Toms River L.L. Clinches Semifinal Berth

Some games, it’s all about the little things. On Tuesday morning, the Toms River Little League all-stars did the little things and came away with a 10-5 victory over West Salisbury Little League of Maryland in pool play at the Little League Mid-Atlantic Region tournament in Bristol, Conn.

Christian Wood was 3-for-3 with two RBI, and gave Toms River a crucial 1-2-3 inning on the mound, and Colin Baker had three RBI for Toms River, which clinched a spot in the Mid-Atlantic semifinals, which begin Friday. Toms River (3-0) is scheduled to face Newark National Little League of Delaware on Wednesday morning at 10 in its final pool-play game.

You can follow Wednesday’s game online at http://www.eteamz.com//llbeast/. Click the game and sign up for the free Game Changer access. The Mid-Atlantic semifinals will be televised live on ESPN Friday beginning at 11 a.m.

Toms River, which has been showing off its home-run power to this point, played small ball on Tuesday to claw back into the game after falling behind 4-0 in the first inning, when West Salisbury got a pair of doubles and a pair of singles off Phil Antoniotti. After the rough start, Antoniotti settled down and didn’t allow another run to the Maryland champions.

Toms River got one run back in the top of the second. Nick DeRose and Wood singled, and DeRose scored when Antoniotti reached on an error.

The New Jersey champs from Ocean County’s District 18 added a run in the top of the third inning to make it 4-2. Vinny Rose walked and went to third on a single by Jon Giordano, then scored on a wild pitch.

Wood then sent West Salisbury down in order in the bottom of the fourth, on a pair of grounders sandwiched around a fly ball.

Toms River broke the game open with five runs in the top of the fifth. Jon Giordano walked and went to third on a single by Connor Cino, then scored on a wild pitch to DeRose. Cino moved to second when DeRose hit into a fielder’s choice, and scored on a single by Wood. Antoniotti singled to move Alex Civitello, who was running for Wood, to second, and then Jason Kapp was hit by a pitch to load the bases. The West Salisbury pitcher struck out Kayla Roncin, then Colin Baker singled to right field, driving in Civitello and Antoniotti and moving Kapp to third. With Rose at the plate, Kapp scored on a wild pitch before West Salisbury could get out of the inning.

Toms River led 7-4 going into the bottom of the fifth, and it looked as though West Salisbury would stage a rally of its own. Blake Corbin opened with a home run to center off Wood, and West Salisbury put runners on second and third before DeRose came on and shut the door, striking out Tyler Bennett and getting Jacob Long to fly out.

Toms River added three more runs in the top of the sixth, but didn’t need the insurance as DeRose stopped West Salisbury in the bottom of the inning with a pair of fly balls before striking out Corbin to end the game. Toms River scored its runs in the top of the inning when Giordano was intentionally walked, then scored on an error by the West Salisbury center fielder on a single by Cino. DeRose hit a grounder and reached on an error, moving Cino to second. Civitello came in to run for Cino and scored when Wood singled to center field. Antoniotti singled to advance the runners, and DeRose then scored when Baker worked a two-out walk.