Middletown Juniors win first Regional title Team playing in World Series this week BY TIM MORRIS Staff Writer Middletown's Joey Kissinger celebrates after his team wraps up the Eastern Regional championship with a 14-0 win over Pennsylvania state champion Greencastle on Thursday in Freehold Township. The host had the most - as in pitching, defense, hitting and just plain heart. Middletown's Junior League (ages 13-14) all-stars won the Eastern Regional championship last week at the Freehold Township Little League complex in convincing fashion. They were a perfect 5-0 and blasted Pennsylvania state champion, Greencastle, 14-0, in Thursday's final. They removed any doubt about their legitimacy as the host team (as the District 19 champions they automatically qualified for the Regional which was hosted by Freehold Township, a District 19 team, and didn't have to win the state title) by beating everyone they went up against. They won close one-run, extra inning games, and twice, won by the 10-run rule. "It's a wonderful feeling," said manager Steve Wollman. "The Middletown Youth Athletic Association has just done a tremendous job attracting new young players into the program." The Regional title was a first for Middletown and it put them in this week's Junior League World Series being held in Taylor, Mich. Middletown certainly earned its way to the World Series. Thursday's final was anti-climatic as Middletown hitters jumped all over a weary Greencastle pitching staff, while Joe Kissinger stepped up and shut Greencastle down with a sharp breaking curveball that froze its hitters combined with a fastball that was hitting the corners. "They're all good hitters," said Kissinger, whose Middletown team had seen Greencastle in the winner's bracket final the day before. "I wanted to keep the ball down and keep mixing it up. My curve ball felt good. "I wanted the ball today," he added. It took very little time for Middletown to put its stamp on this game. Greencastle starter Tyler Schanzenbacher was one strike away from pitching out of a bases-loaded jam when Gavin Koegel launched a two-RBI double to left field. Ryan Marsini followed with a run scoring single, and Middletown was on top 3-0. Koegel would again strike the big hit in a five-run second that put the game away. He again delivered a two-RBI double. "On the first one, I was looking for an offspeed pitch and I got a fastball," he pointed out. "The second time, I was looking for a curveball and I got a hanging curve." Andrew Suralik had an RBI single and Adam Goscinski, a sacrifice fly in the five-run second. All that remained after the second inning was whether Middletown could build on the 8-0 lead and end it after four-and-one-half innings, or could Greencastle extend it. With Kissinger in firm control on the mound, it seemed highly unlikely that Greencastle could mount a rally. When Middletown struck for three more runs in the third inning, it was academic. An RBI triple by Sean Mckee highlighted the three-run third inning. A misplay by the centerfielder on a flyball from Brandon Vorrius, who was Middletown's best hitter throughout the Regional, plated two runs in the fourth and Suralik's RBI single brought home the 14th and final run for the new champions. "This is pretty big, it feels good," Koegel said of the Regional crown. "We have a lot of chemistry." Getting to Thursday's final proved to be the toughest task for Middletown. It had to survive two exhilarating and exhausting games by the identical scores of 3-2. First, they beat New Jersey state champion South Wall behind Sean Wollman on Aug. 6 to advance to the winner's bracket final. This was an important win for Middletown because South Wall had won the state title. It was important to beat the state champions and it was a measure of revenge for Middletown. When they were 10 years old, South Wall had eliminated Middletown in the state tournament. This was their long-awaited payback. Players all agreed that the South Wall victory made them believe they could win the tournament. Middletown was almost always playing from ahead throughout the tournament and did so against South Wall, breaking a scoreless tie with two runs in the top of the third. A suicide squeeze bunt by Koegel scored the first run and Dave Begley's RBI single made it 2-0. Vorrius' lead-off triple led to an insurance run and proved to be the difference in the game. Wollman plated him with an RBI single that gave him a 3-0 cushion. South Wall mounted a rally in the sixth, but Jake Fay shut the door in relief for Middletown and it was onto the winner's bracket final. That game was easy compared to the marathon against Greenville on Aug. 8. Middletown won an eight-inning thriller that they thought that they had twice before. Playing in 90-plus degree heat and humidity, Middletown had to muster all of its heart and will to overcome the Pennsylvania champions. Middletown drew first blood in the bottom of the second on Marsini's double that scored starting pitcher Suralik, who had singled and stole second. But the hard-hitting Pennsylvania state champions answered with two runs in the top of the third on RBI singles by Denton Ensminger and Jared Grove. Suralik pitched a gutsy game for Middletown. He was in trouble in most innings, but held Greenville to just those two runs until exiting the game after six innings, with 97 pitches thrown. Middletown would tie the game in the fifth on a sacrifice fly to left by Mckee, scoring Goscinski, who had started the inning off with a single. In the seventh, the game was Middletown's for the taking. The bases were loaded and relief pitcher Ensminger was having trouble finding the strike zone. On a 3-1 count, a delayed strike call by the home plate umpire had sent the Middletown runners advancing, thinking it was ball four. The result was a run down and Fay was out sliding home. A less resilient team would have been devastated by what happened in the bottom of the seventh, but not Middletown. Mckee, who had replaced Surlik in the seventh, put Greencastle down in order in the top of the eighth. With one-out in the home eighth, Suralik singled and went to second on a throwing error from the outfield. Koegel walked and Marsini hit a hard single to left that loaded the bases. Middletown was again on the precipice of victory and this time, Goscinski ended the marathon lofting a deep fly to center scoring Suralik with the winning run. Greenville had to come back and play an elimination game immediately after the heartbreaking loss. They showed their character by beating Maryland champions, Abrutus Little League, 3-2, in the consolation final. But, Greenville had little left in the tank the next morning for Middletown. One of the keys for Middletown was its pitching depth. At no time was the staff in serious trouble. "We had a deep pitching staff that no one was aware of," said Steve Wollman. The players making up the 2007 Eastern Regional championship team are: Dave Begley, Adam Goscinski, Joey Kissinger, Gavin Koegel, Ryan Marsini, Kyle Martin, Sean Mckee, Chris Pattwell, Miles Raziwanowski, Andrew Suralik, Brandon Vorrius and Sean Wollman. John Marsini and Richard Kissinger made up Steve Wollman's coaching staff. Middletown, which carried an 11-0 record to Taylor, showed no signs of a let up, keeping its Summer of 2007 record perfect in the first game of the Junior League World Series. They beat South Regional champion Anderson Area YMCA from South Carolina, 11-1, on Sunday. Vorrius had a home run and two RBIs and Kissinger had two hits and two RBIs as Middletown's bats showed no signs of cooling off. They will next play Southwest Regional winner Del Marl from Laredo, Texas in pool play. The 10-team international World Series is divvied into two five-team pools, one made up of US teams and the other international. The two top teams from pool play will meet for the U.S. and International championships on Saturday. The winners will play for the World Series title on Saturday at 8 p.m. There will be a live broadcast of the game on ESPNU. The game will be broadcast on tape delay on Aug. 29 at 2 p.m.