Toms River Captures State Little League Championship

By Karen Wall

All it took was one pitch.

Well, one pitch twice.

“One swing, one pitch,” Toms River Coach Jim DeRose said to fellow coach Ray Roncin. “Can you believe it?”

In a game where anyone on any given day can be a hero, it was Kayla Roncin’s turn to be that hero.

Not once but twice.

Kayla Roncin blasted a two-run home run on the first pitch she saw in the third inning to give the Toms River Little League All-Stars a two-run lead, and then with a single pitch helped seal their 7-6 victory over the Ocean City-Upper Township All-Stars in the winner-take-all game of the Joe Graziano State Championships at Berkeley Little League in Bayville on Monday night.

With the bases loaded and two outs, and Ocean City’s Eric Greening sitting on a 2-0 count, Roncin came on in relief of Alex Civitello and served up a low strike that Greening drove high into the night sky. As it started to fall back to earth, starting pitcher-turned-centerfielder Jon Giordano made a running, diving catch that set off a celebration and earned Toms River a berth in the Little League East Regional Tournament in Bristol, Conn.

“At first I thought it was going to be an out, and then I saw it falling,” Roncin said later. “Then Giordano was there.”

“I was just so excited” when he caught it, she said.

See video of the play here.

Roncin had pitched sparingly before Monday night, she said, but the Toms River coaching staff wanted someone to come in and throw hard, DeRose said.

“We saw Alex was a little upset,” DeRose said. “Kayla’s been throwing the ball hard.”

But DeRose said when manager Pete Avallone asked her if she was ready to pitch, Roncin initially said no. “Pete told her, ‘Just relax and throw your best pitch.’”

Easier said than done, given the pressure: the state title on the line, the hitter ahead in the count … and being the only girl on the field.

“I’ve gotten a lot of grief over her playing,” said her father, Ray Roncin. Even as she warmed up, there was a buzz in the crowd as she threw four of her warm-up pitches in the dirt.

Support on the Toms River side was unquestioned, however, with shouts of “Girl Power!” from young female voices mixed with cheers of “You can do it, Kayla!”

“I was nervous,” Roncin admitted. But she took a deep breath, reared back and threw.

“That’s all we asked her to do, throw one low strike,” Ray Roncin said. “She has steel in her blood.”

After the crack of Greening’s bat, “First I heard everyone screaming,” Giordano said. And then he was running.

“I wasn’t looking at anything in front of me,” he said. “I think I almost ran into Vinny Rose.”

When he realized the ball was in his glove, Giordano said “It was a feeling like nothing I’ve ever felt before.” And in moments he was at the bottom of a pile of joy-filled teammates.

Giordano had led the way, throwing 87 pitches, striking out 12 and walking just three batters before having to hand off the ball in the sixth inning.

“I trust my team,” Giordano said about having to give up the ball at that point. “There was no doubt in my mind that we would win.”

There had been no doubt in his mind -- or among his teammates -- from the beginning of the game, even after Ocean City-Upper Township took a 2-0 lead on solo home runs by Gannon Brady and Joe Gallagher.

Toms River responded in the bottom of the second, tying the game on when Connor Cino scored on a fielder’s choice by Colin Baker. A throwing error on the play allowed Christian Wood to score to tie the game at 2-2.

In the third, Roncin, who had been in an 0-for-12 slump, stepped to the plate with two outs after Ocean City turned a double play, and Cino, who hit a two-out single, on first. And with one swing of the bat, she put her team ahead 4-2 with a towering blast to left center.

“I’ve been in a slump lately, but as soon as I hit it, I knew,” said Roncin, who said she’s hit a dozen home runs this year.

“She had been struggling,” DeRose said. “She was upset with herself, and we told her, “Every day someone different is a hero.’ This is her day.”

In the fourth inning, Giordano struck out the side after the first two Ocean City batters got on base, ending the threat.

“I didn’t’ really feel like I had my best stuff,” Giordano said, “but when you strike out the side, it’s pretty special.”

Toms River tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the inning. Phil Antoniotti singled and moved to second on a perfect sacrifice bunt by Tyler Avallone. After a strikeout, Joe Schifilliti delivered a single up the middle, scoring Antoniotti. Ocean City pitcher Brian Furey intentionally walked Giordano, and Nick DeRose made Ocean City pay, singling to drive in Rose, who had come on to run for Schifilliti.

Despite trailing 6-2, Ocean City was far from giving up. Gannon Brady reached on an error, and Brock Mercado made it 6-4 when he smacked a 2-2 pitch over the left-field fence for a two-run home run. Gallagher hit a sharp single to left that just fell in, and after a fielder’s choice put him at second, Furey singled to score Gallagher, making it 6-5, before Giordano ended the threat with another strikeout.

“We did not come this far to lose!” Schifilliti yelled to his teammates as Toms River came into the dugout to bat. His passion fired them up, and after a pitch count-induced pitching change, Jason Kapp singled up the middle. After a strikeout, Baker singled to right-center, and Kapp never stopped running, scoring on the play to make it 7-5.

“If he’s not hustling from first base, we don’t get that run,” Jim DeRose said, “and we’re tied right now.”

Giordano struck out the first Ocean City batter of the sixth inning, then Civitello came on and induced a ground ball for the second out. But the toughest part of the Ocean City order was ahead, and Bowman and Brady singled to put runners at first and second. After issuing an intentional walk to Mercado, Greening took two balls before the Toms River staff decided to bring in Roncin.

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

And Roncin delivered.

“Can I shake your hand?” a woman asked Roncin after the game, and as she shyly looked up and extended her hand, the woman -- Berkeley Township Police Chief Karin DiMichele -- said, “Congratulations. You did a great job.”

“You inspired a lot of these girls tonight,” DiMichele added.

Every day has a different hero. On Monday night, it was Kayla Roncin’s turn.