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16U & 14U Red Win ECTB All Star Tournament!
The 16U team took home the championship trophy for ECTB's All Star World Classic in Reading, Penn., in August. Coach Felix Roche credited "really good defense, great pitching and clutch hitting by key players" for the team's victory. The final game was a nail-biting pitcher's dual, in which there was no score until the 8th-inning, tie-breaker when the NY Gothams prevailed with a final score of 1-0.
The 14U Red team also took home the big trophy for ECTB's All Star World Classic tournament, held in Allentown, Penn., in August. The team went 5-0 during the tournament and in a stellar performance, six-foot-three, lefty pitcher Ray Hernandez pitched a one-hitter, leading the team to a dominating 15-1 victory in the championship game.
In late June, the 14U Red team also took home the championship for Blue Chip Prospects' Great American Classics tournament, held in Staten Island. Lights-out 14U pitcher Ricky Parra was recognized by Blue Chip Prospects as the tournament's MVP. The team took 2nd place in Triple Crown's July 4th Classic in Parsippany, N.J., where they lost 10-9 in an intense, battle to the finish to Tri-State Arsenal.
For the season, the 14U Red team took home a total of three 1st-place and one 2nd-place tournament awards, and were undefeated in WBA local league play, giving them the best record among all NY Gothams age groups. Congrats to Coaches Gil Rodriguez, Luis Toval and the entire team for their great summer!
14U Blue Place 2nd in AAU Consolation Bracket
The 14U Blue team took 2nd place in the division II consolation bracket in AAU's National Championship, held in Sarasota, Fla., in July. The team beat heavily-favored locals, the Sarasota Snappers, in the opening game of the tournament, but were defeated by them in the finals. Throughout the tournament, 14U Blue were the team that refused to give up and came from behind in two of their four victories.
July Player of the Month: Justin Sims
The 17-year old Justin Sims, a utility fielder and pitcher for the 16U team, is being recognized for his steady contributions in the batters box and on the field. Sims held down a .330 batting average and led the team in on-base and slugging percentage, plus homeruns, doubles and ribbies. Almost perfect defensively, he ended the season with just one error.
"The best thing about Justin's contribution to our team was that he was consistent the whole year ether on the field, pitching or at the plate," said Coach Felix Roche, who added, "I had the confidence that he would come through and that's the reason why he was hitting 3rd and 4th the whole year and pitched in a few big games."
Sims is now a senior at Beacon High School, where he plays 1st base on the varsity team and has maintained a 4.0 average throughout his attendance there. Last year he was one of two Beacon players chosen to participate in New York City's PSAL Junior Showcase, where he was rated the No. 1 defensive infielder and ranked top five in hitting. On his success, Sims has a simple formula, "I'm a very hard worker and I practice and go the batting cages as much as possible." Sims plans to attend college and hopes to play baseball at a school with a competitive program.
August Player of the Month: Rick Terry
 Pitcher and 3rd baseman Rick Terry, now in his third year pitching for the NY Gothams, wins the nod for Player of the Month for his performance in the 18U WWBA NE Qualifier, held in Long Island in the last week of August. The 16-year-old Terry pitched all seven innings and gave up no earned runs or walks in a game in which the NY Gothams defeated the Farrah Nine by a score of 6-2.
Says Coach Melvin Perez on the performance, "He was absolutely dominant on the mound, and defeated Farrah Nine's 18U division, among the best teams in the country. Perez added that as a member of the 15U squad during the summer season Terry held opposing teams to under 2.3 runs per game. He's also durable and has pitched into at least the 6th innings for every game he started except for one.
Terry says he enjoys pitching because "I like being in control of the game." Reflecting his cool-under-pressure demeanor, when asked what his favorite type of victory is, Terry explains, "An errorless game with not a lot of hits. I prefer a close game. It's a lot more fun than a blow out." For the next year, Terry says his goal this year is bring his pitch count down even further by reducing his walks per game.
Terry attends Collegiate School for Boys, where he pitched for the varsity team as a freshman and was voted First Team All Ivy in May 2009. One of his highlights for the season was a game against New York's highly-touted Poly Prep Country Day School varsity squad, for which Terry pitched seven innings, in a game that was tied 2-2 until it was delayed by darkness. Last year, under new coaching leadership, the team improved to an 8-9 record, and this year as a sophomore Terry hopes to help the team make the push to a winning record.
Honorable mention for July:
Open Division: Andy Hoffman, P
15U: Fernelys Sanchez, OF
14U Blue: Sam Garito, 3B
14U Red: Ricky Parra, P/3B
13U: Max Kassan, P
Honorable mention for August
Open Division: Ray Klaber, UTIL
16U: Luis Toval, OF
14U Blue: Jeffrey Ledesma, P/1B
14U Red: Kevin Victoriano, OF
13U: Cal Barnett, INF
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NY Gothams Fall Season
