Middletown 10-year olds repeat as tournament champs
by Bayshore Courier News
Posted:06/04/10

Monmouth County, NJ - The 10-year old Middletown Bulldogs won the Backyard Brawl Championship over Memorial Day Weekend in Bodman Park for the second straight year.

The team went undefeated in the tournament, with victories over the Sandlot Mavericks (13-1), Manalapan Braves (12-8), MLI Phantoms (18-8), Freehold Bombers (10-0), and then Lincroft Knights (7-6) in the playoff round and the MLI Phantoms (10-0) again in the final game.

Middletown scored double digit runs in all but one game with a strong, consistent offensive attack that featured contributions from all 12 players in nearly every game. Clean-up hitter Sean Downey led the attack with three home runs in the tournament including two in one inning (the second being a grand slam) to erase an early 5-run deficit to the MLI Phantoms in their pool play game. Downey had 11 total hits, as did leadoff batter Brendan Doherty for the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs well-rounded effort also included strong pitching and some stellar defense. Pitchers included Downey, Doherty, Jake Dillon, Rob Higgins, Ryan Stark, Connor Welsh and Brian Quinn. Carmine Cardile (CF), Nick Donato (OF), Chris Price (OF), Quinn (OF), Higgins (SS/2B), Downey (SS), Dillon (3B/2B), and both catchers (Welsh and Stark) turned in defensive gems. Michael Racioppi (2B/OF) contributed 8 hits and Ryan Rhatigan (3B/1B) played solid defense at the corners to round out the total team performance.

Two-out rallies and clutch hitting seemed to occur in every game for Middletown throughout pool play and then in the playoffs. Led by a strong pitching performance by Rob Higgins, the Bulldogs led the tough Lincroft Knights 5-0 in the semi-final playoff until the 6th inning when the Knights staged an exciting comeback to take a 6-5 lead.  But the "never say die" Bulldogs had three consecutive singles to start the bottom of the 6th punctuated by a 2-run, walk-off single by Connor Welsh for the win. The win propelled the Bulldogs to the championship game where they quickly took a 5-run lead in the first inning and never looked back. The defense continued to shine as Carmine Cardile's throw from center field to nail a runner at the plate (with a great block and tag by catcher Ryan Stark) in the 3rd inning kept the Phantoms off the scoreboard. Higgins then turned a double play in the final inning and Downey finished his excellent tournament performance by pitching a shutout.

Rich Cardile, Kerry Dillon, Rob Higgins and Mike Stark coach the Bulldogs.

Middletown Bulldogs Photo: Ryan Rhatigan, (Front Row) Michael Racioppi, Carmine Cardile, Billy Higgins (Batboy), Rob Higgins, Nick Donato. (Middle Row) Chris Price, Brendan Doherty, Sean Downey, Jake Dillon, Connor Welsh, Brian Quinn, Ryan Stark. (Back Row) Coaches Kerry Dillon, Mike Stark, Rob Higgins, Rich Cardile.


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