The North Arlington Junior League 14U All-Stars’ historic tournament run is over, but the members of that special team aren’t ready to put away the bats and gloves and go their separate ways just yet.
“I still get calls from the parents and the kids, they still want to practice still,” said head coach Javier Cruz, who admitted it was weird not having any games or practices this past weekend. “I may have practice as a going away eighth grade thing, we’re going to find a tournament to play somewhere. So we’re still getting together. We’re still going to be practicing here and there until the summer’s over just to keep working.”
North Arlington’s historic season came to an end on Wednesday when it was defeated 6-3 by Hub City Little League of Maryland Overall North Arlington went 3-2 in the East Regional Tournament, but despite the winning record during its time, it went home feeling that it could have done even better.
“It was a great season, but we all feel that we definitely could have played a little longer,” Cruz said. “This team was very special. And to win the three games that we did, it was great. But in the back of our minds, we always felt like we could continue to win.”
North Arlington opened the East Regional with a 5-4 victory over Melrose Little League (Mass.) on July 19. Owen Alvarez picked up the win after pitching 3.1 innings of relief, allowing one run on one hit and three walks with two strikeouts.Offensively, Noah Vargas went 2-for-3 with two runs and a RBI for North Arlington, which jumped out to a 4-0 lead, and held on despite giving up three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
On Sunday, North Arlington dropped a 7-3 decision to host DuBois Little League of Pennsylvania. Maverick Michalski and Michael Faulk had two hits apiece for North Arlington, which was unable to recover from a 7-1 deficit.
Facing elimination, North Arlington responded with its two best offensive performances all spring and summer.
On Monday, July 21, North Arlington erupted for six runs in the top of the first inning and never looked back as it rolled to a 23-7 victory over Salem Youth Baseball of New Hampshire. Zachariah DeCicco had six RBI in a 3-for-4 effort, to lead North Arlington’s 18-hit attack. Vargas went 2-for-4 with four RBI, Alvarez was 3-for-4 as he Braden Duffy, Joshua Figueroa, Jayden Beauchene and Javier Cruz Jr. scored three runs apiece. Faulk and Davian Navarro both drove in three runs for a North Arlington team that turned a 7-6 nailbiter into a blowout with eight runs in the top of the fifth and eight more in the top of the sixth.
The hot hitting continued into Tuesday when it erupted for seven runs in the top of the first inning and six more in the second to roll to a 15-2 victory over Somers All-Stars of Connecticut. Figueroa was 2-for-2 with a walk, four RBI and three runs scored while Michalski went 3-for-3 with two runs and two RBI. Vargas scored three runs, Alvarez and Faulk scored two each, and both Cruz Jr. and Navarro added two RBI apiece.
“We started to come along with the bats,” Cruz said. “I don’t know if it was the environment we were in, the excitement with all of the fans, but we were ready to go.
“We just felt going into this tournament we could play with anyone. And you know what? We showed it.”
North Arlington’s run came to an end on Wednesday against Hub City (MD) despite a 3-for-3 effort from Vargas. Beauchene was 2-for-3 with a run scored and Alvarez, Aaron Santana and Adrian Ledesma each added a RBI.
For the tournament, Vargas went an eye-popping 10-for-15 with eight runs and five RBI. Figuera was 6-for-9 with three walks, seven runs and six RBI and Alvarez scored seven runs.
With a large part of the roster set to be high school freshmen in the fall, the East Regional may prove to be their final games as a part of North Arlington Little League. If so, it ends an incredible run for this group.
Eight of these players were a part of the 2023 North Arlington 12U All-Stars team that won its first District 5 title since 1965. Many more wins and recognition followed, highlighted by this summer’s state championship.
“This group, every year that they played, they did something new,” said Cruz. “It seems like they’re just making history. It’s an incredible bunch and it’s hard for me to even explain.”
If last week was the end of their time in North Arlington, Cruz knows it won’t be the last this group of 12 boys will be heard from again.
“These boys have done so much and it’s been such a special bunch. Most of these guys play multiple sports and are just used to winning,” Cruz said. “In basketball they went unbeaten this year, in football they’ve always done well. They know they’re great athletes.
“This team is so special that I think they’re going to keep being hungry and just get better. In high school, I see these guys doing great things in multiple sports in whatever they want to do.”
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Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)