Brick Titans will enter fall ball on quite a roll
BY WAYNE WITKOWSKI
Staff Writer

Bolstered by the success of the spring and summer season, the Brick Titans AAU 8-year-old baseball team of Domenick Brando is eager for the start of the fall part of its inaugural season in the U.S. Amateur Baseball League after Labor Day weekend.

"It's been great. The kids had fun," said manager Domenick Brando, who was assisted by coaches Frank Higgins, Tom Jackim, Shawn Scott and Tom Finelli during the past season.

"The parents enjoyed it, and everyone built up a camaraderie," said Brando. "Once the playoffs came, the team got hot and started playing good baseball. They really clicked."

After going 2-7 during the regular season, the Titans got to the championship game where they lost to a team from Staten Island, 6-4. They had won earlier playoff games at Sayreville, 9-7, and over Marlboro, 9-5.

"The thing is that we knew that if they played enough games, they'd pull together," said Brando.

The team enjoyed the same success as its 9-year-old counterparts - the Kristi Shay Bulldogs of Brick - who reached the championship game in the fall and the semifinals in the spring seasons under manager Joe Marino in USABL.

"I knew Joe Marino did it last fall and it was something I wanted to do because it's a better brand of baseball," said Brando. "We stress teaching, and the coaches helped explain things to them. I've seen these kids play baseball since they were 5 years old, so I knew what kids to get for this team."

Many of them also play in the Brick National Little League program.

Whether it's the pitching of Nick Tartaglione and Kevin Higgins, who hurled a 1-0 victory over Hazlet during the season, or the hitting throughout the lineup anchored by cleanup hitter and shortstop James Fata, something always comes to the fore every game.

"One game it's good hitting, one game it's fielding and the pitching is always has it," said Brando. "This team can hit the ball and make plays."

Because many of the players also compete in youth football on Sundays in the fall, AAU baseball plays its games on Saturdays. With the success of the two teams, at least two other AAU teams are starting up for the fall season in Brick in those age groups.

The rest of the Titans' 12-player roster includes catcher Anthony Brando (the manager's son), first baseman Dan Finelli, second basemen Jack Jackim and Tom Zbranak, third baseman Jake Scott and outfielders Shane Leonard, Ryan Hawkins, Brian Thorne and Michael Soldo.

Dickson Electric, of Brick, is the lead sponsor of the Titans and others include Briarmill Pharmacy, Craig's Restaurant, Cane Realtors and Remax agent Laura Ianiro.