Clark Little League and the Road to Williamsport

By John A. Ryan             

As the Clark Little League 10yr olds play for the District 10 championship tonight in Milltown and the 12s begin their playoff round this weekend,   their calendars for the next few weeks could start filling up quickly.

Many of us tune into the Little League World Series in Williamsport Pennsylvania in August each year.  This event is an obvious spectacle with crowds at 30 thousand and ESPN and ABC providing extensive national coverage.  The enthusiastic young participants becoming local heroes as they make their prime time television debut by announcing Derek Jeter, Albert Pujols and Ichiro as their favorite players.

Before all the well wishes and bus trips to Williamsport Pennsylvania, there is a 1½ month journey for these local all-stars. 

Here in Clark, our the Clark Little Leaguers battle it out in early July in the District tournament against the likes of Kenilworth, Old Bridge, Metuchen and Woodridge.  In 2012 Clark had enough talent and luck to win the District 10 championship. The next step was the Section 3 Tournament at Nottingham, (Hamilton Square).  Clark went down in defeat in 3 games in the tournament ultimately won by Nottingham.  Nottingham beat Clark 3-1 in a game where Clark out hit them but left the bases loaded twice. It was that close.  

This earned Nottingham a trip to the New Jersey State Tournament in Pequannock NJ where they entered as the big favorite.  Par Troy East pulled a big upset by beating Nottingham on consecutive nights to win the NJ State championship. 

Par Troy East LL from Parsippany now headed to Bristol, Connecticut for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament.  In their 6th game they beat Newark National LL from Delaware to win the Regional Championship. 

This win for Par Troy sent them and their families to the Little League World Series in Williamsport Pennsylvania. They played their games on national TV. Par Troy lost to the Southwest team, beat the Northwest and was finally eliminated by the West in round two.  The West went on to lose on prime time TV in one of the wackiest games in history which saw them score 9 runs in the bottom of the 6th to tie the game only to give up 9 runs in the top of the 7th to lose to the Northeast team 24-16.  The Northeast team lost the next day to Japan in the finals. 

That is how close it was.  Clark loses a close game to the heavy favorite who gets upset by a team that ultimately ends up in Williamsport on national TV. 

How far can Clark go this year?  Well, Clark has never won a state title. This year’s 11s and 12s both lost in the District championship game in 2012 as 10s and 11s.  They are talented teams and both have a good chance to win the district title in 2013. The 10s however may be that once-in-a-decade team.  Some say they have a chance to bring Clark its first State title.  Somewhere along the line it will come down to a bounce or a catch or a strike call that will either send them forward or send them home.  One thing is guaranteed, it will be a heck of a ride for all or our teams.