Photos courtesy of Carmen Alberti
NUTLEY, NJ – The Nutley American 12-year-old Little League All-Star baseball team won the District 8 tournament championship, beating Bloomfield by a score of 3-2 in the final on Monday, July 9, at Nutley American LL field.
Nutley American advanced to the Section 2 tournament held in Ridgefield. But unfortunately, they lost both games in the double-elmimination format. They fell to Elmora of Elizabeth, 11-5, Saturday, July 14, and lost to Teaneck South, 12-2, the next day, to end their amazing run.
Nutley American Manager Peter Breihof was elated for his team’s memorable journey this summer.
“I couldn’t be more proud of them,” said Breihof an interview with the The Nutley Journal. “It was so much fun. I’ve coaching these kids, most of them, since they were in T-Ball and B-Ball. I can not tell you enough how hard these kids played. They play like a team. They do all the things that you would want your team to do, and I’ve coached at a lot of different levels.”
Here is the team’s roster:
Jonathan Breihof
Joey Haines
Kevin Jiratatprasot
William Jennings
Jayden Martinez
Ryan Roque
Anthony Pinal
Joshua Dick
Jake LoMonaco
Drew Slomkowski
Anthony Nina
Jayden Velez
Chris Sarno
Peter Breihof, Manager
Joe Haines, Coach
Bob Slomkowski, Coach
Rich Jenninings, Coach
Nutley then played in a national tournament in Cooperstown, N.Y. They were 4-0 and placed sixth out of 104 teams through August 6.
Meanwhile, the Nutley American 10-year-old Little League team also had a great run as it finished runner-up in the District 8 tournament championship game on July 11 in Livingston, losing to Livingston, 6-4, in the final.
Editor’s note: This article was updated to include results of the Section tournament and 10-year-old team’s result in the district tournament.