The unbeaten Jackson Holbrook Little League baseball team is on its way to regionals at Bristol, Connecticut starting August 2.
WOODBURY -- The unbeaten Jackson Holbrook baseball team is now the New Jersey 12U state champion and has earned a chance to punch a ticket to the Little League World Series.
Jackson won the state tournament final 12-5 over Elmora (Elizabeth) Sunday night, July 25 - the game was one of 13-0 Jackson’s best offensive showings yet.
Jackson opens play Saturday in the Metro Region Tournament in Bristol, Connecticut. The tournament winner will head to the World Series.
"I knew it was a possibility that we would get here, now it feels really real," ace pitcher Dominick Calise said.
"As it was getting close to being a possibility, you try not to think ahead, that was the big thing, just control what we can control," said Dominick's dad, Phil, the team's head coach. "We started to think about it a little bit as we came in today, that we can represent the state of New Jersey - it's an amazing feeling. We knew we had a good team but we had to see it come together. And to see it come together and represent the state is amazing."
This is the second Jackson team to reach the World Series regionals since 2017, when Holbrook Little League - which was merged into Jackson Little League earlier this year - won the Mid-Atlantic Tournament. Holbrook won two games at the World Series and was among the last four U.S. teams still standing when eliminated.
On Sunday, Jackson Holbrook scored in every inning - a 2 1/2-hour rain and lightning delay in the second inning did nothing to cool off the Jackson bats.
Jackson's Tyler Ballard, who played in the state tournament two years ago as a 10 year old, added to the offensive outburst with an RBI hit in the fifth inning.
"Feels amazing," Ballard said. "We came up short in 2023 playing up with my older brother, it hurt a lot, and it felt really good to win today."
Dominick Calsie with nerves of steel on the mound
Calise on the mound struck out four through five innings and 83 pitches. He yielded back-to-back home runs in the fourth inning but Jackson still had a comfortable 9-5 lead.
"We're a team, everybody sticks together, everybody's a dog," Dominick Calise said.
"Him and Ty have been our aces all year. We were going to ride him today," Phil Calise said. "He had a 2 1/2-hour-delay he had to endure and I know he was wearing thin. But you take who you brought to the dance, that's our guy. We knew it was Gav (Gavin Hobbs) to close us, so we tried to give Gav a great opportunity to close the game out and awesome for him."
"Dom's a dog," Ballard said. "He does his thing every time he comes out to pitch. Had a rough inning, so what, he came back and did his thing."
Hobbs closed out the game in the final inning with a strikeout.
As for Dominick, he was also a star at the plate. In the third inning, he hit a homer to center field to bring home Ballard and Hobbs.
Speedster Jake Henry shows up for Jackson Holbrook
Centerfielder Jake Henry came up big in the early innings for Jackson. He scored from third on wild pitches twice, his first in the second inning that extended the lead to 5-3. His second run came in the fourth inning to make the lead 9-3. Henry and Pablo Morales are some of the fastest on the team and it showed in their baserunning.
This summer he said he's been hanging out with friends and going to the pool for fun. When asked what it's going to take to succeed in Connecticut, he answered: "It's going to take positivity, locked in, and keep hitting, and play hard D.”
"Jake's fast, he plays with me in travel, he's a great kid, he's a good player, and he's just one of those kids that shows up, makes plays," said Phil Calise. "He uses his speed, knows what he is, knows how he can contribute. We have a bunch of kids that know their role and know how to do what you do well."
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Jackson Holbrook wins Little League NJ state baseball championship
Category: General Sports
