PHOTO COURTESY OF STEVE FACINI
The Ridgewood U14 Raiders captured the Junior League state championship Monday night with a comeback win over Toms River East and will begin the Eastern Regional Tournament tonight in Freehold. FRONT ROW, from left: Garret Thompson, Ben Geraghty, Alex Facini, Sam Favieri, Avery Scott, Brady McSwigan and Kevin Seitter. BACK ROW, from left: Coach Dave Wang, coach Will Seitter, Dan Boucher, Mike Breiter, Pat Higgins, Dylan Black, Coleman Clauss, Bret Thompson, coach Marc Favieri, David Kleiman and coach Craig Frisina.
AUGUST 7, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY RON FOX
CORRESPONDENT |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Fortunately, Marc Favieri’s rallying cry did not fall on deaf ears Monday.
“Keep fighting,” he and his assistant coaches kept urging the U14-level baseball team.
The Ridgewood Raiders responded full bore. They came back from near oblivion to take the next step on the circuitous route toward the Little League Junior World Series by scoring nine runs in the seventh and final inning to win the state championship, 14-8, over Toms River East in Old Bridge.
The Raiders now move on to Freehold, where the Eastern Regional Tournament starts against Edgewood Little League of Bristol, Conn., tonight at 7 p.m. The tournament consists of 10 teams, from Maine to Maryland and Delaware.
The winner of that tournament earns a berth in the Little League Junior World Series beginning Aug. 16 in Taylor, Mich. A New Jersey team hasn’t won the tournament since Holbrook Little League of Jackson captured the title in 2009.
The outlook was bleak as Ridgewood entered the seventh. They were running out of time. With one out and no one on base, the situation has reached desperation time for a Raiders squad just two outs away from elimination.
“Keep fighting,” came the cry again, reasserting the faith the coaches had in the boys. It was not an empty phrase.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/raiders-stage-rally-to-claim-state-title-1.1388182
