*** Follow Berlin in the World Series ***
in Fargo, North Dakota by watching
the webcast on www.legion.org/baseball
Friday - Berlin lost 8-7 to Las Vegas, Nevada. They will play on Saturday at 11AM vs. the loser of Medford, CA and Midland, MI.
Saturday - Berlin lost to Medford, Ca 5-0 to finish the season 34-8. Congratulations on an outstanding season!
Junior Legion - see update below
Berlin players celebrate their 2-1 victory over Milford to win the American Legion State Baseball Tournament on Saturday at Muzzy Field in Bristol. Milford had won a game earlier Saturday by the same score to force the winner-take-all final. (MARK MIRKO / HARTFORD COURANT / August 1, 2009)
American Legion State Tournament
Pushed To Game 2, Berlin Wins
Marzi, Bordonaro Stop Milford
By MATTHEW CONYERS
The Hartford Courant
August 2, 2009
BRISTOLWith Berlin ahead by one run and three outs from a championship, pitcher Mark Bordonaro stared down at the same three batters who a game earlier had rallied to stave off elimination for Milford in the American Legion state tournament.
This time, Berlin and Bordonaro would not be denied.
Bordonaro retired the side in order to secure a 2-1 victory Saturday at Muzzy Field. The win came three hours after Tom Booth brought home Gabe Guerino on a suicide squeeze bunt in the bottom of the ninth to give Milford a 2-1 victory and delay any Berlin title celebration.
Berlin finally got its championship after losing to Waterford in last year's Legion final and to Branford in the Class L high school championship game this past June.
"It just shows a lot of character for these guys to come back this summer and work harder than they did last summer," Berlin coach Rob Manzo said.
Berlin will play host Manchester (N.H). in the Northeast Regional Thursday at about 7:30 p.m. It is Berlin's second state championship; it also won in 2002.
Berlin (29-5) won all but one of its games by one run in the state tournament.
"I knew they were the same batters [who led to the suicide squeeze]," Bordonaro said. "Seeing them at the plate again made me focus a hundred times more. I wasn't going to let them on base. I had gone to three state championships and lost them all. I wasn't going to let it happen again."
Bordonaro, who was named Most Outstanding Player of the final, got Guerino to fly to left field, Joe Michaud to ground to third base and Jason Lewicki to strikeout in the ninth inning. Bordonaro pitched two hitless innings and had three strikeouts for the save.
But Bordonaro's dramatics wouldn't have been possible if not for 16-year-old Anthony Marzi, who allowed five hits and one run over seven innings. Only once did Marzi give up more than one hit in an inning. That came in the bottom of the sixth, when Guerino tied the score on an RBI double to right field.
"There was no negative [feeling] in that dugout," Marzi said. "Everybody knew we needed to come out and play harder and if we did they would be tired. And it happened."
Marzi was named the MVP of the tournament and is 6-0 this season.
Berlin got both its runs in the third inning on an error and an RBI single by Zach Parsons.
Milford (28-6) had three errors in the inning. "I think both teams were ready to play that second game but we made a couple of errors in the third inning that hurt us," coach Cliff Bugyi said.
Carasiti makes decision: Berlin pitcher and Courant high school player of the year Matt Carasiti, who threw 127 pitches in Saturday's first game, will attend St. John's. Carasiti was drafted in the 36th round by the Texas Rangers but met with the team three days ago and decided to play his freshman year at St. John's.
Copyright © 2009, The Hartford Courant
Berlin Heading to Regonials in Manchester, NH
August 1, 2009 - Berlin wins the State Championship by winning today's second game with Milford 2-1. They will play Sweeney Post, the host team, in the NE Regional at Gill Stadium in Manchester, N.H. Thursday around 7:30 p.m. Other teams in the Regional thus far are Newburyport, MA, Londonderry, N.H. and Winooski, VT (team is called The Cannons).
The Regional winner advances to the Legion World Series in Fargo, N.D. Milford forced the second game today by defeating Berlin 2-1 in the day's first game. In a ceremony today, the State Baseball Committee awarded $1,000 college scholarships to Matt Carisiti of Berlin and Adam Scanlon of South Windsor.
Tournament Awards: Most Valuable Player - Anthony Marzi, Berlin
Outstanding Pitcher - Marc Bordanaro, Berlin
Batting Champion - Rew Wilson, Niantic
All-Tournament Team
1B - Gabe Guerino, Milford
2B - Zach Phelan, Milford
SS - Cody Quinn, Milford
3B - Joe Balowski, Berlin
OF - Daryl Wilson, Waterbury
Jake Mutuszak, Berlin
Mike Pascarella, Milford
C - Chris Morin, Berlin
P - Sean Coughlin, Branford
Joe Michaud, Milford
Anthony Marzi, Berlin
Marc Bordanaro, Berlin
Ridgefield Wins 2009 Anerican Legion Championship
August 1, 2009 - Ridgefield defeated Unionville 11-1 to win the 2009 American Legion Junior State Championship. Ridgefield will now represent Connecticut in the 3rd Annual Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament in Linden, NJ on Friday, August 14th to Sunday, August 16th. More information to follow.
Tournament Awards: Most Valuable Player - Jim Hannigan, Ridgefield
Top Pitcher - Dan Zarnik, Ridgefield
Top Hitter - Adam Spracklin, Unionville
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MID-ATLANTIC REGIONAL
Ridgefield defeated Haddon Heights, NJ 4-0 to reach the semi-final game (against Mt. Laurel, NJ) of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament being played in Linden, NJ. Ridgefield was led by Dan Zarnik, who pitched a complete game 3 hitter and hit a game winning triple in the first inning.
Ridgefield, after leading 4-1 in the fifth inning, lost to Mt. Laurel, NJ 14-4. They will now play today at 11AM in the 3rd Place Game against the loser of Massachsetts and Denville, NJ. After an outstanding regular and post season Ridgefield, the Connecticut State Champions are 26-6.
With a 7-4 loss to Plymouth, Massachusetts, Ridgefield finished 4th in the 3rd Annual Mid-Atlantic Regional Junior American Legion Tournament.
SportingNewsCt.com to Broadcast Regional Game Tonight
August 6, 2009 – SportingNewsCT.com will broadcast tonight's Northeast Regional game between Berlin and Manchester, NH. Game time is slated for 7:00pm.
AL Playoffs Begin on July 21!
Written by Don Boyle
July 17, 2009 - What a year it is turning out to be. As we wind down in this shortened American Legion season many clubs, 28 to be exact, have qualified for either the AL play-in tournament or the 16-team double-elimination Championship tournament. Perhaps more exciting is the fact, with two-days remaining in the regular year, the season ends on Sunday July 19, 17 teams still have a chance to qualify for the play-in tournament.
The play-in tournament begins on Tuesday July 21.The play-in tournament will take place at four locations and will be conducted over a two-day period beginning Tuesday July 21 and Wednesday July 22. The sites are Orange's Brinley Field, Rotary Field - South Windsor, Simsbury and Windsor Locks.
A fact that has not gone unnoticed by American Legion Baseball State Director Craig Zimmerman “is the cooperation by all teams and Zone Directors to jockey schedules and game locations to finish the regular season on time. Because of the amount of rain this summer, along with the season being shortened by a week, teams have been forced to juggle game times and locations. A good example is, South Windsor was scheduled to play at Rotary Field today but with the rain overnight the game has been shifted to Windsor Locks.”
SportingNewsCT.com will broadcast many of the play-in tournament games beginning on Tuesday at 10 AM and throughout the reminder of day on Tuesday. SNCT will be back at it on Wednesday when we broadcast four more games. SNCT will setup broadcast locations at Brinley Field in Orange and at Rotary Field in South Windsor.
The way the American Legion Tournament will work is quite simple. The eight zone champions draw a bye into the 16-team state tournament, while the remaining qualifiers, teams with a record two-games over .500, will compete for the final eight slots.
There is a reward for finishing second in your zone. The second best teams will have to play just one game on Wednesday, and of course win, to qualify for the State tournament. All the others play-in teams will have to play two games on Tuesday and then battle again on Wednesday.
Sidebar:
The regular season was shortened by a week for a couple of reasons. The CIAC baseball tournament ended a week later than usually and American Legion National moved their national World Series tournament up week to accommodate and attempt to keep college-aged players on the rosters.
In the past, when the tournament was scheduled for mid to late August many team who succeeded and qualified for the World Series would lose college bound players because they need to report to their university for classes or other university related commitments.
Play-in and state tournament games will be nine-inning games with a 10-run mercy rule in effect.
The State tournament begins on Saturday July 25. The 16 Team Double Elimination Tournament will be held in Bristol and Middletown beginning on Saturday, July 25th and ending on Friday, July 31st or Saturday, August 1st.
Wood is Good!
Written by Don Boyle
July 13, 2009 – American Legion Baseball has been a part of summer in Connecticut for over 80 years. The brand of baseball is similar to that of Major League Baseball in the sense that they use the same rule book with a few adjustments here and there. This year American Legion Baseball made a decision to mirror MLB and institute a rule that the mighty and sometimes mysterious tool of the trade, the wooden baseball bat, will be the bat of choice for championship play.
It’s refreshing to know that nature’s gift derived from trees will bring back the true ambiance of baseball. The sounds of the game will be heightened, imagine the resounding crack of the bat, the sensations of a bat sawed off at the handle. The sounds will be inline with the thud of a fastball smacking a catcher’s mitt and the cry of strike three from the plate umpire. I can’t wait for championship week.
From all accounts the feedback has been positive. Coaches and players alike have enjoyed the changes the use of the wood bat has had on the game. The game has once again evolved into a thinking man’s contest. Strategy and game-planning are much more important in a wooden bat game and teams and players must adjust to be successful. Stated simply, the game has moved from a game dominated by artificial power produced by man-made products to a game which is based on the beauty of athleticism.
Pitchers can now be crafty and work the inside and outside corners and get the results they deserve. Like a broken bat dribbler to third, or a batter punished by attempting to pull an outside pitch and watching the end result being a soft-liner to second. Infielders and outfielders alike have also had to make adjustments. Infielders need to get to the ball and throw more on the run while outfielders have been forced to move in a few steps, then read the flight of the ball more quickly to have the chance to make the play.
In the end there has been more close plays at the plate because a charging outfielder has a chance to throw out the runner. When the ball is well hit over their heads they must take a tactical route to the ball to have a chance to haul it in. Infielders need to be on their toes and adjust to the spin and speed of the hit and then use their arm to throw a runner out at first.
Yes the run production is down. The home run has become a mighty feat of athletic excellence rather than just a mere ferocious swing of the bat. The games are played more quickly. We have seen more no-hitter bids, improved base-running, and more action around the infield. It is baseball again in its purest sense. It is beautiful again.
Now if we can get all the General Managers and coaches to approach the marketing side of the game with the same passion they put into the pursuit of managerial perfection on the field, the fans of American Legion baseball will get to know the players, grow to appreciate their efforts and come out to watch their hometown team.
One GM who gets it is New Britain’s Mike Torres. Listen to his Interview
