Nutley American 8U Little League team captures District 8 championship; seeks berth in state finals

Editor Published: July 24, 2023 | Updated: July 24, 2023 3 minutes read

The Nutley American 8U All-Star team gathers after beating Oradell Gold 4-2. (Photo Courtesy of Travis Gonick)

The Nutley American Little League 8U All-Star team captured the state District 8 tournament championship.

The district teams included Nutley American, Nutley East, Caldwell, Livingston, Bloomfield, Montclair and Northward Center in Newark.

Not knowing what to expect, Nutley American played its first game against Caldwell and showed dominant pitching and hitting to win the game 11-5. On little rest, Nutley American played less than 12 hours later against its crosstown team Nutley East and in a tough battle won 3-2. After their first two wins, things started to click.

Now a week later and having all their pitchers on full rest, Nutley American played Livingston on its home turf and didn’t miss a beat. Nutley cruised past Livingston 7-3. Waiting to find out who they would play in the championship, Nutley American was on full rest again. Bloomfield battled all the way to the finals after playing some tough games with one loss under its belt. But nothing was stopping Nutley American from start to finish. It was pitching and smart baseball that helped Nutley American cruise to its first-ever 8U district championship, winning the game 9-5.

After the district win, Nutley American moved on to the Northern State Tournament with all the district winners playing one another for a shot at playing in the state final Sunday, July 30, against the Southern state winner.

Nutley American got a first-round bye and waited to find out the winner of the Hoboken versus Fort Lee game. After a 6-3 win Hoboken moved on to face Nutley American.

Nutley American stuck to its script, and pitching and hitting dominated, beating Hoboken 12-2. “This was no longer a Cinderella story,” said Nutley coach Travis Gonick, one of three coaches for the team. “These kids believed whoever they played against that they could compete with.”

Next up in the semifinal was Oradell Gold. And like in previous games, Nutley American relied on what helped them the most and that is pitching. Shutting down Oradell Gold to only four hits while recording eight strikeouts was what led Nutley American to a championship berth, as Nutley won 4-2.

After Oradell Gold defeated Fort Lee on Sunday July 23, they earned their spot in the final.

Tuesday, July 25, will be the rematch between Nutley American against Oradell Gold at 6:30 p.m. at 69 Indian Lake Drive in Little Ferry in a double-loss elimination. If Oradell Gold wins on Tuesday, there will be a deciding game on Thursday July 27.

Here is the Nutley American roster

Players