Lawrence 10s Win First District Tournament Game

Editor's Note: The following  game highlights were submitted to Lawrenceville Patch by the coaches of the various teams.

 The 10-year-old Lawrence District All-Star Team won their first game of the Little League District 12 Tournament on Saturday, defeating Cranbury-Plainsboro 15-10. 

Leadoff batter Shea McGuire started the day off with a line-drive single and moved to second on Ean Dauer’s single.  Four batters later with the bases loaded Shea stole home – one of seven steals on the day for him – to score the first run.  And Lawrence never looked back. 

Lawrence put up 2 runs in the first inning and 6 more in the second, thanks in part to RBI singles by Hans Lillis and Christopher Nevius.  Alex Everman also stole 7 bases on the day, and got what later proved to be the game-winning RBI.  Winning pitcher Nick Ciuffreda helped himself by extending the lead to 10-1 with a 2-RBI double to the fence in the top of the third inning. 

Justin Wolf and Ben Cohen contributed singles to the Lawrence offense, and Garrett Maloney added an RBI-producing double in the fifth inning.  Jack O’Reilly needed just 18 pitches to seal the victory with a scoreless sixth inning close.

“It was truly a team effort,” said manager Brian Ciuffreda.  “Our theme this season is ‘all in,’ and the boys definitely showed that level of focus, commitment, and heart today.”

Cranbury-Plainsboro’s Justin Lockwood and Drew Santa Maria each went 3 for 4 with an RBI in their effort.  Pitcher Ryan Benattar struck out 4 Lawrence batters.

Lawrence will now travel to the Sunnybrae Little League complex to face East Windsor at 8pm on Monday, June 25.  The full tournament bracket can be found at njdistrict12.org.