New Hartford Little League Baseball features five different divisions which include Tee-Ball, Minor League Bronze, Minor League Silver, Minor League Gold and Little League. Minor Gold is the last step before "the majors" and features the same rules of the game that the older kids play.
Visit Perfect Game Imaging for a photo album
On Sunday at the beautiful Town Park in Chadwicks, New Hartford's four minor gold teams squared off for the right to advance to the championship game on Wednesday evening.
Ninety-Nine Steakhouse met Steet Toyota and Benzo Tae Kwon Doe tangled with Carmella's Cafe.
(99 Steakhouse shortstop Dominick Mondi (2) tosses to third base for a force out ahead of Steet Toyota's Will Locke (13) late in the ball game.)
The first game was a tale of two teams and seasons. Ninety-Nine features a relatively young bunch of kids playing their first year in the Gold Division and entered the game without a win this season.
Steet, on the other hand, sat atop the league all season and was the odds on favorite to take it all.
As is the case in every sport, no matter the season, the underdog always seems to rise to the occasion when it is least expected to do so.
This muggy Sunday morning would be no different. Ninety-Nine scratched out four runs in the first three innings of the game to take a 4-1 advantage into the fourth inning, giving the young kids clad in black and red a reason to believe!
(Steet Toyota's Christopher Heselton (10) slides safely into home as 99 Steakhouse catcher Jacob Case (4) cradles the ball for a huge play at the plate.)
A flash of the leather by 99's second baseman Matthew Abraham in the fourth inning, on a tough infield fly ball kept Steet from scoring an important run from third base.
Another defensive gem by shortstop Dominick Mondi, in the fifth, frustrated the big Steet bats again, but unfortunately for Ninety-Nine, that would be their last stand.
Steet got its big guns going in the fifth and sixth innings to take this one by a score of 6-4, punching a ticket to the championship.
Matthew Abraham's big day in the field was good enough to receive Babe's Macaroni Grill and Bar's Player of the Game honors!
(Matthew Abraham, Babe's Macroni Grill & Bar Player of the game)
After the game, Steet manager Vito Sinisgalli took his hat off to 99. "That team gave us fits all season, we were actually tied 9-9 in the sixth inning, the last time we played them, before we pulled it out. They're really tough," he said.
Congratulations to Ninety-Nine for putting it all together in the playoffs, which should be a great building block to carry into next season!
(Benzo TKD catcher Robert Berkhoudt takes a minute to encourage his pitcher, Jack Angelucci, in the seventh inning.)
Game two featured two clubs that seemed to be more evenly matched on paper.
Carmella's Cafe took the field in their Spartan-esque red, white and blue uniforms, while Benzo Tae Kwon Do's jerseys were a sharp black and gold contrast.
Carmella's got on top in this one when catcher Matthew Nerber belted a one out double to centerfield to score two runs, giving his team a 5-3 lead in the third.
(Carmella's Cafe's Andrew Cetrone (1) gives the bat a flip after drawing a 4th inning walk.)
Ninety-Nine increased its lead to 7-4 in the 4th inning before Benzo rallied for 3 runs of its own in the sixth to tie the game at 7-7.
With the game tied and the pressure building, Benzo called on Jack Angelucci to take the mound and shut down the Carmella's bats and shut them down he did, not allowing a base runner past first for the last two Carmella's at bats.
In the bottom half of the seventh, Benzo loaded the bases and with one out, Robert Berkhoudt drew a one out walk to score Jake Anweiler, giving Benzo a come from behind 8-7 win and a spot in the championship!
(Jack Angelucci Babe's Macaroni Player of the game.)
Jack Angelucci's clutch pitching performance earned him Babe's Macaroni Grill and Bar's Player of the Game honors.
Congratulations to all four New Hartford Minor Gold Division teams on a fine season and a very exciting playoff showing.
Good luck to Steet Toyota and Benzo Tae Kwon Doe in this Wednesday's championship game!
(Coach Joe Kelly gathers his troops for a pep talk in the 7th inning.)
