Two years ago, the Washington Park Little League 11-and-12-year-old All-Stars achieved a piece of history when they won the prestigious District 7 championship for the first time since 1969.
Roberti Severino was an assistant coach with that team, so he remembers how it felt to bring home the elusive Little League title.
“It was a great feeling,” Severino said.
So when the 2017 District 7 tournament began, Severino, now the head coach of the Washington Park All-Stars, wanted to recreate memories of two summers ago.
“We knew we had a good team,” Severino said. “Once the tournament started, we knew that we had one of the better teams.”
Severino was asked if the team winning two years ago had any effect on the current squad.
“Sure, there’s a trickledown effect,” Severino said. “Most of these kids remember or have family members from that team. So it gave our kids some hope, knowing that it could be done. Winning also helped to encourage more kids to sign up for our league. Of course, they all want the same thing. They actually wanted to surpass that team.”
The 2015 version of the Washington Park Little League All-Stars were one win away from qualifying for the New Jersey state tournament, then lost two straight games to become eliminated from state tourney contention.
“We just wanted to be the ones to get Washington Park its second district championship in two years,” Severino said. “We wanted to get back into it.”
And that’s what happened.
Washington Park steamrolled its way to the District 7 championship Tuesday night, defeating Elmora of Elizabeth in the title game, 14-3, at Secaucus’ Buchmiller Park to win the banner for the second time in three years.
Incredibly, the Washington Park team was not even tested throughout the double-elimination tournament, defeating West New York, 10-0; Hoboken by a 13-0 score, then defeated Elmora in two straight games, 10-0 and 14-3, to secure the banner and the berth in this weekend’s Section 2 Tournament in Rutherford.
“We had great hitting all around,” Severino said. “And we had two stud pitchers. All of our players can hit. If they all turn it on, they can cause a lot of damage.”
All four of the Washington Park wins came with the 10-run mercy rule as well, meaning that they didn’t even play a complete game.
“It’s pretty remarkable,” Severino said.
The Washington Park team has two standout pitchers in Juan de la Cruz and Jonathan Rodriguez.
De la Cruz is a right-hander whose older brother Luis was a member of the 2015 All-Stars. Rodriguez is a left-handed hurler who has a ton of pitchers in his arsenal.
“Juan throws pretty hard,” Severino said. “He brings a lot of heat and has good control. Jonathan throws everything, fastball, cutter, and he has great control.”
Right-hander Christopher Villavincencio is the team’s No. 3 pitcher.
The catcher is DeAngelo Ponce, who is a solid defensive catcher.
“He’s a shutdown defensive player,” Severino said. “He’s a great defensive catcher who handles all the pitchers. He used to be an infielder who moved behind the plate and pretty much took over.”
When he’s not pitching, Rodriguez is the team’s first baseman and No. 3 hitter.
“He has a lot of power,” Severino said of Rodriguez, who collected six hits in his first seven at-bats during the tourney. “He hits the ball to all the fields.”
The second baseman is Justin Hernandez, who is an 11-year-old player. Justin’s older brother, Roddy, was on the 2015 District 7 champs.
“He’s one of our younger players,” Severino said. “He has a consistent bat and already has hit a homer.”
The shortstop is Angel Cepeda, who gets to every ground ball.
Villavincencio plays third base and is the team’s cleanup hitter.
“He’s a great hitter,” Severino said.
Jaden Colon is the left fielder. Severino says that Colon has a strong arm and plays good defense.
Alex Corrasco and Sebastian Morales share centerfield duties evenly.
Cesar Cordero is the 11-year-old right fielder, while Jhosei Burnhardt is an 11-year-old designated hitter and outfielder.
Roger Hernandez, another brother of Roddy, also sees time in right field.
Severino knows that it is not an easy thing to capture the District 7 title. After all, he was a member of the 1995 Washington Park All-Stars that played in the tourney.
“I’m very proud,” said Severino, whose team will begin play in the four-team Section 2 tourney in Rutherford, slated to begin Saturday, more than likely against District 5 champion Wood-Ridge/Moonachie.
“It’s not easy to get to the District [7] championship and it’s another thing to win it,” Severino said. “For us to win it again is incredible. But we want to go further than the other team did.”
That would mean winning the Section 2 tourney this weekend and earning a place among the state’s Final Four at the New Jersey State Championships in Kittatinny in Sussex County beginning Thursday, July 27.
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com. You can also read Jim’s blog at www.jimhaguesports.blogspot.com.
