Monroe 8s take third at regional tourney

After winning the Monroe Township Invitational, the team's seventh consecutive championship, the Monroe 8-year-old All-Stars went 2-1 in the Cal Ripken Mid-Atlantic Regional in Albany, N.Y., losing only to Clifton Park, N.Y., and eventually taking third place.

Monroe's first game in the Mid-Atlantic Regionals was against Clifton Park, N.Y., the western New York champion, which they lost 10-2.

"It was by far the toughest team we played against all year. In the end the difference was that they made the crucial plays and we didn't," said Manager Mike Peto. "And when you get to this level of competition that's usually what determines who wins and who loses."

The youngsters bounced back in their next two games beating Hamilton, 8-1, and Flemington, 7-5.

"This was a great end to a great season," Peto said. "Although we weren't able to bring home the championship, both the kids and the parents had a fantastic time in Albany. We all stayed together in the Holiday Inn, and when we lost our first game, the kids were immediately playing kickball and dodge ball against each other and were swimming in the pool. You would have thought we won the game, not lost. But that's what made this team so special. You don't win 41 games by being lucky."

The season started early for these youngsters.

"Beginning in January we had 8- and 9-year-olds from multiple teams in my basement twice a week doing strength exercises, agility drills, hitting and pitching," said Coach Jim Heatter. "We put a cage up in my basement and had kids rotating in every 45 minutes or so for two hours at a time. We tried to make it fun for them, but we tried to make sure we were helping them become better baseball players with individual instruction for every drill. We thought they would be good, but never did we imagine this good."

The players finished with a tremendous tournament record, going 10-1 in the USABL tournament, 4-0 in the Marlboro Memorial Day tournament, 4-1 in the South Plainfield Father's Day tournament, 5-0 in the Cal Ripken District 9 tournament, 6-0 in the East Brunswick Summer Slugfest tournament, 5-1 in the Cal Ripken New Jersey state tournament, 5-0 in the Monroe Township Invitational, and 2-1 in the Cal Ripken Mid-Atlantic Regional tournament.

The players are Matt Sorrento, Rob Cocorikis, Mike Granda, Thomas Fleites, Stephen McCann, Nicky Lombard, Matt Horn, Robbie Peto, RJ Dreyfuss, Eric Heatter, Andrew Isola, Kyle Daly and Joe Filiano The manager is Mike Peto, while the coaches are Kevin Horn, Jim Heatter, Lou Granda, Kirk McCann and Gerry Fleites.