By Kyle Kondor
The Princeton Little League all-star team entered this year’s District 12 tournament with no hopes of making the coveted Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Though this is not because of the team’s lack of talent, but because for the second consecutive year the team competed on a field consisting of new dimensions that have become Little League’s fasting growing trend throughout the country.
On their field, 70 feet marks the distance between home plate to first base instead of the traditional 60 feet. That allows the players to take leads and dart toward the next base before the ball crosses home plate. In typical Little League games a player must remain on the base until the ball crosses home plate.
The other difference in dimension is that the distance between the pitchers mound and home plate is 50 feet, opposed to the usual 46 feet. This allows for pitchers to throw more unique pitches because the extra four feet gives the ball more time to dip or dive.
“The 50-70 Intermediate Division offers a much more dynamic version of the game,” said Jon Durbin, Princeton Little League co-president and all-star team manager. “We also noticed that the older little leaguers were becoming too big for the smaller field.”
East Windsor and Millstone-Roosevelt are the only other District 12 teams that have made the switch to the Intermediate Division.
Durbin noted that Princeton Little League registration has increased since the change occurred two years ago. That differs from the rest of the Mercy County Little League programs, which he said are beginning to dwindle.
Not only have registration numbers increased at Princeton Little League, but apparently the talent level has too. Princeton breezed through this years District 12 double-loss-elimination Intermediate Division tournament that was made up of five teams. They outscored opponents 46-6 in their four games, including two wins against Bordentown Little League, which won last year’s tournament.
“Certain players had to play positions and bat in parts of the line up that they weren’t used to,” Durbin said. “Our players realized early on that they needed to fit into a role and accept it.”
Until this year, Princeton Little League had never won the District 12 tournament that dates back to 1952. In fact, they had never even made it to the championship until last year.
The team rallied behind the bat of Atticus Lynch, who hit three home runs in the district tournament. Jackson Rho and Akiru Nishiu also dominated on the mound for Princeton.
Another difference between this team and those in years past, is that this ball club was made up of kids between the ages of 11 and 13 years old. That is the standard in the 50-70 leagues in contrast to the traditional leagues where each age group has it’s own team.
This adds a whole new level of competition for kids looking to make the all star team because there are less spots available. There are 13 spots on one post season all star team in Intermediate Division league’s rather 39 spots on three different teams.
Last year’s Princeton Little League team consisted of six 11-year-olds, six 12-year-olds, and one 13-year-old. This year’s team had two 11-year-olds, six 12-year-olds, and five 13-year-olds.
Members of the Princeton team were: Ben Amon, Evan Angelucci, Teddy Durbin, Atticus Lynch, Patrick McDonald, Nick Mindish, Akira Nishiu, Eli Okoye, Ben Petrone, Tommy Reid, Jackson Rho, Connor Stanley and Mustafa Zaman. The coaches along with Durbin are Robert Stanley and Archie Reid.
“Last year, our team was very young, and that was apparent when we stepped on the field versus an older, much larger Bordentown team,” Durbin said. “This year, our team was older and more mature, so that made a huge difference.”
After winning the district tournament, Princeton Little League advanced to the Section 3 tournament in Lacey, where they competed against four other teams that won their respective districts. That tournament was double-loss-elimination as well.
They didn’t do nearly as well in that tournament, finishing with a record of one win and two losses. Princeton was trampled by Old Bridge in their first game, losing by a score of 11-4. They took their lone win against Middletown in a 10-7 comeback victory, and they were ultimately eliminated after losing to Lacey 8-7 in heartbreaking walk-off fashion.
“We were flying pretty high after motoring through the district tournament,” Durbin said. “But I think we underestimated how big of a jump the level of competition was going to take when we moved on to the sectionals.”
The Lacey Little League team went on to win that tournament after defeating Old Bridge twice to take the crown. They also advanced through the state tournament that was hosted by Princeton at Farmview Fields.
Since it was built 10 years ago, Farmview Fields had nothing but a backstop and a circle of dirt with weeds growing throughout.
Once the township heard about the new Little League dimensions, they made it a priority to polish the field and prep it for a full season of Little League baseball.
With the installation of a fence that sits 225-feet from home plate and other renovations, Farmview has now become one of the premiere locations for 50-70 Little League baseball throughout the state.
Durbin says that he and co-president Kevin Lambert had their sights set on this transformation for years prior to the switch.
“We’ve really tried to take on a leadership role here in Mercer County to try and help the other leagues see their way over the next three to five years to be switching to 50-70,” Durbin said.
The Princeton Little League 50-70 team captured the District 12 championship on June 24. Pictured in front are: Evan Angelucci, Nick Mindish, Ben Amon, Atticus Lynch, Akira Nishiu, Eli Okoye, Ben Petrone and Mustafa Zaman. Middle: Patrick McDonald, Jackson Rho, Connor Stanley, Tommy Reid and Teddy Durbin. At rear are: coach Archie Reid, manager Jon Durbin, and coach Robert Stanley.,
