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Williston Park wins Diamond Pro's 12&U Fall Championship!     (Photo)        Previous Article: Williston Times 11-7-2003 Article)  

The Williston Park Little League 11/12 year-old Tournament Team completed another fabulous baseball season this past weekend (11/8) by defeating a strong Ridgewood-Glendale-Middle Village-Maspeth (RGMVM) team to win the Diamond Pro’s Fall 12&under Championship.

The Williston Park team is known as the “Williston Park Patriots” which is comprised of 13 very special boys from the Williston Park Little League. Williston Park has now won six major tournament championships within the past two years, including this past weekend’s Diamond Pro’s Championship and the most recent Columbus Day Weekend - Triple Crown Series Championship at the Connecticut Sportsplex in North Branford, Connecticut, which earned the Williston Park Team a berth to Triple Crown Nationals in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in 2004.

After a lengthy Fall season, including 14 regular season games plus Playoffs, the team advanced to the Diamond Pro’s best 2-of-3 Championship Series. The team then needed three components that have been critical to every championship: outstanding pitching, timely hitting, and flawless defense.

Game-1 against RGMVM was at Kelleher Field with the game-time temperature about 40 degrees. The game was a scoreless pitcher’s duel until Jimmy Bulva singled in the 4^th inning to score both Casey Cunningham and Chris Serrano, to give Williston Park a 2-0 lead. Williston Park then scored 3 runs in the 5^th, behind back-to-back doubles by Danny Martinucci and John Urbank, followed by RBI’s by Pat Martinucci and Casey Cunningham, to give Williston Park a commanding 5-0 lead. Chris Serrano then closed out the 2-hit 12-strikeout pitching performance to give Williston Park a one-game to none Series lead. The game also included the strong defense of Danny McEnery and the smart base running of Brendan Reynolds.

In game-2, with the temperature approaching 30 degrees, RGMVM came roaring back and scored 2 runs in the 1^st inning to take an early 2-0 lead. Williston Park attempted to threaten, with a double by Danny Martinucci in the 3^rd, and singles by Rich Doyle and Matt Malley in the 5^th, but RGMVM’s ace pitcher shut down the Williston Park offense until the 6^th inning. Williston Park then rallied for one run behind a two-out walk to Pat Martinucci and a RBI single by Casey Cunningham, but the game ended with RGMVM’s pitcher striking out his 15^th batter to seal the 4-1 victory for RGMVM and tie the Championship Series at one game each.

Game-3 was at the RGMVM Complex in Glendale, NY. The game started as another pitcher’s duel but Williston Park battled for a run in the 3^rd inning, behind a walk by Danny Martinucci and a RBI sacrifice fly by Chris McCormick. Williston Park then extended the lead to 3-0 in the 4^th, with a walk by Casey Cunningham, a clutch RBI double by TJ Arsenault, and a RBI single by Jimmy Bulva to score Brendan Reynolds. With the score 3-0, Matt Lanfair saved a hit with a diving catch in left field, and Chris McCormick made a circus catch with a diving play into the fence in centerfield (which left him dazed for a few moments). The score remained 3-0 entering the 6^th inning, when RGMVM loaded the bases on 2 walks and a hit-by-pitch to raise the tension level with two outs. Needing one more out, Pat Martinucci then struck out the last batter to complete the no-hit 12-strikeout pitching performance and win the Championship for Williston Park. The team then stormed the mound and piled on to celebrate the 2003 Diamond Pro’s Championship.

The Williston Park Tournament Team had a final record of 24-1 during the Fall and the boys can now take a well-deserved rest after playing 50+ games within the past 5 months, along with multiple practices each week at Kelleher Field, and a weekly trip to the batting cage. A thanks goes out to the families that allowed the proper dedication that led to the team’s success and a special cheer for the coaching staff of Steve Serrano, Jim Bulva, Jim Cunningham, Lou Lanfair, and Ken Martinucci who spent countless hours scheduling and preparing the Williston Park Patriots for the very successful 2003 season, along with many late nights and early mornings attending to field maintenance at Kelleher Field.

The Team now looks forward to the 2004 season. It’s amazing … but seven members of the 2003 Championship Team are “young” and eligible to return in 2004 and represent Williston Park again at the 12&under level … the run continues … next year!

All Williston Park Little League game information, scheduling, and results can be found at the official web site at www.wpsports.org.

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