Toms River East American Doubleheader Saturday

This particular month as I write this blog story marks the (I can't believe it myself!) 25th anniversary of the legendary Little League World Series championship for Toms River East American in Williamsport, Pa.

The first of the amazing games I covered took place on Saturday, August 8, 1998, and it was a harrowing and long day.

Why? I was having to cover the OLD GUARD of the Windsor Avenue Gang, the 1995 Little League World Series participants, who were playing in the East Regional Tournament, thankfully, in West Deptford, N.J., where the tournament was held once again. The manager of that team was Bob Paschon and his assistant was Bill Castner. For a fourth consecutive year, this group of young men -- players like Jeff Frazier, Colin Gaynor and Chris Cerullo -- had won the state title, first as Little Leaguers in 1995, then as Junior Leaguers in 1996 and the last two as Senior Leaguers.

I was to do that game in the late morning down there (11 a.m. start), come back to the office at the Observer in Toms River, write the story, help where I could with layout for my boss, Al Ditzel, then head north on Route 9 to Sayreville where Toms River East American's "newest" Windsor Avenue Gang -- led by Todd Frazier, Scott Fisher and Casey Gaynor, managed by Mike Gaynor and assisted by Joe Franceschini and Ken Kondek -- would have to defeat Randolph in the winner-take-all, double-elimination state Little League All-Star tournament. East American had lost the night before in Sayreville to Randolph, 3-2, as Randolph scored all its runs the first inning and held on from there.

So this long Saturday started at 9:15 a.m. with that long, boring trip on Route 70 into Cherry Hill, then onto I-295 and off the exit for West Deptford. A year had passed since the disappointment of this group playing like crap and losing in three games. Almost the same group of young men, same manager, same assistant coach, and same setting.

The first matchup was against South Portland of Maine. Paschon tabbed Jeff Frazier to be the starting pitcher. First inning: Ten pitches, nine for strikes, three strikeouts. One ball from an immaculate inning. The first three innings, Frazier allowed just one single.

But it was no score. That changed in the bottom of the third inning. Andy Diaz singled. Jason Campanalonga singled. Chris Aiello singled to load the bases. Then Chris Donnelly singled home Diaz. An error on an Eric Edwards grounder by shortstop Jon Furbush scored Campanalonga. A bases-loaded walk one out later to Jeremy Dandorph plated Aiello.

That was really all Frazier and Campanalonga, who came in to relieve in the seventh, needed for support. East American went on to a 9-3 win. Talked with Paschon and Frazier and I was out of there by nearly 2 p.m.

Got back to the office by 3:45 and started typing away on my story. Helped out with the scoreboard page that afternoon, and by 5:30, I was out the door again, this time heading north in my 1993 Ford Thunderbird LX up Route 9 to Sayreville Little League for the second straight night, this time hoping East American got it right this evening against Randolph for the state title.

Arrived with about 10 minutes to spare as Route 9 traffic got a little challenging in Monmouth County for a spell. Mike Gaynor was sending his youngest son to the mound to get the job done. It had been 14 years and four days since my first trip to Sayreville Little League -- and that ended in a Brick American section final loss and a trip to White Castle afterward.

A trip to Bristol, Conn., was on the line this time around. But as the game opened at a few minutes after 7 p.m., I had to hustle. I brought the Observer's Tandy-TRS 80 laptop to type a story in as the game went on and then send the story through the couplers I was to put the phone into with the hope no one else was looking to use the phone in another room of the building and ruin the feed back to Toms River.

Oh, those were the annoyingly painful days.

East American was the visiting team for this one and broke through in the top of the third, just like its Senior League counterparts did earlier in the day. Chris Crawford singled, Brad Frank bunted for a base hit and Todd Frazier walked to load the bases for the dangerous Fisher. Starting pitcher Marc Nigro really did not want anything to do with Fisher and walked him to force home Crawford.

Andrew Viccaro came in to replace Nigro with the bases loaded and still none out. Mike Belostock delivered a single to left-center field to score Frank and Frazier and it waas 3-0. Belostock would ultimately come around on a weird play. Gabe Gardner hit a pop-up on the right side of the field. Second baseman Scott Lineback caught the ball going away toward the line, but Mike Gaynor sent Belostock home from third and he beat the play at the plate for a 4-0 lead.

This team was determined.

Randolph got a run back in the bottom of the third on a costly error by Belostock in right field. With Nigro on second base after that play and two outs, Viccaro singled to right field. Belostock got the ball, threw to second baseman Joey Franceschini, who in turn threw a strike to Frank at the plate to nail Nigro to keep it 4-1.

That would turn out to be one of the biggest plays of the game.

East American added another run in the fourth when Crawford singled, pinch-runner Eric Campesi moved to second on a Frank groundout and scored when Frazier rocketed a double to the center-field wall.

Then in the top of the fifth, Gardner got a hold of a 2-0 fastball from Viccaro and deposited it over the right-center field fence to make it 5-1. East American was on its way and the game story was becoming increasingly easy to write as 8:30 arrived by this point and I was going to beat the 10 p.m. deadline imposed on us now that Gannett had put its evil-doing hands on us and made us get done early with the newspaper.

But then things have a way of evening itself out. Gaynor had thrown 59 pitchers and looked good through four innings. Here's where the evening out part happened. And the consternation of getting this damn game over with happened.

Pinch-hitters Mike DeLisa and Brian Margue started the inning with back-to-back singles, bringing up the top of the Randolph order. Gaynor struck out Lineback and got Nigro on a groundout to plate DeLisa, making it 5-2. That's when Gaynor made his worst pitch of the night. It was 1-0 on Viccaro and he smoked it -- well over the center-field fence.

Remember it being 5-1? It was now 5-4. And I really wasn't up to re-writing my story in case Randolph found a way to come back and win the game and the whole East American Little League World Series championship run never, ever exists. Silently with a couple of Sayreville personnel doing PA and the scoreboard upstairs, I'm saying, "C'mon guys! Hold on to this lead!"

Belostock, one of the unsung heroes of that East American team, would deliver the RBI hit in the top of the sixth that scored Crawford to make it 6-4. East American had a chance to put this one way with runners on second and third, but Gaynor hit a heat-seaking missile right at Nigro to end the inning.

By now, it was after 9 p.m. and I was hoping Randolph ran out of rallies. Now at 77 pitches and starting to run out of gas, Gaynor walked the first batter he faced, Kenny Anderson. Dave Kivett hit a forceout to second baseman Franceschini for the first out, but a balk against Gaynor -- and I rarely saw that on this level -- moved Kivett into scoring position.

Hang on, guys! Chris Soriano hit a comebacker to Gaynor for the second out. That left it to Mike Cattano, who came back into the game after DeLisa had pinch-hit for him. Gaynor got to 1-2 on him before Cattano fought back with a pair of foul balls and a couple of balls worked the count to 3-2.

It's 9:20 p.m. Let's go!

On the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Cattano hit a sky-high flyball to center field. I can see Fisher drift back ... and drift back ... and still drift back some more. If this ball had better wings to fly, I would REALLY be in trouble for it would have been 6-all and extra innings looming.

Thankfully, the wings only flapped so much. The ball rested softly in Fisher's right-handed glove. East American was a state champion for the second time in four years, holding on this time for the 6-4 victory.

But I still had to run downstairs, get a quote from Mike Gaynor and then re-construct this story on the Tandy TR-80. Nowadays, I can see my whole screen when I'm writing a story from inside T.I.A.A. Bank Field or Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on a laptop. The Tandy only allowed me to see a few lines at a time. It was annoying.

I had additions to put into the story, including the Gaynor quotes, and a few subtractions to make. I'm sure Al was worried about getting this story. But somehow, I put it in proper English and sent it off to him without much hassle by 9:45 p.m. to beat the 10 p.m. deadline that I despised one month into the Gannett takeover.

Two days later, I had to be back in West Deptford to cover the East American Senior Leaguers again. The original plan was that I was covering the East American Senior League team until its run was over, while someone at the Asbury Park Press (our NEW sisters/brothers in arms after over 100 years of fighting for quality stories against them) was covering the Toms River East American Little League state champs.

First things, first: I was NEVER crazy about going to Kissimmee, Florida in the dead heat of August for the Senior League World Series had East American gotten there. Second thing: The next two games this team HISTORICALLY underachieved like no one's business. It lost to Montoursville, Pa., 6-4, on that Sunday, infamously remembered for Campanalonga's temper getting the worst of him and he getting tossed from this game for arguing a called third strike against him -- in a freakin' game he was pitching!! Nice timing!

This team was a mess and it proved itself in the elimination-bracket game the following day against Fairport, N.Y. when Frazier, pitching a day after his 16th birthday, did not have his best stuff and Fairport beat East American, 10-5, thus ending East American's season and the legendary careers of a number of those players who had built East American's reputation.

Now here's where I turned selfish ... and I got assists unknowingly from the wonderful parents as well as Gaynor and others who knew me for years and years at East American Little League.

My boss said I was ready to go up to Bristol, Conn., and handle the coverage of this TREA Little League All-Star team. He told the higher-ups that at the APP (because we had to do EVERYTHING through them now ... ugh!!!). Meanwhile, the East American group had enough already with the guy the APP installed to write. After a couple of games -- including a tough loss to South Shore of Staten Island, N.Y. -- that young man was replaced and I got to cover that team.

All the way to Williamsport. All the way to the World Series championship.

Still the greatest moment of my career. And I wasn't really up to going to Kissimmee anyway.