Millburn 13U Wins District Tournament

The Millburn 13U baseball team defeated Berkeley Heights in the championship game of the Northern New Jersey Babe Ruth District 12 Tournament on July 2, at Memorial Field in Cranford, NJ. The team is coached by Head Coach Mike Dasti and Assistant Coaches Rob Dasti, Adam Stein, and Sam Trachtman.

After completing pool play with a 4-0 record, the number one seed, Millburn, faced the number two seed, Berkeley Heights, in the championship game. Charlie Wall pitched a complete game for Millburn, allowing three hits and one earned run over seven innings with one walk and four strikeouts.

Millburn's offense came out strong in the bottom of the first. Daniel Licciardi led off with a single and stole second and third. Wall then singled to drive him in. Walks by Charlie Krasnove, Kyle Chase, and Brandon Wong, and a sacrifice bunt by Wes Dieckman plated three more runs to give Millburn a 4-0 lead which they never relinquished. Licciardi and Zach Shulman both went two for three in the game. Sawyer Stein, Wall, and Dieckman each had a hit for Millburn, and Wall, Wong, and Dieckman each had RBIs.

On defense, Millburn played all seven innings with no errors. Key defensive plays included a bare-handed play by third baseman Chase, a double play on a line drive which shortstop Krasnove caught and threw to Jared Manne at first to double up a runner, three catches by center fielder Wong to record all three outs in the fourth inning, a running catch in foul territory by Manne in the seventh, and two catches by Licciardi in deep left field to rob Berkeley Heights of extra bases.

Millburn now advances to the Northern New Jersey Babe Ruth State Tournament starting July 8 in Wayne, NJ. Games will be played at the Wayne Police Athletic League. In pool play Millburn will face Wood-Ridge on July 8 at 8:00 pm, Wayne on July 10 at 5:45 pm, and Hillsborough on July 11 at 11:00 am.