By Paul Christopher
The Merrick-North Merrick Little League appears to have a dynasty in the making. For the second straight year, a team from the league's 9- to 10-year-old division has won the Long Island Championship.
The Merrick-North Merrick team began the championship tournament July 19, after winning the Little League District 31 Tournament only two days earlier. A caravan of Merrick-North Merrick players, accompanied by their parents, headed to Rocky Point to play Shirley-Wading River in game one of the Island-wide contest.
The Merrick-North Merrick squad displayed its winning ways with outstanding pitching by Justin Fields, who threw a complete game, and aggressive base running by Joe McGinley and Justin Harrison. Joey Christopher and Robby Stalzer displayed torrid hitting, with each player going 3 for 4. In the end, the team cleaned up, easily winning, 8-2.
The next stop was Burns Park in Massapequa to play the tough New Hyde Park Merlon team. Merrick-North Merrick's Josh Nigro took the hill and threw a two-hit gem for the 1-0 win. Nigro was tough throughout -- so tough that he didn't allow a single runner to reach second base. Alex Ras, Ross Weitzman and Noah Schulman showed their outstanding fielding abilities to contribute to the win.
The victory set the stage for the Long Island Championship game at the Levy-Lakeside Elementary School ball field in Merrick. The stands were packed with cheering fans of the Merrick-North Merrick team and the opposing squad from the Islip Little League.
Justin Fields once again took the mound as Merrick-North Merrick's star hurler. From the beginning, the local boys dismantled the Islip squad, hitting the ball to all corners of the field. When all was said and done, the Merrick-North Merrick squad had a 15-5 victory and the championship.
One of the game's highlights was a dazzling catch in centerfield by Zack Schnieder, who dove for the ball. Frankie Leavey showed his utility fielding skills and aggressive base running to help the champs to victory. Patrick Murphy smacked the ball hard, grabbing key hits for the team. And Joey "Jeets" Christopher displayed impressive clutch hitting, going 5 for 5.
This past weekend, the squad headed to the state championship tournament. At press time, results were not yet available.
