Johnston Advances To Regional Finals

Johnston's Junior Little League All-Star team advanced to the Eastern Regional Finals on August 10 with an 8-5 victory over Brandywine, DE, earning the local team a rematch against undefeated Pennridge, PA, scheduled for 11 a.m. this morning.

Pennridge (3-0) handed Johnston its only loss of the regional tournament, an 11-7 defeat on August 8.

In the semifinal match-up agaist Delaware, Johnston starting pitcher Joe Bongiovanni earned the victory as he held Brandywine to three runs over five innings, and the offense posted five runs in the bottom of the fourth to put the game out of reach. Johnston's defense held off a two-run Delaware rally in the top of the seventh to preserve the win.

James Picchi (3-for-3) led the offense for Johnston, scoring two runs and bringing in two RBI. Gian Martellini, who also pitched a scoreless inning against Delaware, made his one at-bat count, driving in two runs.

Michael Caparco, Marc Conte, Jacob Coro, Zach Coro and Armani Henderson all added an RBI each to push Johnston to the finals.

Johnston (4-1) had to play its way out of the consolation bracket to earn the finals appearance, defeating New England rivals Burlington, CT, 14-7, on August 9 and Quincy, MA, 11-8, earlier on August 10.

With a win this morning, Johnston would force a second game, scheduled for 2 p.m. today, to determine the regional title.

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Information for this report was gathered from Gamechanger, a site hosted by the Freehold Township Little League.