Ridgewood team - THE RIDGEWOOD BLOG.

PHOTO COURTESY OF LISA POWERS

The Ridgewood Raiders U14 baseball team qualified for the Junior League World Series Taylor, Mich. by winning the East Region championship on Aug. 13. FRONT ROW, from left: Garret Thompson, Coleman Clauss, Alex Facini, David Kleiman, Dan Boucher, Avery Scott, Kevin Seitter and Bret Thompson. BACK ROW, from left: Coach Craig Frisina, Ben Geraghty, Mike Breiter, Pat Higgins, coach Marc Favieri, Dylan Black, Brady McSwigan, Sam Favieri and coach Will Seitter. Not pictured: Coach Dave Wang.

AUGUST 21, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY RON FOX
CORRESPONDENT |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

The Ridgewood Raiders’ bats were quieted only once in five games during their successful run to the USA East Regional U14 championship. They rebounded quickly and emphatically from that one mishap to stamp their tickets to the Junior Baseball World Series in Taylor, Mich. that began Sunday.

It is the first time a Ridgewood team has reached a World Series in any age group since 1979.

The World Series field consists of five U.S. teams, including Ridgewood, and five international squads. The Raiders’ schedule featured Pearl City, Hawaii (West Region champion) on Sunday; Johnson, Iowa (Central) on Tuesday; Weslaco, Texas (Southwest) on Wednesday; and Frederick County National East, Va. (Southeast) on Thursday.

A champion will be crowned this Sunday, provided the weather holds up during the weeklong, double-elimination tournament.

Ridgewood routed Great Valley, the Pennsylvania champ, 8-1, on Aug. 13 to take the East Region title after losing the previous day to the same team, 2-1.

“That was a clean game with great pitching,” Raiders biographer Steve Facini said over the weekend. With head coach Marc Favieri and his assistants off to Michigan for the World Series’ start, Facini served as team spokesman.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/village-fields-1st-world-series-team-since-1979-1.1395992

PHOTO COURTESY OF TONY BARBERA
The Ridgewood Raiders U14 softball team clinched a spot in the New Jersey State Little League Tournament (Junior Softball Division) by defeating Morristown, 13-1, in the Section 1 final July 11. FRONT ROW, from left: Francesca Barbera and Kristen Yee. MIDDLE ROW, from left: Elizabeth Policano, Kiera Boucher, Alli Olsen, Payton Angus, Grace Pizzuti and Brianna Buckley. BACK ROW, from left: Ciara Emmanuel, coach Linda Hannafey, Liz Hannafey, coach Tim Boucher, Chloe Lennon, Casey Kandel, coach Tony Barbera and coach Tom Olsen.

Little League Softball: Section title a big step forward for Ridgewood team

JULY 24, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY RON FOX
CORRESPONDENT |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

In his 14 years of coaching softball, Tony Barbera has learned that players benefit most when challenged. So he often had his Ridgewood Little League U14 team, the Raiders, “playing up” this spring and summer.

“Most teams play sophomores and we play freshmen against them,” he said after a long and winding schedule was nearing its end. “This helps our girls get ready for the high school varsity.”

Barbera should know, as his daughter, Mia, is a three-year starter for the Ridgewood High School team at shortstop and is entering her senior year.

One of the challenges involved the girls making some history, Barbera said, by becoming the first Ridgewood softball team to enter into the Little League Tournament.

In the first round of the regional event, they lost to Morristown National in a rain storm, then routed Ringwood, 20-0, and Morristown National, 8-4, the latter in dramatic come-from-behind fashion. And the Raiders once again defeated the Morristown team, 12-1, to capture the Section 1 title and advance to the state tournament, where they beat Jersey City before losing consecutive games to eventual champion Northfield and runner-up West Windsor.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/young-raiders-reel-in-a-section-title-1.1379991