William Annin Middle School Vikings Baseball Wins Championship

After three successive rainouts, the William Annin Middle School Vikings baseball team defeated the previously undefeated Parsippany Central Middle School 2-0 to gain the title of the 2013 GMCJSCA Group IV Middle School Champions.

Last week's game was a defensive battle, with great pitching and fielding by both middle school teams. Annin pitcher Owen Haiback sealed the win with a two-hit shutout, holding Parsippany hitless until the fifth inning.

The team was split evenly between seventh and eighth graders, and with James Crowley coming back from his injury. The William Annin team will remain strong next year, even while contributing to the Ridge High School freshman team.  

Brandon Radice led off the game with a single, but was left stranded on base. In the bottom of the first, Haiback walked a batter and then proceeded to pick him off first base.

Annin would not get another base runner until the fourth inning, but could not get a run across. The team would load the bases in the fifth, with walks to Kevin Walker and Brandon Radice sandwiching a single by Sean Spina, but again the Vikings could not score. 

Parsippany was also having a difficult time getting started. Along with strong pitching, Annin was flawless in the field, according to reports from team parents. Matt Rusiniak and C.J. Castronuovo both made running catches to thwart Parsippany's attempts at hits. In the bottom of the fifth, Spina lobbed a great throw to catch a runner stealing.

The entire game changed in the top of the sixth inning. Matt Rusiniak used his speed to get to first on an infield hit, and promptly stole second. Matt Errico followed and lined a single up the middle driving in Rusiniak with what would be the only run Annin needed. 

Errico went to second on the throw home. Pat Heffernan singled, driving in Errico with the second run.  

But Parsippany did not go quietly. The team added a base runner in the sixth, but Spina made a tremendous throw from the backstop to throw out the runner at second to end the inning and threat. 

Annin went quietly in the seventh. Parsippany started the bottom of the seventh inning with two walks, followed by a sacrifice bunt, putting runners on second and third with one out. With the tying run on second, Manager Vince Sweeney and Coach Vinny Jr. made the gutsy call to intentionally walk the next batter and put the winning run on first. 

The call paid off because the next better hit a grounder to Tyler Lee, who triggered a game ending double play, giving William Annin their first ever Middle School championship, with strong coaching for the team throughout the season. 

Annin preceeded the championship game with a previous win over Frelinghuysen on a combined no-hit shutout by Devin Steiglitz and Justin Pavlik. That game also saw strong defense from the Annin team, particularly by Louie Lafakis, who made a few very nice plays at third base while filling in for the injured Nick Egnatuk.