Township seniors reaping championship rewards BY TIM MORRIS Staff Writer JEFF GRANIT staff Freehold Township Little League Senior League manager Mike Brach (l) and coach Mike LaCava (r) threw out the first pitch before the Lakewood BlueClaws final home game on Sept. 1 against the Delmarva Shorebirds. The BlueClaws were honoring Freehold Township’s seniors for their recent World Series triumph. What the Freehold Township Little League Senior League all-stars accomplished in Bangor, Maine, is just starting to sink in. “It’s amazing,” noted Jason Elo. “Just walking around people that didn’t even know us are coming up to me and telling me that they followed us and were rooting for us. We had no idea that there were that many people who were watching us.” Ryan Cuneo has had similar experience. “We didn’t realize how many people followed us,” he said. “It makes you feel good.” Dominick Hayes said that every once in a while, when he might be down about something, he reminds himself that he is ‘a world champion.’ The seniors are now reaping the rewards for their historic World Series triumph, the first-ever by an area team. They’ve become celebrities. On Sept. 1, the seniors were honored by the Lakewood BlueClaws. Manager Mike Brach and coach Mike LaCava got to throw out the first pitch before the BlueClaws final home game of the season against the Delmarva Shorebirds. Their team picture was flashed on the scoreboard in the sixth inning and the team had its own wing at the stadium along the first base line, which they shared with family and friends. Next month, they are expected to be in Trenton, where the state will honor them, and there is even talk about a possible trip to Yankee Stadium. As what they did begins to sink in, the players are beginning to realize what it was that made them champions and what they learned on the way to the World Series flag. “We learned a lot about each other,” said Cuneo. “Everyone on the team could get the job done. Our chemistry was great.” AJ Rusbarsky noted that in Maine there wasn’t a lot that separated the teams from each other until it came down to desire. “We learned that the best team doesn’t always win, it’s the team that wants it the most,” he pointed out. Hayes agreed with his teammate. “We wanted it more,” he said. Players and coaches agreed that after the all-stars won their first game and got a good look at the rest of the competition, they knew the World Series was within their grasp. “After that first game we realized how good we are and that we could compete with everyone else there,” he said. “We weren’t there as another team. We knew if we played our best we could win.” That’s how Rusbarsky saw it as well. “After the first couple of games and after seeing the other teams, we knew we were as good as the others,” he recalled. All agreed that pitching depth made the difference. In Brett Brach, Shawn Boysen, Elo and Hayes, Freehold Township had the deepest rotation in the tournament. Every time out, the team knew it would be getting a quality start. The seniors learned more than just baseball on their way to a once-in-lifetime experience like the world championship. “We can accomplish anything,” noted Elo. “We have the potential to go anywhere we want if we choose.” That may be as important as anything they did on the diamond this summer.