Toms River East Little Leaguers Win NJ Title, Head To Region Tourney

TOMS RIVER, NJ — For the second straight year, the Toms River East Little League has a team of All-Stars headed to the region tournament, with hopes of making a trip to the Little League World Series.

The 12-and-under All-Stars won the New Jersey championship on Saturday, earning themselves a spot in the new Metro Region tournament. Little League has added four teams to the Little League World Series tournament for 2022, and the Metro Region, which consists of four teams (New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island) is one of the four new regions.

Toms River East is scheduled to play New York representative Massapequa Little League on Saturday.

The team is following in the footsteps of the 2021 Toms River East team that won the Mid-Atlantic Region title and reached the Little League World Series in Williamsport.

Toms River East Little League has a sendoff planned for the team beginning at 6:15 p.m. on Thursday at the Little League complex, 2195 Windsor Ave.

The team was 3-0 in winning the District 18 championship. In the Section 3 tournament, Toms River East won its first two games, before losing to Milltown in the semifinals and rebounding to beat Milltown for the championship.

In the New Jersey state tournament, Toms River East won all three of its games, giving up just one run while beating Rutherford, 12-0, Haddonfield, 10-1 and Pequannock, 9-0.

The Toms River East roster includes:

PLAYERS

• Jayce Cappello
• Jake Gallagher
• Brady Gillen
• Philipp LaGrossa
• Logan Macchia
• Christian Mascaro
• Ryan McHugh
• Michael Mendes
• Kevin O'Donnell
• Gavin Senger
• Deklin Sloan
• Tyler Todaro
• Bryce Tomitz

COACHES

• Mike Mendes
• George Gallagher
• Ed Todaro

The team leaves for Bristol, Connecticut, on Friday morning, Toms River East league officials said.