Par-Troy East Wins Big; Moves to State Title Game

Parsippany/Troy Hills East showed its muscle Thursday night as it roared back from a 3-0 deficit to score nine unanswered runs and emerge with a 15-6 over Nottingham in Edgewater. The victory moves the team a victory away from winning the 10/11-year-old Little League state championship.

After going down 3-0, the Parsippany team scored six runs in the bottom of the third inning, three runs in the fourth and six more runs in the fifth.

Par-Troy East showed slugging power, earning two home runs, both in the bottom of the fifth inning. One was a two-run shot from Vinny Presioso, the other a grand slam off the bat of leadoff hitter Berner Uygun.

The team had quality pitching from starter Emil Matti, Kyle Phillips and Sarang Amin to keep Nottingham from a win. And defensive gems from Phillips on the mound and D.J. Pico in center field kept the opposition at six runs.

The Par-Troy East 10/11 year olds play for the state title against the winner of Friday night's Nottingham/South Vineland  contest. The game takes place at 1 p.m. in Edgewater.

IN SHORT

After Nottingham put three runs on the board in the top of the third inning, Par-Troy East batted around and came back with six hits in the bottom of the inning. 

After going up 6-3, the Parsippany little leaguers scored three more times in the bottom of the fourth with a Presioso single and a two-RBI double from Pico to push the lead to 9-3.

With Nottingham scoring three times in the top of the fifth, Par Hills put it away in the bottom of the fifth inning with six runs highlighted by the dingers from Uygun and Presioso.

PAR-TROY EAST PLAYER OF THE GAME:  BERNER UYGUN 

Uygun had a tough start, grounding out to third base and striking out at the plate, but he made the most of it with two at bats. He hit a pitch for a double into left field to score two runs in the bottom of the third inning to take the score to 6-3. Uygun saved the best for last, powering a grand slam over the right field wall of Edgewater's James Monroe Memorial Field in the bottom of the fifth inning to finish off Nottingham.

OTHER KEY PERFORMANCES

• Vinny Presioso, 3-for-4, home run, three RBI, on base four times, three runs scored
• Kyle Phillips, 2-for-3, two singles, two RBI, pitched 1 1/3 innings 
• Emil Matti, 3-for-4, three runs scored, three singles, pitched 4 1/3 innings
• D.J. Pico, 1-for-2, double, two RBI
• David Ton, 2-for-3, double, two runs scored
• Anthony Scannelli, 1-for-3, two RBI, two runs scored
• Daniel Ruggiero, 2-for-5, two singles, one run scored

THEY SAID IT

"We had plenty of game left (after going down 3-0). We do come back and we don't quit. I knew that we would have our inning."

"It feels good, but we had not won anything yet."

— Par-Troy East Manager Mike Ruggiero

"It was a fastball high (home run pitch) and they were calling a lot of strikes there. It felt good."

— Vinny Presioso

"It was a fastball low, but I wasn't 100 percent sure (that it was a grand slam)."

— Berner Uygun

UP NEXT

Parsippany/Troy Hills East takes on the winner of Nottingham/South Vineland on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Edgewater for the Little League 10/11 state title.