The Erial 11-12 Little League Baseball All-Stars begin their quest to win a Section 4 title Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Erial cruised through District 14, winning its fifth straight district title in undefeated fashion. The team won every game by mercy rule until it ran into a serious test in crosstown rival Blackwood Kiwanis. Blackwood led the district final 3-2 entering the sixth inning, but Erial battled back with five runs to move on to the next round.
Section 4 is made up of teams from Cape May County, Atlantic County, Cumberland County, Salem County, Gloucester County, Camden County and the southern part of Burlington and Ocean counties.
Erial has a first-round bye and will take on the winner of East Vineland (Cumberland County/District 3) and Margate (Cape May County/District 16) in a game it will host Tuesday night.
Find out what's happening in Gloucester Townshipwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
East Vineland ran through District 3, going 6-0, including a 17-9 win over Pennsville in the district final.
With a victory, Erial would advance to the winners' bracket semifinal in Lindenwold, on Thursday. The tournament is double elimination, so a loss would place Erial in an elimination bracket game in Blackwood, on Wednesday.
Find out what's happening in Gloucester Townshipwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Erial has the look of a team that could be in for a long run this summer, and manager Jeff Mastrogiovanni has already said his team has what it takes to be the best in the state.
“I don’t think there is a team in this state that can compete with our bats,” Mastrogiovanni said earlier this summer. “On top of that we have three or four of the best pitchers in the section, too, so I think it’s going to be a fun ride.”
Despite the confidence, the players are not getting ahead of themselves as evidenced by the comments made by Shawn Gaugler after he picked up the win in last week’s district final.
“Everyone wants to go to the Little League World Series, but we have to take it one step at a time,” Gaugler said.
Mastrogiovanni pointed to the team's maturation as the reason it has a chance to go so far. In the District 14 tournament, this group of kids overcame rivals that it struggled against in the past, giving them confidence they can overcome any obstacle they face.
“(Blackwood) was the team that beat them when they were 8 and Glendora beat them when they were 9 and 10, and then this year we beat both of those teams,” Mastrogiovanni said. “We are going to move forward and hopefully keep it going.”
