Brick American pounds Brick National, 10-0, in tourney
BY WAYNE WITKOWSKI Staff Writer

WARETOWN — A third showdown this season between Brick National's Nick Zbranak and Brick American's Kyle Cala was expected to be another close game.

But Cala made sure it wasn't close in the opener of the Cal Ripken District 2 tournament for 12-year-olds on the evening of June 27, when he led Brick American to a 10-0 blowout at the Waretown Elementary School field.

Cala, who belted five home runs during the season, blasted two off his familiar mound opponent and drove in four runs. It was the second time this season that he belted two homers in a game.

Regarded as the most talented all-around player in Brick American, Cala also pitched what he called his "best" game of the season as he allowed only two hits with six strikeouts and one walk. With one runner thrown out stealing, Cala faced only two batters over the minimum as he threw only 58 pitches.

"There weren't many base runners for them," said manager Gene Carafa, who took over the team when Ray Mannon, who actually is the team's manager, could not make the game because of his daughter's graduation. "It's not about strikeouts, especially when you're throwing from 50 feet [away, the Cal Ripken League mound distance requirement]. It's about conserving yourself and quality pitches. Eight batters saw only two pitches. To throw 58 pitches is outstanding. It's the best I've seen him pitch all year. When he squares to the plate with his shoulders, he's awesome. That's when he throws strikes. When one shoulder is higher, he's off."

"I was just trying to get outs with my fastball and slider," Cala said.

The two pitchers faced each other during the season on their regular teams and split their games. Zbranak's Brewers team won a regular-season game, 4-3, over Cala and the Yankees, before the Yankees bounced back, 2-1, in the Mayor's Trophy game.

This time, the game broke open in the final two innings.

With only three teams in the bracket, with Bayshore as the other team, the two Brick teams were expected to see each other again on June 30 for the championship game. And both teams could be playing again in the state tournament.

Brick American is the host of the state tournament and gets a berth automatically. But the team managers wanted to play in the district tournament so the two teams could get used to playing each other and not have too much time off when the state tournament begins on July 19.

But Brick National, if it is runner-up in the district, could be selected for the state tournament as the representative of the district, a process practiced by many other leagues.

"I felt good, but I was throwing a little wild and we made a couple of mistakes," Zbranak said.

"The big thing is, their pitcher had a good game," Brick National manager Brian Ashton said. "It's just hard to get things going when you don't get people on base."

And when Brick National got one runner on with a one-out walk in the fourth inning, that base runner was thrown out trying to steal, on a strong throw by Brick American catcher Nick Smith in what Carafa felt was a big play in the game.

"I couldn't find anything wrong with the way we played today, and I usually find something," Carafa told his team in the dugout after the game.

Smith also threw out leadoff hitter Zbranak at second base. Zbranak had the second hit for Brick National.

John Kussmaul had the other hit, a two-out single in the first inning, but Cala struck out the next batter.

Third baseman Christian Masrin also made a sharp play when he barehanded a spinning grounder hit by Nick Moglia and threw to first in time.

Brick American got all the runs it needed in the second inning, taking a 2-0 lead. Christian Marin walked, stole the next two bases and scored on twin brother Steve's groundout to short. Jimmy Cavanaugh lined a single to center, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch and rode home on Ryan Monaghan's lined single to center field, his first of three hits in the game.

Zbranak, meanwhile, struck out six batters in a row into the third inning.

Monaghan led off a five-run rally in the fifth inning with a towering home run over the center-field fence on the eighth pitch he saw. Jack Cavanaugh reached second when the first baseman dropped the throw on a nice defensive play, and scored when leadoff hitter Pete Papcun drilled a double off the left center-field fence. Steve Shocket then went to the mound, and Matt Rosace lined a single to center. Cala unloaded a homer to left off an off-speed pitch for three more runs and a 7-0 lead. After Monaghan and Jack Cavanaugh opened the sixth inning with back-to-back hits, they scored on a sacrifice fly by Papcun and a sacrifice fly by Rosace. That brought up Cala, who hit a home run on a fastball on the outside, "where I love it," Cala said.

Editor's note: Kyle Cala's first name was incorrect in last week's story. The Bulletin regrets the error and has repeated the story in its entirety.