Toms River East American Junior Leaguers Play for District 18 Title Tonight

After a six-day wait, the Toms River East American Junior League all-stars finally get the opportunity tonight to finish their quest for the District 18 championship.

For some, that would seem like a long layoff, but when Toms River East takes on Lacey at 6 p.m. at Berkeley Little League's Leiter Field, it will be just right, manager Rob Spillane said.

For one thing, Spillane said, the players on the team also participate in traveling baseball. "So they've been playing some baseball," he said. For another, their last game was stressful. While Toms River East beat Holbrook 12-4, it took extra innings to do so.

"We were winning 4-0 in the seventh inning, and they tied it up," Spillane said, and it took a 10th-inning explosion for Toms River East to finish off Holbrook.

Spillane expects the Lacey game to be a challenge, because it was the only close game of Toms River East American's four victories in the tournament. Toms River East American defeated Stafford, 13-4; Toms River East National, 12-2, and Lacey, 5-3.

"We're a good hitting team," Spillane said.

The pressure is on Lacey, however, because it is coming out of the losers bracket, meaning Lacey would have to beat Toms River East American twice to win the division. 

Spillane likes his team's chances, because "we have a very well-rounded team. Just figuring out who to sub is a challenge, because they're all such good players."

If Lacey wins tonight, the second game would be Sunday, with the site to be determined.

Spillane doesn't want to have to play tomorrow.

"The challenge is keeping the kids focused," he said. "When we beat Lacey we had some errors. I just keep telling them to focus on playing good baseball.

"Our offense is solid," he said. "We just have to play good baseball —error-free baseball."

In the 11-year-old age group, Toms River East National and Toms River East American both scored pool play victories on Friday night in Berkeley.

Toms River East National defeated Lacey, 5-2. Toms River East American's 11-year-olds had a battle the entire game with the Berkeley all-stars before winning 11-9. 

The final pool play games for the 11-year-olds are today in Toms River at the Toms River East Little League complex. Toms River East American was taking on Brick at 1:30 p.m. and Toms River East National was scheduled for a 4 p.m. start against Berkeley.