Day proves quite sweet, especially for 16s
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
By LEN BARDSLEY
Staff Writer
TRENTON - A downpour made the District 1 Babe Ruth All-Star game at Waterfront Park perfect yesterday.

The game was originally scheduled to be played Aug. 1, a Sunday morning, but torrential rains forced a postponement until last night.

The 16-year-old Senior Babe Ruth All-Star team defeated the District 1 15-year-old All-Star team, 12-3, in a game stopped in the top of the ninth with the 16-year-old team batting due to darkness.

The severe soaking three weeks ago allowed the representatives of the 15-year-old team from Nottingham to participate in what has become an end-of-the-season tradition for District 1 Babe Ruth.

The all-star game, which was the inspiration of District 1 commissioner John Villella, was started in 1996. Yesterday marked the sixth time it was played at Waterfront Park. The players from the 15-year-old team are selected during the District 1 Tournament, while the Senior Babe Ruth players are selected at the end of the regular season.

Chris English was worried he would not be able to play at Waterfront since Nottingham was scheduled to play in the Southern New Jersey State Tournament championship game the original date of the all-star game.

The rain was a blessing on two fronts for Nottingham: it not only allowed English to play at Waterfront under crisp blue skies yesterday, but also gave his team the rest it needed during the state tournament, eventually defeating Gibbsboro-Voorhees to claim the title.

"It was like a dream come true," said English, one of four Nottingham 15-year-old players on the team, along with Brad Raynor, Brian Belza and Mike Mattonelli. "I didn't want to pass it up. I am glad it got moved. We got to rest for our (state) game and I didn't want to miss (this)."

The loss to the 16-year-old team didn't faze English, he was just thrilled to get on the field at Waterfront Park with the highlight of his day being a triple in the bottom of the fourth inning.

"It was a great experience playing on this field," said English. "It was a beautiful day and the field was beautiful. I had lots of fun. I just wanted to run around these bases. I hope to play on this again. The score didn't matter to me."

The 16-year-old team also savored the experience, while hitting the ball all over Waterfront Park. Dan Krysa, who plays for Hamilton Lou Gehrig, went 2-for-4, while scoring four runs and knocking in two runs, and Rob Nosari of Nottingham Babe Ruth was 3-for-3.

"It sure was nice," said Krysa. "We kind of put the team together and came out and played. Everybody was great. It was a lot of fun. I am just glad everybody came out for it."

-- -- -- Despite the stellar weather conditions yesterday, the game was halted with no outs in the top of the ninth when the umpires ruled it was becoming too dark to play and turning on the lights for one inning would be too expensive.