All-Star Invitational Tournament for ARC of Rockland Concludes with South Orangetown Victory

The South Orangetown All-Stars defeated the Stony Point All-Stars 6-5 Thursday in the 2011 All-Star Invitational Tournament championship game after South Orangetown’s Henry Garrison drew a sixth inning walk with the bases loaded. The 15^th annual tournament was set up by the New City Little League, which arranged for Rockland County’s all-star baseball teams to go to bat for ARC of Rockland, a group that helps people with intellectuual and developmental disabilities. 

The game got off to a fast start as Stony Point’s Francisco Soriano belted South Orangetown pitcher Josh Powell’s first inning pitch over the fence, giving visiting Stony Point the early lead. South Orangetown emphatically responded in their half of the inning with back-to-back home runs by leader-off hitter Nick Mante and John Daly, giving them a 2-1 lead. 

With two outs in the second inning, Powell attempted to field a line drive back the pitcher. He made the play but injured his throwing hand in the process. After throwing a few practice pitches, it was decided he was less than 100 percent and was replaced by Jack Sheehy with the score tied at two.

“Jackie Sheehy came in when my starting pitcher [Justin Powell] went down,” said South Orangetown head coach Ed Hernandez. “He did a great job. He shut them down pretty much the whole game. 

"That was the turning point," said Hernandez. "He gets wild sometimes, but he came in and he pitched well  I think that was the difference in the game.”

With his team down 4-3 in the bottom of the fifth, South Orangetown’s Matt McGivney singled home two runs to give his team a 5-4 lead. Sheehy gave up a single to start the sixth inning before handling the next two batters. However, Stony Point’s TJ Brennan smacked an RBI double that tied the game at five. Sheehy got out of the inning without further damage. 

“It was back-and-forth,” Hernandez said. “I think the lead changed four times.” 

In the bottom of the sixth, South Orangetown’s Rob Malzacher reached base on an in-field single and ended up at second after a sacrifice bunt. Stony Point’s pitcher struck out the next batter and then intentionally walked Daly to put runners on first and second. John Mesango reached base on an error to load the bases, setting up Garrison’s game-winning at-bat. Garrison worked the count to 3-2 and took ball four, allowing Malzacher to score the winning run.              

“It was an unbelievable game,” Hernandez said. “Stony Point is a great team. They made it to the district championship. Any one of us could have went where Pearl River went. 

“The tournament was run impeccably.  Mike Cohen did a great job.  They had some bad weather, they got the fields ready.” 

Tracy Garrison, the mother of Henry Garrison, echoed that sentiment. 

“It was a beautiful event,” she said.  “And I think that every year it gets better and better.” 

 “The overall event was a great success,” said Tournament Director Mike Cohen. “A lot of help from the board of directors of the New City Little League was instrumental. Got a lot of support from the managers.  We had a lot of volunteers that came and helped us out also.”

This was the 12^th year in a row the tournament donated proceeds to ARC of Rockland. Last year, the N.C.L.L. was able to give ARC of Rockland approximately $4,000. The money comes from entrance fees, raffles, 50/50s, and donations from the community. This year, ASA donated umpires for the games, saving the N.C.L.L. money. The tournament ran from July 21 to July 28 at Zukor Park in New City.   

Esther Schulman, a representative for ARC of Rockland, helped Cohen pick out the 50/50 winner. After the game, she talked to the crowd and helped hand out trophies to the two teams. 

“I’d like to thank the New City Little League and the support of everyone here for helping ARC of Rockland,” Schulman said. “ARC of Rockland serves over 1,200 people with developmental and intellectual disabilities throughout the county. And they’re receiving all the programs and services that they need to lead productive lives. 

"The community support that we receive from New City Little League and other organizations is instrumental in the care we are giving these individuals.," said Schulman.  "Heartfelt thanks from ARC of Rockland.  Year after year, we can depend on you for support.”    

The tournament had 10 teams from District 18 play: the Congers All-Stars, the West Nyack All-Stars, the Nanuet All-Stars, the Nyack/Valley Cottage All-Stars, the South Orangetown All-Stars, the Stony Point All-Stars, the Ramapo All-Stars, the New City All-Stars, the Suffern All-Stars, and the Haverstraw All-Stars.  Entering the championship game, Stony Point was 4-0 in the tournament while South Orangetown was 3-1. 

South Orangetown All-Stars Roster

Mike Algert, John Daly, Henry Garrison, Ryan Holder, Robert Malzacher, Nick Mante, Matt McGivney, John Mesango, Dom Morrone, Justin Powell, Jack Sheehy, Graham Skywark. 

Manager:  Ed Hernandez. Coaches:  Rob Fair, Lloyd Monaco. 

Stony Point All-Stars Roster

Brandon Archetti, TJ Brennan, Christian Cartier, Mike D’Andrea, Mike Dunne, Mike Martinez, Shane Phillips, Dylan Pinelli, Jonathan Ramirez, Rob Schepis, Jason Schneider, Francisco Soriano. 

Manager:  Brian Coyle. Coaches:  Pete Brennan, Frank Phillips. 

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