Milltown tops Edison for county legion title

Squad off to 2-1 start
in District 3 action
BY SHAWN LAYTON
Staff Writer

MIGUEL JUAREZ staff Milltown’s Greg Slavicek arrives safely before Edison second baseman Tim Ryan can slap the tag on him during the July 20 Middlesex County American Legion championship game.

MILLTOWN — The Milltown Post 25 Senior American Legion team topped Edison Post 435 7-4 in the Middlesex County title game.

And they’re hoping that was the first in a series of big wins the rest of the way.

With the win, Milltown earned a shot at Seaside Heights Post 351 in the opening round of the New Jersey state American Legion District Tournament on Sunday. Seaside was the second-place finisher in the Ocean County American Legion League.

"Our reward for winning Middlesex County is we get to play the national Little League champions of 1998 from Toms River East in the first round of the states," Milltown Post 25 head coach Glenn Fredericks said. "District 3 is so loaded with talent that it should be a great tournament."

Teams such as Randolph, Millburn, Chester, Edison and Brooklawn lined up to compete for the district title. Brooklawn won the national championship two years ago and are 24-time state champions.

As it turned out, Milltown’s first-round match-up with Seaside Heights was a blessing in disguise, as the Milltown squad cruised to a 9-0 victory. That set up a game on Monday against Chester, who knocked off the Bay Shore Colts, comprised of players from Christian Brothers Academy, in the first round. Brooklawn, who draws from the rich history of Gloucester Catholic, is the obvious favorite to be one of the two teams to advance to the state finals.

"We go in as the No. 1 seed from Middlesex County, but we are one of many qualified teams," Fredericks said. "Edison is another quality team and there are no easy games from this point on."

In the title game against Edison, Nick Meyers improved his record to 4-0, going five innings to strike out six and allowed one walk.

"Nick did a great job keeping the leadoff guy from reaching base," Fredericks said. "He had a little trouble in the second inning when he led off with two consecutive singles. He regrouped to control the damage to only one run."

Eric Hines pitched the sixth and did a nice job pitching out of a jam to bridge the gap before Fredericks brought in closer Greg Slavicek. Slavicek left center field to pitch the seventh and was greeted by a leadoff double.

"He started out throwing curveballs, and I told him to throw his fastball because I knew they couldn’t catch up to it," Fredericks said. "After the double, he threw all fastballs and let them have it. It was three up and three down after that."

Catcher Chris Affinito went 3-for-4 and started a two-out rally in the first inning that led to three runs.

"Chris hit a line drive to left field and calmed the nerves of the rest of the guys in the dugout," Fredericks said.

With the game still close in the sixth inning, Andrew Silver hit a 410-foot blast off the wall for a two-RBI double to give Milltown a 7-3 lead. Silver finished the game 1-for-3 and also drew a big walk in the first to help ignite the early rally.

"For me, the key at bat in the game came in the first inning," Fredericks said. "With runners on second and third, Scotty Dyckman fought through an 11-pitch battle to hit a liner over the shortstop. That hit made a statement for us and that we were there to win the game."

With the win, Milltown improved its record to 19-2-1 heading into the double elimination district tournament.

Following the impressive win over Seaside Heights, the Milltown squad stumbled against Chester, losing a tough 4-3 contest. Milltown was victimized by an error in the first inning that allowed Chester to score three runs without a ball leaving the infield. In the loss, Slavicek continued his hot hitting, going 2-for-3 with two solo home runs.

That loss set up an elimination game on Tuesday against Broad Street (Trenton) and Milltown rebounded nicely, cruising to a 12-2 win.

Trailing 1-0 in the top of the third inning, Milltown sent nine batter to the plate in taking a 5-1 lead and never looked back.

Catcher Chris Affinito broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run home run, which highlighted a 2-for-4 day (three RBIs) for him. Among the other offensive stars for Milltown were James Corbett, who went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles and two RBIs, and Andy Anderson, who went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.

Lefty Nick Meyers improved to 5-0 with the win, going five innings and striking out five batters without allowing a walk. Another lefty, Matt Merrigan finished off the mercy-rule victory in the sixth.

With the win, Milltown improved to 21-3-1 and earned a shot at the winner of yesterday’s Bayshore-Edison (Father &Sons). That game will decide who will play for a shot at being the second representative to play in the 10-team, double-elimination state finals, which begin this weekend at FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood. The four surviving teams from this weekend’s quarterfinals will advance to the championship round next week at the Sandcastle in Atlantic City.