Yorktown Youth Baseball Teams Take Fall Titles in Two Age Groups

YORKTOWN, N.Y.—It was a dominant fall for the Yorktown Huskers, which won the 12U Greater Hudson Valley Baseball League (GHVBL) Division 1 championship.

“It always means a lot to be the last team standing in the highest division,” said Huskers’ head coach Mike DePaola. “We welcome the competition of playing against the best because it makes us a stronger team in the long run. In the summer, the boys competed in an older division to have them play tougher games and face more adversity. To finish the fall season with a championship further validated that decision.”

No. 1 Yorktown defeated No. 3 Stamford Travel Navy 4-1 in the championship game at Rogers Park in Danbury on Nov. 9.

“The bats came out strong in the first inning,” DePaola said. “We scored four runs in the first inning to take charge of the game. Austin Koenitzer was dominant with his first-ever complete-game performance and the defense helped make plays to secure the win.”  

The Huskers, who finished first during the regular season with a 12-1 record, reached the title game by winning at home against the No. 5 Bulldogs Baseball Academy 9-8 in the semifinals on Nov. 2.

The Huskers’ ability to rally from deficits ignited their championship run.

“This was one of the first seasons that we trailed in many games and had to fight back,” DePaola. “Almost every game was a tight game and we needed every player on the team to contribute. This ultimately made the difference against a really strong Stamford team that has beaten us the previous two times we played them in the championship game.”

DePaola feels it is important for the players’ development to play in the fall.

“The fall is always tough because all of the boys have conflicts with different sports, but it’s important to get some more opportunities to work on the fundamentals that we have gone over,” DePaola said. “Baseball is definitely a sport that you must play to get better at. The fall gives us the opportunity to grow a little more before the winter break.”  

The Huskers will look to continue their success next spring.

“Next year is an exciting year because these kids will be going to Cooperstown in the summer,” DePaola said. “We will look to play more tournaments as a team to prepare (for Cooperstown). This lets us play really high competition throughout the northeast and further prepare us to play against the best competition from around the country. We also will look to further develop every one of these kids pitching by the summer, so that we don’t have to wear down kids’ arms.”

Luke DePaola, AJ Marcello, Brandon Woolard, Christian Johnson, Drew Bjerke, Ethan Gomez, Forest Neier, Jackson Paland, Mason Paul, Ryan Bloch, and coaches Anthony Marcello, Michael Bloch, and Ryan Koenitzer also make up the Huskers’ championship squad.

9U Spiders take crown

The 9U Yorktown Spiders (9-1-2 overall) won Division 2, the highest available division in their age bracket, as the No. 3 seed, by defeating the No. 1 Poughkeepsie Lightning 11-9 on Nov. 9 in the championship game, also at Rogers Park.

The Spiders’ title-winning squad consisted of Hanley Marmalejos (hit), Joey Ferri (2 hits, 2 RBI), Luke Paland, Mateo Fiorino, Aiden DePaola (2 hits, RBI), Charlie Petersen (hit, 3 runs), Gray Kachmar, Roman Diaz (3 hits, 4 RBI), Vincent Marcello (hit, run), Max Hickins (4 hits, 4 RBI, solo homer), Jojo Meyer (hit, run), Dylan Steinberg, and coaches Mike Ferri, Mike DePaola, Eric Petersen, Andrew Paland, Michael Hickins and Wilson Diaz.

The team totaled 15 hits at the plate, Fiorino, Kachmar, and Paland contributed in the field, while on the mound, Hickins, Diaz, and Charlie Petersen combined for 13 strikeouts with Petersen recording the final out via a swinging strikeout against Poughkeepsie.

“The team worked incredibly hard to bounce back from coming up short in two previous championship games,” said Eric Petersen, the Spiders’ head coach. “It’s a very tight-knit team, the boys played hard for each other. Their resolve shined through as they battled back from an early deficit to seal the win.”