Erial Defeats Audubon to Win District 14

With up 10-1 in the sixth inning, the team's only 11-year-old, Anthony DiMartino, came to the plate.

On the fifth pitch of his at-bat, DiMartino smacked a line drive that got past Audubon right fielder Nate Laxton and rolled to the fence. DiMartino trotted into second base with an RBI double, making the score 11-1 Erial.

While the double wasn't a game-changing hit, it emphasized the biggest reason that Erial became District 14 champions—the fact that all 11 players contributed to victories in one game or another.

Indeed, Erial's chemistry and all-around determination pushed them to the league's fourth straight District 14 championship on Wednesday, as they defeated Audubon, 12-1, at Gloucester Little League's Earl M. Moore Memorial Field.

“After the first loss, they kept their composure,” said Erial manager Carl Foltz. “They knew that they were a good team and they came out and beat [Audubon] twice. They just never had their heads down.”

Erial wasted no time getting out in front. The first batter of the game, , hit a leadoff home run over the left-center field fence to give Erial a quick 1-0 lead. had an RBI double later in the inning that scored to give Erial a 2-0 lead.

“It felt good to lead off the game with a home run,” said Sarne. “I haven't really been hitting that good, so it felt good.”

Holland was superb on the mound, rebounding after a tough start against Audubon last Saturday. Holland went 4 2/3 innings, allowing just two hits—a triple in the first inning by Rich Giandrea and a fourth inning RBI single by Quinn Davey that accounted for Audubon's lone run. Holland also walked just two batters and struck out five.

Erial scored in every inning but the second, opening up a 7-0 lead heading into the sixth. After Sarne led the inning off with a single, Holland hit his fourth home run of the tournament season over the left-field fence to open the lead up to 9-1. Erial added three more runs in the inning, including on the double by DiMartino late.

The players celebrated their achievement after the game, running a victory lap with the District 14 championship banner. Though it is Erial's fourth straight, it had been two years since this group had won a district title. This same team lost to Audubon in last year's 11-year-old district championship. They had defeated Audubon as 10-year-olds in 2009.

“It feels great,” said Jake Vespa about winning the championship. “We just have to keep doing what we did today.”

“I'm looking forward to sections,” said Sarne. “We're going to try to win it. We're going to have fun and we're going to try and go far.”

Erial will open up the Section 4 tournament on Saturday at Pennsville Little League. The opponent will be North Vineland, the District 3 champions. North Vineland went a perfect 6-0 in its district tournament, edging out East Vineland 5-4 in the championship game on Monday.

Foltz knows that his team is now going up against the best Little League teams in South Jersey and it will be a challenge.

“North Vineland is going to be a tough team,” said Foltz “We haven't done any scouting on them, so that's a disadvantage to us. I know they were out here scouting us. But we're set for pitching for the next couple of games. We fell real confident about our starters and if we keep hitting the ball, we'll be tough to beat.”

Last season, Erial's 12-year-olds got all the way to the section championship, where they lost to Northfield, 8-7. This year's team has certainly proven over the last two weeks that they are deserving of being District 14 champions.

Now, they will try and take the next step and win the Section 4 tournament, something no Erial 12-year-old team has ever done.

Check back with Gloucester Township Patch this afternoon for a full photo gallery from Wednesday night's District 14-clinching victory.

                    1  2  3  4  5  6     R  H  E
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Erial             2  0  2  1  2  5     12 12  2
Audubon      0  0  0  0  1  0       1  2  3
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W: Adam Holland

L: Mike Voll

2B: Erial: Gianni D'Antonio 2, Anthony DiMartino

3B: Audubon: Richy Giandrea

HR: Erial: Cross Sarne, Holland, Jason Reynolds