There isn’t a city or town in Hudson County that has enjoyed more success in the annual District 7 Little League 12-year-old All-Star tournament than West New York.
Dating back to 1966 and 1967, when kids from West New York won two consecutive New Jersey state titles and played in the overall Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa. in 1966, losing in the overall championship game to Westbury, Texas, West New York has been the standard bearer of excellence for local Little League baseball.
Since 1994, the winner of the District 7 tournament has hailed from West New York an astounding 12 times. There was a streak of five straight District 7 championships from 1997 through 2001.
And that mark of dominance continued through the last two District 7 tournaments, winning the crown in 2009 and again in 2010, advancing all the way to the state tournament a year ago.
So was there any pressure on this year’s team to continue the winning ways?
Not if you ask the returning players from last year’s state tournament contender.
“There really was no pressure,” said Andrew Garcia, who was on last year’s District 7 and Section 2 championship squad.
“We knew that we had just as good of a team as we’ve had in the past,” said Andrew’s twin brother Brandon, who is actually one-third of a set of triplets. “We really didn’t feel like we had to win.”
“We knew that we had the talent to do it again,” said Manny Andujar, another of the returning veterans from last year’s championship run. “We had a good team, the good hitting, the good pitching. We knew we could do it.”
So when West New York American’s All-Stars took the field for the 2011 District 7 tournament, taking on perhaps the deepest and most competitive of all of New Jersey’s 21 Little League districts, they were confident from the start.
“We had four kids come back from last year and that really helps, having that experience,” said manager Victor Tapia. “You can see the difference in the kids. They know what to expect.”
“Every year, it’s a little different, because you don’t know what you have,” said Coach Perry Peralta. “You generally lose the majority of players from the year before. But it’s always good to have some kids who have been through it, who understand what it takes. We always have our kids work hard for that one purpose, one goal, to win the District [7] championship.”
Before the tournament began, Tapia and Peralta, who both were coaches on last year’s team, evaluated the current team’s talent.
“We looked at it position-by-position and we knew we had a team that was very comparable to last year,” Peralta said. “The depth of our pitching this year was better. That definitely helped us.”
WNY American advanced all the way to the championship game of the District 7 tournament, held last Thursday night at Hoboken’s Little League complex near the waterfront. They were facing Elizabethport, a team that had given WNY American a tough time earlier in the tourney.
Right-handed pitcher Justin Willis pitched that game against Elizabethport and gave up a handful of runs and a pair of long homers in that game.
“I was looking forward to getting another chance to pitch against them,” Willis said. “Last time, they hit two out on me and I was pumped up to not let that happen again. I felt ready, even though they were a good hitting team. I wanted to get a chance to take care of business.”
That’s exactly what Willis did. He fired a one-hit shutout and struck out 14 of the 18 batters he faced in leading WNY American to a 9-0 whitewash in the title game, giving WNY American its third straight District 7 banner.
“When you have a good baseball team, a lot of good things can happen,” said Tapia, who guided his team to the Section 2 tourney, which was also held at Hoboken, and began last Monday night. “Our pitching helps to keep us in games.”
Besides Willis, the WNY American All-Stars feature both Garcia brothers as hurlers, as well as Andujar and Christopher Rey. Willis is only 11 years old and his star is definitely on the rise.
Peter Perez, another 11-year-old, handles the catching duties, along with Jarol Segismundo, who just came to the United States from his native Cuba a few months ago.
Joey Rosato is the team’s first baseman, with Andjuar at second, Brandon Garcia at shortstop and Andrew Garcia at third.
Andrew Montalvo is in left field, with Noel Rodriguez in center and Gustavo Verdecia and Richard Feliz sharing duties in right.
Needless to say, it’s time to unfurl another banner to fly over the Little League complex on 54th and Broadway in West New York. Another champion has been crowned, just like the countless others before them.
“It’s a great feeling,” Brandon Garcia said. “We want to be remembered like the other teams that won.”
Mission accomplished – and now on to tackle the challenge of the Section 2 tourney. It won’t be an easy road, because WNY American lost to Lyndhurst, 8-5, in the opening round Monday night, so now the locals will have to make their way out of the loser’s bracket.
EXTRA INNINGS focuses on the best stories that come from local baseball and softball leagues throughout the area.
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