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 (Photo by David Goldsmith) caption:
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Princeton Little League 11s Forged Bond Despite Falling Short of Final Nine Spot
By Bill Alden
Midway through its third game of Pool C play in the District 12 tournament last Wednesday, the Princeton Little League 11-year-old all-star team appeared to be well on its way to advancing to the Final Nine phase of the competition.
Building a 7-1 lead over East Windsor, Princeton was on the verge of going 2-1 and putting itself into second place in its pool in a competition where the top three in each of the three groups moves on.
But failing to capitalize on two bases-loaded situations and then being hurt by some defensive miscues and seeing-eye base hits, Princeton dropped an 8-7 heartbreaker. Two days later, Sunnybrae shut down Princeton 10-2, thereby eliminating it from contention for a spot in the Final Nine.
In assessing his club's effort, Princeton head coach Billy Ray rued what might have been. "I know that a lot of coaches say this but a couple of bounces just didn't go our way," said Ray, whose team finished with a 1-3 mark in pool play. "The kids played like a 3-1 team. I just wish that I had more time with this group so that we could've shored some things up."
One player who emerged as the leader of the group was star pitcher Chris Harwood. "This was the first time Chris played summer ball and he gave us two good six-inning performances," said Ray, who also cited the mound work of Ian Finnen and Jacob Eisenberg. "Chris pitched his heart out; we couldn't have asked for more. He also hit well for us in every game."
Princeton also got good offensive production from David Bronsteen, Michael Ray, and Alex Bauman. "David Bronsteen had a couple of doubles in the first game and then had some good bunts throughout the tournament," added Ray, noting that the team's win over HTRBA in the pool opener marked the first time that the Princeton program had beaten the perennial power in District 12 play.
"Michael Ray did a good job for us offensively and did a good job catching. Alex Bauman was our clean-up hitter and he did a nice job sharing the catching with Michael."
While Ray was impressed by the strides made by his players individually, it was the team's spirit that set it apart.
"It was wonderful to get to know players that I hadn't coached before," said Ray, whose assistant coaches were Tom Dunlap and Steve Eisenberg. "It was a great group of kids and they really did bond. They practiced hard for three weeks. They had some fantastic practices and they really came together."
Ray, for his part, believes the hard work his players put in this summer will pay off in the long run.
"I saw a lot of development in the last month," asserted Ray. "This experience will make them stronger and will help them win more games in the future."
