Previous Article:     Williston Times 8-16-2002 Back Page Article

Williston Park 9/10 Tournament Team wins Williston Park Mayor’s Trophy! (8/30/2002 Williston Times)

On Friday night, August 23rd, 2002, a dream came true for twelve wonderfully talented 9-and-10 year-old boys at Kelleher Field in Williston Park. Before a standing-room-only 75^th Anniversary crowd, the Williston Park 9/10 Tournament Team defeated Merillon, by a score of 6-0, to capture the crown and win the 2002 Williston Park Mayors Trophy Tournament, for the first time since 1992. The win over 2001 defending champion Merillon was followed by an exciting trophy presentation, by Williston Park Mayor Doreen Ehrbar, and a celebration party that lasted into the night.

The championship run by the Williston Park team was a hard fought battle against several top tournament teams from the surrounding towns and included what many now call the “most exciting game ever played at Kelleher Field” on Monday night, August 19^th, 2002.

On Monday night, the Williston Park team had the luxury of entering the title game of the double-elimination tournament without a loss and needing just one win against Merillon to win the Championship. Merillon entered the game with one loss (to Williston Park) and needed to defeat Williston Park on Monday to force a title game re-match on Friday night. Over the weekend, banners were posted throughout Williston Park announcing the Monday title game and Kelleher Field, along with the adjacent Williston Park Pool, was jam packed with several hundred people at the start of the Monday game.

Williston Park started the contest with Chris Serrano on the mound, while Merillon started their ace Nick Adamo. The game was a tension-packed scoreless pitcher’s duel through 5 innings with the highlight being a juggling catch by Williston Park right fielder Kevin Fearon in the top of the 4^th inning to save a run.

In the top of the 6^th, with two-out and the score 0-0, Merillon got two runners on base. With two strikes, the next batter hit a ball down the right field line that landed square on the foul line, for a double, which scored two runs to give Merillon the 2-0 lead. The batter was then thrown out at 3^rd base trying to stretch the double into a triple, but the damage was done and Merillon had a 2-0 lead.

Entering the bottom of the 6th, Williston Park needed two runs to keep their hopes alive. With 1-out, Chris Serrano walked and John Quinn hit a double to left center field to bring the several hundred fans at Kelleher Field to their feet. On the next pitch, John Urbank hit a clutch triple to right center field, to tie the game 2-2, and Kelleher Field turned into absolute bedlam. The Williston Park fans were dancing in the parking lot while the Merillon fans were stunned. Williston Park now had the winning run on 3^rd base, but Merillon got two quick outs to end the inning and send the game into extra innings tied 2-2.

In the 7^th, both teams needed to remove their starting pitcher because of the tournament 6-innings per game rule, but Merillon quickly went down 1-2-3. In the bottom of the 7^th, with 2-outs, Kevin Fearon singled, Matt Lanfair singled, and Casey Cunningham was hit-by-a-pitch to load the bases for Williston Park. With the fans again cheering, Williston Park couldn’t score the winning run and the game went into the 8^th.

In the top of the 8^th, Merillon got back-to-back hits to take a 4-2 lead and Kelleher Field again was loud, now with the Merillon fans cheering. Williston Park entered the bottom of the 8^th again needing to get two runs to tie the game. With 1-out, John Quinn reached base on an error and Jimmy Bulva doubled down the left field line to tighten the score at 4-3, with the Williston Park fans again going wild. With 2-outs, Rich Doyle hit a short single to left field to get the tying run to 3^rd base, but Merillon then got an easy ground ball to 2^nd base and the game ended 4-3 in 8 innings.

The win by Merillon on Monday night forced a title game re-match for Friday night, with both teams now having one loss. On Friday, Williston Park started Casey Cunningham while Merillon sent Chris Pisciotta to the mound.

With the pressure on, Williston Park jumped off to a quick 3-0 lead and never looked back. Matt Lanfair led off the game with a single to center, Casey Cunningham walked, Chris Serrano hit a two-RBI single, John Urbank singled, and Matt Goodrich knocked in the third run with a single to center. In the 2^nd inning, Danny Martinucci singled and scored on Casey Cunningham’s triple, which made the score 4-0, and then Williston Park scored their fifth run in the 4^th inning, with a big hit from Danny Martinucci to knock in Rich Doyle. Williston Park closed out the scoring in the 6^th with a sacrifice fly by Casey Cunningham to score their sixth and final run.

Throughout the Championship Game win, Williston Park had great pitching and suburb defense. Casey Cunningham pitched four scoreless innings, while making four great defensive plays on balls hit back to the mound, including a double play on a line drive in the 2^nd inning. Chris Serrano closed out the 6-0 championship win by getting Merillon 1-2-3 in the 5^th and striking out the last two batters in the 6^th. The game also included the flawless defense of John Quigg, Mark Scaringi, and Jimmy Bulva.

After the final out, the Williston Park players and coaches mobbed the mound and the weekend celebration began. The win was especially rewarding for coaches Steve Serrano and Lou Lanfair who had now coached their final tournament game at Kelleher Field, after beginning this journey in August, 2000, when they first coached the Williston Park 9/10 “B” Team with the dream of winning the tournament for the first time since 1992.

While winning the 2002 Williston Park Mayor’s Trophy was a thrilling moment for the 9/10 Tournament Team, they still had one more big game to prepare for. On Saturday morning at 10am, the team was back on the field at Kelleher to sign the game ball, watch the championship game video, and have a short practice to prepare for the Glen Cove Mayor’s Trophy Championship Game, scheduled for Monday, August 26^th, in Glen Cove. A final win in the Glen Cove 16-team tournament would bring the 2002 Williston Park 9/10 Tournament Team to a level never before seen by any team from Williston Park.

The Williston Park Little League is proud to have a special 9/10 year-old 2002 Tournament Team that consists of Jimmy Bulva (LF, 1B), Casey Cunningham (P, SS), Rich Doyle (LF, 3B), Kevin Fearon (RF), Matt Goodrich (1B), Matt Lanfair (C, CF), Danny Martinucci (2B, P), John Quigg (C), John Quinn (CF, 2B), Mark Scaringi (LF), Chris Serrano (P, SS) and John Urbank (3B). The team is managed by Steve Serrano and coached by Lou Lanfair, Jim Cunningham, and Jim Bulva.

All game information, scheduling, and results can be found at the official web site for the Williston Park Little League at www.wpsports.org.

Copyright © 2000-2006    SJS5.com    All Rights Reserved.