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 (Photo by David Goldsmith) caption:
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Princeton Little League 10s Competitive But Doomed by Final Inning of Pool Play
By Bill Alden
When Rick Hrabchak started coaching the Princeton Little League 10-year-old all-star team in late June, he realized that he faced an uphill battle.
"Three weeks ago we just had a bunch of individuals who play baseball," said Hrabchak. "Princeton was viewed by the other teams in the district as an easy win."
Hrabchak molded his group of players into a team that turned a lot of heads as it battled hard in Pool B of the District 12 tournament.
Princeton entered the final inning of pool play leading Cranbury-Plainsboro by 7-3 with the winner advancing to the Final Nine phase of the competition.
Unfortunately, Princeton was unable to hold that lead as it fell 8-7 to end up 1-3 overall and on the outside looking in when it came to the Final Nine.
"It was a combination of walks, hits, and errors," said Hrabchak, reflecting on that fateful final inning. "You have to give Cranbury-Plainsboro credit, they made some plays. We got up to bat but we weren't able to respond. It was a big disappointment."
Hrabchak, though, was not disappointed with the way his players grew into a unit as the tournament progressed.
"We became a team," asserted Hrabchak, whose club topped West End 8-1 but fell to Sunnybrae 10-1 and Millstone-Roosevelt 7-4 in its other pool games. "We came together as a team. Each and every kid improved. We really proved to the other teams in the district that we could be competitive in every game."
For Hrabchak, players like George Blinick exemplified the team's competitive spirit. "George got on base nearly every time he came up during pool play," said Hrabchak, who also cited the contributions of Alex Kim, Ellis Bloom, and Will Greenberg. "George pitched for us and he caught for us. He was just a good all-around player."
Although Hrabchak was proud of how the players progressed individually, the emphasis was squarely on teamwork.
"We not only wanted to help them to work on improving their skills, we wanted to bring them together as a team," said Hrabchak, noting that he got extensive help from the other parents with five or six aiding him with the coaching duties. "Every one of the kids got along. They didn't all know each other at the beginning but they all became friends."
The players bonded on a shared work ethic. "The kids were really into it," added Hrabchak, pointing out that his team played or practiced all but two days over the last three weeks.
"Our practices were scheduled for three hours but many times they wanted to stay longer to help them get better. A lot of the practices ended up going three hours. Some nights I had to tell them it was too dark to play to get them off the field."
With that kind of effort, it's no wonder that the Princeton 10s established themselves as tough competitors.
