One area youth baseball team is headed to a championship showdown Friday night in New Jersey.
Every day this week, the Nor-Gwyn Baseball Association's 9U Hawks have played game after game to be where they are at: The Cal Ripken Baseball Middle Atlantic Region Championship v. Cranford, out of The Garden State.
If the 9u Hawks win, they will head to the Cal Ripken World Series in Alabama.
On Thursday night, the Hawks played a double header: a quarterfinal and a semifinal match.
Nor-Gwyn beat Pennsbury 3-1 in the quaterfinals, and GVAA beat Cherry Hill 8-6.
Justine Krasnisky Clark In the semifinals, Cranford destroyed GVAA 12-2, and Nor-Gwyn got the edge over Tri-Village All-Stars from NY 4-2.
The championship match against Cranford is set for 5 p.m. at Field 1 at 701 Cooper Landing Road in Cherry Hill, NJ.
Nor Gwyn has a 3-1 win-loss record in the tournament, and Cranford is undefeated. Ironically, Cranford handed Nor-Gwyn their only loss, on Wednesday afternoon in a 5-1 win.
On Tuesday, the Hawks beat BHBL 8-5, and just made it past Poughkeepsie on Monday in a Game 1 10-9 win.
The Nor-Gwyn 9u Gritty Hawks, July 2024.Team members include Sam Sherman, Marco Kemper, Dmitry Huff, George Dziedzic, Carter Cho, Jonah Van Oyen, Landon McNally, Mason Atkiss, Anthony Clark, Karter Stokes, Jacob Akerman, and Daulton Thomas.
Team parents said a major part of the team's success is the coaching staff -- calm, respectful and encouraging coaches, who are parents themselves.
They may be the Hawks - but to the community, they are underdogs.
Justine Krasnisky Clark At present, Nor-Gwyn is also in the midst of its Wood Bat Classic, going on through Sunday at the Nor-Gwyn lower field complex and featuring youth baseball from the 9u (9 and under), 10u, 11u and 12u teams.
Finally, Fall Ball registration remains open until Aug. 15 for youth baseball and softball players. The season runs September to October. Pricing is $40 for baseball ages seven and eight, $80 for baseball ages nine and 10 and 11 and 12, $100 for Connie Mack, $50 for softball ages seven and eight, and $65 for softball ages nine and 10, and 11 and 12. Register at norgwynbaseball.org.
