|
Philipstown Little League Team Has Best Showing Ever in District Tournament
by John Koval
 | | The 2006 Philipstown Little League team 1st row (l-r): Jordan Panthan, Drew Ford, Kenny Doxy, Jay Marchese, Kieren Austin, Alex Hersch, Robert Dean. 2nd row (l-r): Justin Kaufmann, Matt Forlow, Ryan Koval, Jack McCann, John Rotundo. 3rd row (l-r) Coach John Rotundo, Manager Tom Costigan, Coach John Koval. Missing from the picture are Stephen Zalys and Tim Costigan. |
|
The Philipstown Little League entered the District 17 All Star tournament with an inexperienced playoff team and was able to advance further than any other Philipstown on recent record. Of the players on the team only 6 had actual playing experience in the All Star competition.
In the first game the team traveled to take on the Pawling All Stars. Ryan Koval was given the assignment on the hill. Drew Ford led off with a hard shot to center field letting Pawling know they were going to be in for a long day. In the second inning Philipstown continued the hitting barrage as Matt Forlow, Stephen Zalys, Tim Costigan and Justin Kaufmann pounded the ball accounting for 3 runs. Philipstown continued to hit the ball hard scoring 4 more runs before the game was over. Koval shut down the Pawling bats, striking out 11, walking 2 and allowing only 2 hits. When it was all over Philipstown won 7-0.
In the second game, Philipstown was to face Hyde Park American. With the bats remaining hot, Philipstown scored 3 runs in the top of the first. With Stephen Zalys on the mound and a 3 run lead, things were looking good for Philipstown. Hyde Park however answered with 3 runs in their half of the 1st. From that point it became a pitching duel. Zalys struck out 8 but Hyde Park squeezed out a run in the third inning while keeping the Philipstown bats silent. Despite 10 strikeouts by Zalys, Philipstown lost 4-3 and their first loss in the double elimination tournament.
Things would change in the next game for Philipstown. Facing elimination and losing 2 players in their lineup, Philipstown traveled to Fishkill. Matt Forlow made his first pitching start in All Star competition. Philipstown started off hitting the ball hard with Koval getting a hit that went all the way to the fence, but a bad call by the umps resulted in him being called out at the plate. Forlow struck out 5 in the first 2 innings and continued to keep the opposition off the scoreboard while Philipstown held a 2-0 lead. Philipstown used "small ball" to put runs on the board, as Jay Marchese worked out a walk, Kenny Doxy bunted and Kieian Austin's pinch running all added insurance runs. When the eighteenth out was recorded Philipstown had scored 9 more runs with the help multiple hit games by Ford (2), Koval (2), Forlow (3) and Kaufmann (2) leaving a final score of 11-4. Forlow pitched a complete game, giving up 4 runs on 6 hits and recorded 11 strikeouts.
Their next game was at the North Highlands field. Their opponent this time was a tough Wappingers National team. Koval got the pitching call and Philipstown again started out with hot bats. Ford led off with a double followed by a single from John Rotando. Wappingers prolonged the inning by committing 2 errors allowing Philipstown to put 4 runs on the board. From that point on, the defense took over making every play and not allowing an opposing batter further than 1st base.
When it was all over Wappingers National was only able to manage 4 hits as Koval pitched a complete game, striking out 5 and walking 1.
Game 5 was newly charted territory for a Philipstown All Star Team as only one other team has played that far into the tournament and that was many years ago.
Despite being the traveling team Philipstown was the Home team vs Hyde Park American as a result of a coin toss. With Forlow getting a 2nd pitching start, Philipstown cruised through the first 3 innings.
In the 2nd Kaufmann reached base with a single and Jordan Panthan and Doxy joined the hit parade to load the bases. Austin sacrificed the ball into left field scoring the first run.
In the top of the 3rd the rain stopped play for about a 90 minutes. When play resumed Philipstown picked up where they left off. Koval led off with a walk and then advanced to 3rd base on a Forlow double and later scored on a pass ball. Kaufmann reached on a fielder's choice and was replaced by Panthan as a pinch runner. Marchese hit the ball to the right side of the diamond allowing Forlow to score. One of the wackiest plays of the tournament occurred when Robert Dean came to the plate and walked. He then scored on a 3-base throwing error by Hyde Park. Hyde Park started hitting the ball hard in the 4th scoring 2 runs and held Philipstown scoreless. In the top of the 5th Hyde Park added another run.
In the bottom of the inning, the bottom half of the Philipstown lineup showed why they are on the all-star team. With 2 outs Marchese hit a sharp single down the first base line, went to second on a Robert Dean walk and third on a Doxy base hit. Marchese showed his skill on the bases once again taking advantage of an opposing catcher's miscue scoring on a pass ball.
When the dust settled Philipstown won 5-4. Forlow pitched a complete game giving up 4 runs on 4 hits, 3 walks and struck out 13.
In the next game Philipstown was to face another Wappingers team with a little hometown flavor as Jordan Bishop was playing 2nd base for Wappinger American. Kaufmann got the starting nod making his All Star pitching debut. Drew Ford started the game with an extra base hit and would come around to score on a Wappingers error. Wappingers came back in the 2nd scoring 3 runs putting Philipstown behind for only the second time in the tournament. The boys from P-town came back with 2 runs on a Kaufmann hit, a sacrifice bunt by Doxy and 3 free passes to Panthan (HBP), McCann and Ford (BB). Wappingers answered with 2 runs on 2 hits in the next inning and a costly error before Kaufmann struck out the next 3 batters. At the end of the game Wappingers took the win 5-3 eliminating Philipstown despite a 12strikeout effort by Kaufmann.
As the tournament came to an end for the Philipstown All Stars the coaches were extremely proud of the effort the boys put forward. Philipstown Little League has never had a team advance this far into the District Tournament with this group finishing 6th out of 19 teams. This team's accomplishments were a result of lots of hard work. Each player performed marvelously, exhibiting the utmost in sportsmanship both in winning and losing and showed a genuine love for the game of baseball while playing it in its purist form.
Thanks to the fans who supported the team throughout the tournament as well as the Board of the Philipstown Little League, John Vergilli who sang the National Anthem at home games and the countless number of volunteers who made sure the field was in perfect shape for each game.
| 
)
