Township’s title runs had Brachs and Boysens split
Sons on both teams had families running in circles
By tim morris
Staff Writer

VERONICA YANKOWSKI Shawn (l) and Ryan Boysen stand in front of their roving fan club, consisting of their mom and dad (left to right in cart) Lori and Mel, their friend Richy Hansen, sister Jamie, cousin Lindsay Nielsen, and their sister Erin.

For the Brach and Boysen families, Freehold Township Little League’s championship summer presented a conflict of interest.

On the one hand, they were fortunate enough to have sons playing on both the Junior League and Senior League championship teams. On the other, they were conflicted about which game to attend because their kids were constantly playing at different venues on the same day.

For the Boysens, it was a flip of the coin. One night Lori would watch Shawn’s Junior League team while Mel would be at the Senior League game watching Ryan. The next time, they, family and friends would switch.

"We took turns," said Lori Boysen. "We split it among family and friends. We went back and forth. We made good use of the cell phone.

JERRY WOLKOWITZ Mike and Mary Brach had to go separate ways this summer to watch their sons Bret (l) and Brad compete in Little League play for Freehold Township’s Junior and Senior League teams.

"Cell phones were made for such anxious times when there is a real need for information on the spot, as soon as it is happening," she said.

But cell phones can’t make up for not being there.

"You are torn, very torn," Lori said, "but they (Ryan and Shawn) understood."

She said that the toughest game to miss was the Senior League’s win over South Vineland during pool play at the state tournament.

Mel Boysen was the voice of Freehold Township Little League for the Brachs on the cell phone.

"I felt like a sportscaster. I was on the cell phone so much going back and forth keeping Mike (Brach) up on what was happening," noted Mel. "It was exciting because both teams did well."

The hard part, he said, was not being there for whichever son’s game he wasn’t able to attend.

"It was tough missing any of their games because you wait all year to see your kids play," he said.

For the Brachs, the situation was a bit different.

There’d be no coin flips here. Mary Brach followed the Senior League where Brad Brach played, while Mike managed the Junior League and his son Brett.

"At the very beginning I thought of not doing it," Mike said. "I thought they (the Juniors) had a chance to do well, and I didn’t want to pass it up. Who knew how far either team would go?"

As it turned out, very far. The Seniors went all the way to the state finals, collecting District 19 and Section III titles, while the Juniors won those plus the state championship, and played in the Eastern Regional in Tinton Falls [where the parents didn’t have to worry about who was watching which team where].

"Not being there, especially when Brad was pitching, was the toughest part," Mike Brach said. "I can’t remember when I missed a game he pitched.

"It’s not that you can do anything, but it’s more comfortable to be there rather than 20 miles away," he added.

Brach recalled one incident in the parking lot where a Pequannock parent noticed that he was wearing his red Freehold Township shirt. She recognized that he was from Township and told him that the Seniors were losing to Pequannock. Brach got on the cell phone immediately to his wife and got the good news that the Seniors were in the middle of a rally that would carry them to a win over Pequannock. Later that night, the Juniors would also beat Pequannock, as both teams marched on in their respective state tournaments.

"Mel was the go-between, keeping us up on what was happening," said Mary Brach. "While I was watching Brad’s game, I would be thinking of what the Juniors were doing and thinking, ‘Let them be winning.’ Then I would hear what they were doing from Mel."

There was one night when there was no conflict, and it was a game that Mary Brach and everyone involved will never forget. It was the Section III tournament, where Freehold Township not only had to win its game, but win by two runs to advance to the state title. Typical of the summer the Township’s teams had, they did just that, winning 6-4 on Mike LaCava’s three-run home run in the seventh inning.

"I was there for the game when we had to win by two runs, and Mike LaCava hit that home run," Mary Brach noted. "That was special."

The hardest night for both the Brachs and Boysens was the state championships. They received a break when the Junior League final was moved from Brick American to FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood, home to the Lakewood BlueClaws. Instead of having to split up again, they were able to watch both games as the Senior and Junior title games were held as a doubleheader.

"We were fighting it out as to what our arrangements were going to be," Mel Boysen said. "We were all happy when the site was changed."

The Seniors were up first and lost a heartbreaker to South Vineland, 8-6.

The Juniors followed and scored a highly dramatic 4-3 win over Roberto Clemente of Newark.

The Brachs and Boysens had to deal with the highs and lows of having one son winning a state title and another losing one. How do you celebrate for one son and not have it be at the expense of another?

"I had mixed emotions," said Mike Brach. "It was very tough to coach that state championship game. I had to put it aside."

Mary Brach also recalled her mixed emotions.

"My heart broke for Brad and I was so excited for Brett," she said.

Lori Boysen had much the same experience that night.

"The loss to South Vineland was tough," she said. "It’s the last year in Little League for them, and they’re such a nice group of kids.

"Both teams were so good," she added. "I said before the games that luck is going to win it. The Juniors played such a great game."

There was the expected back-and-forth banter between the brothers as to whose team would go further, but it was good, friendly competition. There was no jealousy, the parents said.

"They were both very supportive of each other, which was kind of nice," said Lori Boysen.

"They pulled for each other and pumped each other up," Mary Brach said about her boys.

The brothers all agreed that they were inspired by each other’s success. Both just wanted to keep up with what their brother was doing.

"It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that we both got to experience," said Brad Brach.

Brad Brach and Ryan Boysen, being the older brothers who have been through the tournament wars (they competed in the state championships two years earlier as Juniors) passed on their experiences to their younger brothers.

"I tried to give him (Shawn) some advice about what to expect and to not be nervous," said Ryan Boysen.

Ironically, Brett Brach and Shawn Boysen, who looked up to their brothers, would be the ones to celebrate the state championship. They both said that watching the Seniors get beat in the state final before they took the field against Roberto Clemente made them more motivated to win than ever before. Playing with that added incentive, they led from start to finish and held off a last-inning rally by the Roberto Clemente All-Stars to win it all.

The state championship won by the Juniors proved to be good therapy for Brad and Ryan, who stayed to watch their younger brothers play and cheer for them.

"They kind of took the sting away with their win," said Ryan Boysen.

Besides being torn between which team to watch, the Brachs and Boysens said they had to make arrangements to leave work early, learn all the backroads to the Little League sites, and eat on the run. It was chaotic, but in the end, it was a summer they said they would not trade for anything else.