Sayreville, NJ – The Jackson 12 year old all-stars once again came to the ballpark ready to play baseball.  Starting pitcher Brandon Janofsky pitched a strong game striking out batter after batter from Nottingham, but it was Nottingham’s strong defense that handed Jackson their first loss in the Section 3 tournament tonight.  In all, Janofsky struck out 11 batters.

Nottingham struck in the first inning as Janofsky struck out the side, but not before giving up a solo home run to give the home team a 1-0 lead in the first.   Jackson tied the game at 1 as Danny Serreino’s single drove in Charles Dimino, but were unable to capitalize on several rbi opportunities as a strong Nottingham defense made smart plays to hold our local champs at bay.   With runners in scoring position an  no outs, Nottingham managed to hold Jackson to just one run before retiring the side.

Jackson’s bats were popping again all game, but each rally opportunity was stopped short by outstanding fielding by the opponents.  In some cases, Jackson had solid hits, but just weren’t able to get the right locations. 

Ryan Tacaks scored Jackson’s second run.

Nottingham was able to take the lead and hold it after 2 unearned runs scored, brought on by fielding mishaps in a game that was decided by defense.  Nottingham also managed to keep Jackson’s bash brigade on a tight leash tonight by being the first team to keep the champs homerless.

Nottingham now advances to Sunday’s district 3 championship with a 2-0 record, giving the clear advantage in the tournament.   Jackson will play a loser bracket game tomorrow night in Sayreville against North Wall.  The winner of that game will play Nottingham on Sunday.     North Wall and Jackson will have to defeat Nottingham twice to win the championship, while Nottingham will only have to win one game for the title.