NJ Team Wins Regional Little League Championship

Emil Matti pitched a complete game and Bener Uygun hit a solo homer to lead Par-Troy East of Parsippany, N.J., over Newark National of Delaware 1-0 to win the Little League Mid-Atlantic Regional championship at Breen Field in Bristol.

Par-Troy East advances to the Little League World Series and will play Southwest region champion McAllister Park National of San Antonio, on Aug. 17 in Williamsport, Pa.

The tournament consists of 16 teams - eight from the United States and eight international.

Par-Troy East, which went 5-1 in the round-robin tournament, is the 11th Little League team from New Jersey to make it to Williamsport and the second in three years. Toms River National advanced to the World Series in 2010.

"This year that was our goal, obviously," Par-Troy East manager Mike Ruggiero said. "Every year they went further than the year before. Hey, they don't want to stop playing. It's their last year."

Matti allowed two hits, struck out five and walked none in earning his second win of the tournament. He threw 59 of his 72 pitches for strikes and recorded 11 ground-ball outs.

"I was just staying focused and hitting my spots," Matti said. "When they hit the ball, I expected my fielders to make the play."

Uygun, Par-Troy East's shortstop, handled all five chances, going in the hole twice in the second inning to make the play with a runner on second to keep it scoreless.

Leading off the bottom of the fourth, Uygun hit a first-pitch breaking ball by Newark National starter Clayton Hansen over the fence in left for his second homer in the Mid-Atlantic tournament.

"He left it up and I just wanted to hit it," Uygun said. "My last at-bat he got me out with a curveball, so I was focused on the curveball coming."

Newark National, which had just three base runners, nearly tied it when Joe Silan hit a ball off the fence in left-center for a two-out double, but Matti struck out Hansen to end it.

It was the second year in a row that Newark National lost to a team from New Jersey by one run.

"We put the ball in play," Newark National manager Nick DiMartine said. "Their left side of the infield, the shortstop and second baseman, made heck of a plays. We just didn't find the holes."