Toms River East 13-Year-Olds Aim For Intermediate World Series Title

TOMS RIVER, NJ ? Last year, the Toms River East Little League had a team go to Williamsport for the Little League World Series.

This year, members of that team are back and are playing in the Little League Intermediate 50/70 World Series in California, enjoying another long summer of baseball. And they are doing it with just nine players on the roster.

The team lost its opener in the World Series on Sunday, dropping a hard-fought 11-10 decision to the West Region champion, Central East Maui Little League.

On Tuesday, however, the team bounced back, rallying from a four-run deficit to beat Southwest Region champion, Needville Little League from Texas, 11-10, in an elimination game.

Toms River East trailed 10-6 in the bottom of the sixth inning when Jayden Luongo smacked a grand slam to left field to tie the game, and Cailen Cimorelli scored a single by Jalen McLean to take the lead.

Carson Frazier then struck out two batters and induced a fly ball caught by Cole Garrison to seal the victory.

The victory keeps Toms Rivee East alive in the elimination bracket and they get another crack at the Central East Maui team at 3 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday.

The Intermediate 50/70 league is 13-year-olds, and the basepaths and distance to the pitcher's mound are farther than in the 12-and-under Little League, where the basepaths are 60 feet.

The Toms River East team, the District 18 champions, won the Section 3 tournament by beating Princeton (22-0), Middletown (5-1) and then beating Middletown a second time in the title game, 15-0. In the New Jersey state tournament, Toms River East lost its first game to Nutley East, 9-8, in 9 innings. The team had to fight out of the elimination bracket, beating Sparta 16-0, avenging its loss to Nutley East with a 12-5 victory and then beating South Vineland twice, 3-2 and 13-2, to win the state championship.

The team then headed to Commack, New York, for the East Region tournament, where they went 4-0 to capture the region crown and head to Livermore, California, for the World Series.

The players on this year's team are

• Tyler Arnesen
• Carson Frazier
• Cailen Cimorelli
• Max Mika
• Adrian Bilotti
• Jayden Luongo
• Jalen McLean
• Jason Verderrosa
• Cole Garrison

Arnesen and Luongo are new, the remainder of the roster played in Williamsport last year.

Note: The time of the game has been corrected to reflect the game is being played on the West Coast.