” joked manager Bill James about the early loss. “But yes, it was very rewarding to me to come back that way. It showed how we were a total team.”
Pittaro also felt that battling back made things that much more special.
“It was awesome winning the districts and keeping the Davis Cup at Nottingham, but it was even more special coming out of the losers’ bracket and having to play every day,” he said.
“It was exciting to win as 10s but absolutely amazing to win as 12s,” added Brendan James. It was our last season of little league on our home field, in front of a huge crowd.”
Bill James felt it was the biggest highlight during half a decade that had a lot of them.
“That’s a tough choice,” he said. “But if I had to pick one it would be winning the District 12 Title this year right at NLL in front of a huge crowd of supporters.”
Not to mention the players were aware that the streak was on the line and they had to perform.
“I guess there was a little pressure to keep the streak going because I have friends and know guys that played on those teams,” Brendan James said. “We wanted to win too. I am very proud that my team was able to keep the streak alive for NLL.”
Pittaro agreed, saying that “We all sort of kept that thought in the back of our minds because we didn’t want to be the team that ended the streak. We were all proud we kept the streak alive.”
And while James felt it was “a little” pressure, Sloss upped the ante in his assessment.
“It was a lot of pressure, because once we lost to West Windsor, we had to battle against three good teams to make it to the championship,” he said. “I took a lot of pride because going into the first game of the championship we were all motivated and when we won that game we had more confidence that we were going to win the second game, and we did.”
That qualified Nottingham for the Section 3 tournament, in which they played four games against two teams. NLL defeated Ocean twice and lost to powerful Toms River twice, and as Bill James said “we would have loved to continue to play because this is such a great group of kids, but losing to Toms River was nothing to be ashamed about.”
One of the most memorable games the team ever played came in its first Section 3 elimination game with Ocean. After beating the shore boys 22-5 in the opener, Nottingham found itself trailing 11-5 in the sixth inning before exploding for seven runs for an incredible victory.
Bill James felt the comeback was indicative of what his squad stood for over the years.
“I cannot say enough about how great a group they were to coach and about their character and resiliency,” the skipper said. “It has been a pleasure, joy and a privilege to have been their coach.”
Rounding out the team, which kept 11 of the same players from the start, were Casey Navarro, Brian Tierney, Spencer Conti, Ryan Stromberg, Aidan Ryan, Louis Karlik, Tyler Nielsen, Justin Brunow, Mason Walczak, Patrick Luckie and Zach Wolfsgruber. They will always remain special to Bill James.
“I have coached high school and youth sports since 1985 and they will rank as one of the best coaching experiences I have ever had,” he said. “This 12-year old season alone was a special season. They can take their never-give-up attitude with them for the rest of their lives.”
James also had praise for assistants Pat Ryan, Gene Walczak and Len Navarro.
“They truly helped the boys achieve their goal of winning districts,” he said. “Without them it would not have been possible. I also want to thank all the players and their families for their commitment all these years.
“Finally, I want to thank all our fans and supporters. The guys really loved playing in front of the big crowds and they really fed off the atmosphere.”
They did indeed, feed. In fact, looking at their glittering resume’, they pretty much gorged themselves on a buffet of success.
Tyler Nielsen celebrates after scoring during the Nottingham Little League 12-year-old All-Star baseball team’s 9-4 win in the District 12 title game against West Windsor-Plainsboro July 10, 2014 in Hamilton.,
