New Castle U11 Finishes With Strong Season

It was another year and another division title for New Castle's under-11 Westchester Putnam Baseball Association squad.

New Castle earned its second straight division crown when it won the gold division. New Castle was ranked No. 5 but upset No. 1 Shrub Oak 1-0.

That enabled it to play in the 11-year-old championship game, which it lost to Red Division champion Lewisboro 12-5, earlier this month.

Last year, with the team playing in the 10-year-old bracket, No. 8 New Castle defeated No. 1 Lewisboro 13-8 in the first round on its way to winning the national division.

"I think it's great," New Castle coach Marc Reisch said. "They see you are ranked eighth and fifth and then you beat the top-ranked team two years in a row, it's a great accomplishment for the boys."

Pitching New Castle to the win against Shrub Oak was starter

Ben Wolfensohn and reliever Satchel Schultz, who threw three innings each.

Liam Walker and Jack Dollinger also pitched well throughout the summer for New Castle.

"All the guys contributed," Reisch said. "They all pitched almost the same amount of innings all year. They all did a great job."

New Castle's pitching, combined with solid defense, made the upset win against Shrub Oak possible.

"You never expect that you would go six innings and not give up a run," Reisch said. "We made a lot of good plays in the field, we executed defensively. We explained to the kids if you play good defense, that's what it's all about."

Schultz led New Castle offensively with five home runs on the season, the only player on the team to hit it out of the park.

"With these kids we just want them to be competitive," Reisch said. "They are a great group of kids. We certainly didn't think we'd go back to back. We definitely exceeded our expectations this year."

They exceeded those expectations because of their ability to play their best baseball at the right time of year.

"It's funny, these kids always get hot right at the end of the season," Reisch said. "We played inconsistent ball during the year then right before the playoffs they get hot, then they stay hot in the playoffs."

Making up the roster for New Castle were Dollinger, Wolfensohn, Schultz, Walker, Bobby Garbuio Gillon Gross, Daniel Hamerschlag, Justin Keller, Matthew Reisch and Dylan Witt.

Assisting Marc Reisch was Jeff Dollinger and Mike Wolfensohn, who is also known locally as a councilman on the New Castle Town Board.

"They are both great," Marc Reisch said. "Mike and I have been together for three years, Jeff and I have been together for two years. They are both terrific guys. They will do whatever you need."

The New Castle coach said that his staff was able to do its job well because of the players that they coached.

"They never get down on each other, whenever anybody makes a mistake, they always pump each other up," Marc Reisch said. "The kids have been together now for three years."