Raiders putting together a special summer

The North Brunswick Raiders 11-year-old baseball teams capped off a spectacular season Monday by reaching the championship game of the East Brunswick Slugfest with a 6-4 win over Edison.

The Raiders reached the championship game in all four tournaments that they entered this summer.

The championship game was to be played later this week. The Raiders take a 17-8 record into that game.

Previously, the Raiders had won the District 9 championship and its own Caruso Tournament. They also lost to Westfield in the final of the Edison Tournament. The district championship qualified the team to compete in the state tournament.

"It's been a great five weeks for the boys," Raiders manager Andy Kaye said. "We have been able to beat or remain competitive with a lot of very good teams. Seeing the improvement that the boys have made since last year has been very gratifying for all the coaches.

"What is just as important is that while the boys were learning about baseball, they were all getting along, being good teammates, and having fun."

In last Thursday's Caruso final, the Raiders avenged an earlier shutout loss by pounding Hightstown, 11-2. Chris Iocca got the win on the mound while Daryl Smith got the save by striking out the side in the last two innings.

North Brunswick broke open a scoreless game by scoring seven runs in the bottom of the third inning. Liam McGeary, Zachary Pinales, Joe Manley and Nick Lupo had run-scoring hits in the uprising.

Dom Scialabba led the offense with two hits and two runs scored. Harrison Kaye and Michael Lee also scored two runs apiece in the game, while Manley and Bill DeMato had two hits apiece.

Kaye was named the tournament MVP after reaching base in 13 of 19 plate appearances, including all six times in a pair of wins over state tournament finalist Matawan. Kaye's defense at shortstop was also superb, highlighted by a 6-6-3 double play he started against Hightstown when the game was still scoreless.

The previous night, the Raiders recorded their most impressive win of the season, beating two-time defending North Jersey state champion Cranford, 7-5, in its final game of the state tournament. While that was their lone win in its four state games, the Raiders remained competitive in every game, including an 11-10 loss to eventual tournament winner Montville.

Scialabba pitched a complete game against Cranford, while Kaye went 2-for-2 with two walks and two runs scored. DeMato's two-run double highlighted a four-run first inning, and Scialabba and Manley had RBI singles in a three-run third.

For the season, Iocca led the team in both batting average (.544) and on-base percentage (.597), with Kaye second in both categories (.410, .576).

On the mound, Manley (6-2) led the team in victories, while Pinales (4-0), Iocca (3-0) and Smith (1-0) were all unbeaten. Kaye led the team with three saves, while Smith and Scialabba had two apiece.