Dream Season Ends for Ocean City-Upper Township Little League

By Karen Wall

It looked like everything was aligned for the Ocean City-Upper Township Little League All-Stars to pull off yet another miracle comeback, much like they’d done since the start of all-star season.

Trailing by a run, Ocean City had loaded the bases against Toms River, and the Toms River pitcher was visibly rattled. Enough so that Toms River’s coaching staff was lifting him after Ocean City’s Eric Greening got ahead 2-0 in the count.

“I told him if he saw a good one to hit it,” Ocean City-Upper Township manager Greg Brady said. “In that situation, you may only get one good pitch.

“He’s not a ground-ball hitter, he’s a home run hitter,” Brady said. “In our first game, he hit a walkoff grand slam. That’s all I was thinking about.”

Greening got one good pitch from Toms River reliever Kayla Roncin, and for a moment, it looked like Ocean City was going to at least tie the game, with Luke Bowman standing just 60 feet away at third base.

But an outstanding effort by Toms River starting pitcher-turned-centerfielder Jon Giordano ended the dream, sending Ocean City-Upper Township home from the Joe Graziano N.J. State Little League Championships on Monday night after a 7-6 loss to Toms River Little League at Berkeley Little League in Bayville.

Because the two towns’ Little Leagues were so small, they combined forces this year for the first time.

“We got pretty far,” Brady said. But the disappointment was obvious.

“I wanted a three-run lead,” he said. “I guess I got greedy.”

Given the way Toms River had come back in previous games, it was easy to understand why he wanted the extra runs.

Ocean City had taken a 2-0 lead in the first inning, when Gannon Brady and Joe Gallagher drilled solo home runs. Toms River responded with a pair of runs to tie the game in the bottom of the second inning, then added two more in the third for a 4-2 lead after Kayla Roncin blasted a home run over the fence in left-center.

Undaunted, Ocean City put its first two batters on base in the fourth, but Toms River’s Giordano struck out the side to end the threat. Toms River added two more runs in the bottom of the inning for a 6-2 lead.

But Ocean City refused to back down. After a strikeout, Brady’s aggressive running put him on first after a Toms River throwing error. Brock Mercado stepped to the plate and drilled a 2-2 pitch over the fence in left field to make it 6-4. Gallagher followed with a sharply hit single to center and advanced on a fielder’s choice. Then Ocean City pitcher Brian Furey stepped to the plate and smacked a single between third base and short, scoring Gallagher to make it 6-5.

Toms River added a run in the bottom of the inning on aggressive baserunning by Jason Kapp, making it 7-5 going into the top of the sixth.

Giordano struck out the first Ocean City batter but was forced to leave the game after throwing 87 pitches. Reliever Alex Civitello induced a ground ball, but that’s when things got tight. Bowman and Brady both singled, and Toms River intentionally walked Mercado to take its chances with Greening. And in the end, Toms River’s gamble paid off, with Roncin getting Greening to pop it up just enough for Giordano to get under it.