The Boston Mayor’s Cup Baseball Tournament has been a summer
tradition for NEAA Little Leaguers for many years. Each year kids from the NEAA Little League test their skill against Little Leaguers from other areas of the city such as Charlestown, Parkway, East Boston and the South End. The NEAA may not be as big or have as many kids as some of the other leagues but the NEAA always gives a great effort and competes to the end.
This year’s NEAA U10 Mayor’s Cup Team had a great run into the last day of the tournament and made it all the way to semi-finals where they lost a hard fought game to the eventual winners of the tournament East Boston. The great run was based on a foundation of remarkable pitching performances, excellent defense and timely hitting!
A pair of aces from the Cubs Richard Bova and Nik McHugh anchored the pitching staff with 2 great performances in game 2 from Richard Bova (6IP-CGSO, 1H, 0R, 13K) and in game 3 from Nik McHugh (6IP-CG,
5H, 3R, 10K). Also “pitching in” to a great overall performance from the entire staff was Steven Fabiano of the Indians and Pat Keefe of the Tigers.
Timely hitting was a key to the run as well with the offense being led by the slugging catchers; JoJo Brienze (.500, 2 doubles) of the Cardinals and Sal D’Angelis (.500, 3 doubles) from the Tigers. Breinze, D’Angelis, McHugh (.300, 2 triples) and Bova (.400, 2 doubles) proved to be a lethal combination for opposing pitchers as
the fearsome foursome combined for an average of .500 with 7 doubles, 4 triples, 11 RBI and 10 runs scored. Simon Brown of the Tigers contributed a key hit with the bases loaded in game 3 to drive in 3 runs and seal the victory over a tough Charlestown team which sent the NEAA to the semi-finals.
Great defense was also on display from whiz kids Richard Wells of the Tigers at second base, PJ McMahon of the Tigers in center field and Steven Fabiano at shortstop and first base flashing the leather all weekend.
A huge contribution was provided by the teams Jr. League members; Matthew Griffin of the Jr. Cardinals who played a mean second base and saw tons of pitches, Ryan McHugh of the Jr. Cubs who was a jack of all trades in the field and a nuisance at the plate, Quinton Gonsalvez of the Jr. Cubs who was on patrol in the outfield and displayed great presence at the dish and Brandon English of the Jr. Indians who defended the outfield and showed determination and grit at the plate.
All and all the NEAA U10 team had a great run in the tournament and showed tremendous amount of talent, skill, determination, effort and grit. They did a great job representing the NEAA Little League and the North End community.
