Quality pitching wins it for Marlboro South
Team wins L.L. District 19 championship
BY TIM MORRIS Staff Writer
Solid in all three facets of the game, Marlboro South used that quality to capture the Little League District 19 8-and-9-year-olds championship.

Marlboro South went 5-0 in the tournament and trailed in just one game for just a half inning. Marlboro South defeated Freehold Township National, 12-4, in the final played July 2 at the Eatontown Little League facility.

"We had good, quality pitching, depth in our hitting and solid defense," said manager Mike Scalea in describing his club. "I knew we were potentially a competitive team."

They were more than competitive, they were the best team in a very good tournament field.

Pitching depth, the manager noted, was what he and his coaching staff took into account when picking the team, because of the strict pitch-count rules.

"It's critical to have pitchers available," he pointed out. "Your pitching depth comes first."

Scalea knew that his pitching staff was stacked with hurlers who could throw strikes and stay away from the dreaded base-on-balls.

The staff included Matt Makuta, Michael Astarita, Chase Sandler and Jeremy Dyzenhaus. All made contributions.

The pitching gem of the tournament belonged to Makuta. He tossed a 69-pitch (important because of the pitch count) complete game in Marlboro South's 2-1 victory over Marlboro North in the winner's bracket final.

Astarita went the four-inning distance in South's 15-0 win over Lincroft Omega. He, Chandler and Dyzenhaus all pitched in the championship game.

Outstanding as the pitchers were, they usually had runs to work with. Marlboro South scored fewer than nine runs just once, and that was the 2-1 game with their Marlboro brethren.

"We told our players to be very aggressive on the bases, and teams make plays," said Scalea. "We put the ball in play. The kids earned it."

A Marlboro South trademark was scoring early and letting the pitching and defense take care of the rest. That was never more evident than in the championship final, where Marlboro South hit Freehold Township National with a roundhouse, 11 runs in the very first inning.

Dyzenhaus and Sandler were the team's big RBI producers.

Second baseman Johnny Ng anchored the Marlboro defense, consistently coming up with big plays with runners on base.

Marlboro South was very strong up the middle with catcher Brian DeLeonardis doing an outstanding job blocking pitches. When not pitching, Makuta was at shortstop. Matt Dean (first) and either Astarita or Dyzenhaus (third) manned the corners.

Centerfielder Colin Scalea anchored the outfield defense that came up with plays as well. Sandler, Christopher O'Hanlon, Nick Cilea, Matt Cappelluti and Dylan Finn rotated in left and right field.

"It [defense] was a team effort," said Scalea. "We didn't throw the ball around, didn't give teams extra outs."

Marlboro South opened tournament play impressively enough with that 15-0 win over Lincroft Omega. That was followed by a 9-7 win over Freehold Township National. This was the only game that Marlboro actually trailed in. Manalapan National fell next, 11- 8, to Marlboro South.

Meanwhile, at the top of the bracket, Marlboro North was advancing without a defeat and met Marlboro South in the winner's bracket final; Makuta's complete game put Marlboro South into the championship final.

Marlboro North played Freehold Township National in the loser's bracket final for the right to play Marlboro South for the District title. National rallied from a 7-0 deficit to edge North 8-7.

Freehold Township National's reward for its great rally was to be hit for those 11 runs in Marlboro South's first inning. Marlboro was able to coast from there and win the District 19 pennant.

Manager Scalea had Dom Cilea and Mike Astarita on the team's coaching staff.