Post 201 Continues Chugging Along

The Livingston Post 201 American Legion team has continued its domination in Essex County this season, following its success from 2009.

Post 201 won the Essex County title last season and they have not stopped going this season with an 8-1 record after defeating Ironbound, 8-1, on Wednesday in Livingston.

For Post 201 starting pitcher Ryan Sullivan went four innings allowing one run, two hits and striking out five.  Offensively, third baseman Jon Pena went 2-for-4 with two runs while center fielder James Napolitano went 2-for-2 with two runs scored. Second baseman Connor Kimmel had a pair of RBIs. Along with Sullivan, Livingston received quality relief pitching from Bretn Blanc-Singer for two innings and Nick Grande, who threw shut-out relief.

On Thursday night, Post 201 will be looking to avenge its only loss of the season when it hosts Bloomfield at the Oval at 5:45 p.m.

Livingston manager Chris Politan said that the team's success this season has been the proverbial 'pitching and defense'.

"We've been getting good pitching and defense while our hitting is improving," said Politan. "We've hardly given up many runs this season."

For Post 201 the ultimate goal is get back to the Essex County Title game, but Politan knows that there are plenty of games to go before that.

"You want to retain the championship, but first we need to take it one game at a time," said Politan.

Even without his best stuff, Sullivan was able to get past Ironbound, who has only won one game during the summer season. The Livingston junior admitted that his outing was not great.

"I had an off day. I had workout last night and today I did not feel like myself," said Sullivan, who has had two complete games earlier —  over Nutley and Caldwell — in the American Legion season. "My fastball was okay."

Sullivan added that he is working on all his pitches, two-seam fastball, curveball, changeup and slider.

Defensively, Politan has been especially happy with his double-play combination of shortstop Jordan Farber and second baseman Connor Kimmel, who were both sophomores this past school year.

"I'm really pleased with how my shortstop and second baseman have played defensively," said Politan. "They have been tremendous defensively."

As with the win with Ironbound, Politan has been getting contributions from Pena and Napolitano along with left fielder Grande, who was 0-for-2 against Ironbound, but also was hit by a pitch and walked while scoring a run.

The big inning for Post 201 against Ironbound came in the fourth-run third inning.  But it did not start well.

Right fielder Jon Sorrentino grounded out to Ironbound pitcher Elijah Plant for one out, but after that Livingston put five runners on base without getting an out.

Grande's hit by a pitch brought home Farber from third base for a 2-0 lead; then designated hitter Mike Mansfield smacked a single into left field to score Pena for a 3-0 lead. The big hit came off of Kimmel, who stroked a single into left field that scored Napolitano and Grande for a 5-0 lead.

After Ironbound scored its lone run in the top of the fourth inning, Sorrentino came home on a wild pitch for a 6-1 lead. Pena and Napolitano also came home on wild pitches in the bottom of the sixth inning for the 8-1 win.

Livingston Post 201 Baseball Schedule
(Games at 5:45 p.m. unless noted)

June 17        Bloomfield
June 19        Cedar Grove, double header, 10 a.m.
June 21        at West Essex Knights, West Essex High School
June 23        Minutemen
June 24        at Verona
June 25        at South Orange, Underhill Field
June 26        at West Orange, West Orange High School
June 28        Glen Ridge
June 30        at Minutemen, Newark Academy
July 4            Vailsburg, 10 a.m.
July 5            Glen Ridge
July 10          County Title Game
July 17-21    State Tournament
July 24-29   State Finals

Livingston Roster

1    Jordan Farber IF
2    Jon Pena IF   
3    James Napolitano OF/P   
4    Ryan Sullivan    P
5    Connor Kimmel     IF   
6    Matt Flynn OF
7    Brian Writt C
8    Jon Sorrentino    OF
9    Andrew Egner P/IF
10    Mike Mansfield    IF
11    Alex Webster C
12    Nick Grande IF/OF/P
13    Brent Blanc-Singer IF/P
14    Brady McLaughlin P/IF
15     Frank Schwindel    C/IF
16    Sam White P/IF   
17     Jordan Haberman P   
20    John Beaubien OF   

Manager:     Chris Politan
Coaches:      Lou Politan
                         Sal Craco
                         Mike Donohue