Local Little League teams ready for action BY WAYNE WITKOWSKI Staff Writer Practices for all-star teams got into full swing late last week as the younger and oldest teams at Brick National and Brick American prepared for tournaments that begin in the days ahead. Pitching depth is the main ingredient for most of the teams as they head into pool play in the hopes of advancing into single-elimination. Many of them coming into this week were getting a clear picture of where to position their versatile players and showing signs of developing a team chemistry essential to playing far into July. Here is a look at some of those teams: Brick American 11s Manager Jon Denley said it was tough for him and his coaches - Todd Brenner, Ed Rizzitello and Ray Triano - to reduce the 19 candidates to 13 but made sure half of his roster was made up of pitchers while gearing up for their July 7 opener of pool play at home against Holbrook starting at 7 p.m. But what also impressed Denley was when likely selection Corey Zytko, who helped the Mariners to the Little League 12s playoff title, forfeited his spot because his family was going on vacation. "It was quite honorable," said Denley. "It would upset the chemistry of the team if he practiced with us and then left [during pool play] and came back and rejoined us, and that we would have to adjust again if we advanced. It gives someone else a chance." The team carries seven pitchers, which Denley said is "very much to our advantage," and three of them also play as catchers - Brian Cottrell, Dillon Heath and Brian Melia. Another pitcher - Richard Kuhn of the Orioles - plays shortstop and second base. The team has power, led by Kuhn's four home runs, and speed, which drew the praise of Denley. "I love the speed of this team," he said, pointing particularly to center fielder Connor Maliff. "We just started practices, but I see a tremendous amount of that, and we'll take advantage of it. With that, I think we'll have a very good defensive team and also in terms of taking the extra base and playing small ball." The other three pitchers are Tyler Goodman, who also plays first base; Patrick Toomey, who plays at first base and in the outfield; and Robert Triano, who also is a shortstop and second baseman. All of them are right-handed. Other players include outfielder Tyler Green and outfielder/third baseman Stephen Scaturro, who played for the regular-season champion Orioles; third baseman Mike D'Amato; outfielder Joseph Pifher, and Tyler Hobbs, who can play in the infield or the outfield. Brick National 11s Manager John Brower said he "revised the team a little," with half of the roster consisting of new players as they prepare for their first game of pool play against Lakewood on July 7 in Manchester. It starts at 11 a.m. The team last year made it to the District 18 semifinals, and this year's team has solid pitching in John Sullivan, Brian Henry, Ian Cole and Harry Eaton as well as Jake Erickson and Chris Lopez. Brower said Sullivan, Henry and Eaton also swing solid bats along with outfielders Matt Olsen, Andrew Cannata and Corey Wademan. Brian Gallagher is a steady catcher, and Andrew Reiss and Tyler Wicker also are expected to contribute. The coaches are John Marschock, Chris Lopez and Chris Wicker. Brick National 10s Chemistry is important to any team, especially at the younger level where players are still developing their skills. "If so, we can do real well in the district," said Tom Merrill, who is assisted by coaches Jeff O'Neill, Mike Mann and John DeCarlo, as they prepare for their July 7 pool play opener against Barnegat at Manchester. "This is better than teams in the past because we have six pitchers on the squad," said Merrill, who has seven All-Stars returning from last season. "The great thing is they're very versatile." And that includes pitchers Nick Moglia, Brandon Weber, Andrew Jarvis, Xavier Gibbs and John Kussmaul when they're not on the mound. Weber and Chris Kimbiz are catchers, and Nicholas Zbranak is a sharp shortstop, while other players can fit in well in many other positions where they're needed, which is important on a small roster, including Steven Schocket, Dominick Nesser, Craig Clune, Matthew Zentz, Colin Henry and Tyler Ventiola. Brick American 10s Unlike the other teams, manager Ray Mannon said he is working hard at developing pitching. "Most of the boys have not pitched much," he said as the team opens District 18 pool play at home July 7 against Toms River East National. "We have good hitting, good fielding on this team." The team returns to action July 12 against Barnegat. Jeff Thompson and Pete Nungesser are the coaches. Brick American Seniors This team starts tournament play today, and manager Joe Botts is working hard to help the team regain the form it showed in winning three straight District 18 championships. "We're going to have to fight, because we only have 15-year-olds because our league has 13-to-15-year-olds and this is a 16-year-old bracket," said Botts, who is assisted by coaches Joe Short and Bill Hotz. "But this team reminds me of those teams. These kids just want to play baseball and play real well together as a team." Two of them - pitcher Brendan Melody and hot-hitting shortstop/second baseman Justin Gordon - played on the Junior state championship team two years ago. Along with Melody, Justin Short, Phil Sigona and Andrew Nelson make up a pitching staff that Botts said "is definitely our strength." Short and Melody are hard throwers with good off-speed stuff. All four are right-handed. They also play well around the infield when they're not on the mound - Short at third base, Sigona at first base and Nelson at shortstop. Melody also is an outfielder along with Joe Murray, Kevin Krotulis and good-hitting Glenn McGinnis. John DelValle plays in the outfield. Jason Promisel is the catcher and Lou Raccuelia is a good, versatile infielder. "I think we're real solid defensively," said Botts. "Our outfield has a tremendous amount of speed. We're playing up an age group, so we want to make sure they can play good defense and get timely hitting."