Little League World Series: Holbrook Puts All Eyes On Ocean County Again

JACKSON, NJ — If you've lived in Ocean County for more than a few years, you know the sports rivalries among the towns are pretty intense. You can see it on the football fields and the soccer fields, and you can see it on the baseball diamond.

The rivalries are ingrained from the time kids are young, to the point where if you're an athlete playing on a youth team in another town and not your hometown, you're sure to get a case of the side-eye.

All those rivalries go by the wayside, however, when a team or an athlete achieves on a state or even national level. That's especially true when it comes to Little League baseball, and you can see it happening again this week as the team from the Holbrook Little League heads off to Williamsport, PA, for the Little League World Series.

Baseball teams from Ocean County in particular have a habit of making their marks on a larger stage, and this year is no different: Holbrook Little League from Jackson is headed for Williamsport to take its turn. According to the site Unpage Publications, which has results of Little League tournament games going back to the 1950s, this is the sixth team from Ocean County to make the trip. A team from Lakewood won the Little League World Championship in 1975.

And of course, in 1998, the Toms River East American team whose star, Todd Frazier, put himself on the map at the age of 11, captured the imagination of the county and beyond in winning the World Series that year. The Toms River East American team returned to Williamsport the following year. Toms River East American also reached Williamsport in 1995. Toms River National, from Toms River Little League, reached the Little League World Series in 2010.

In the years that New Jersey has been sending a sole state champion to the regional tournaments and beyond, there have been 17 teams overall that have reached Williamsport. Before Lakewood and Toms River East American claimed their crowns, Hammonton in 1949 and Wayne National in 1970.

Holbrook begins its quest to become the fifth World Series champion from New Jersey on Thursday, when it takes on New England region champion Fairfield, Conn., at 3 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN.

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