Dodger Shocker – Midville wins first national title

During opening ceremonies of the National Amateur Baseball Federation (NABF) World Series in Greensboro, NC, Ian Leisenheimer gazed at the larger teams and older opponents. He couldn't help but think the worst. &#8220I wanted to get home with a few victories,” he said. &#8220It was a little intimidating because we were there with 13 kids and everyone else had busloads of kids.”
A funny thing happened on the way to respectability, however. The western Queens-based Midville Dodgers reeled off seven straight wins en route to the organization's first ever national title, with Leisenheimer, the rising senior at Holy Cross, earning MVP honors. &#8220It's the greatest baseball experience I've ever had,” said Leisherheimer, who hit .435, homered twice, drove in eight runs and scored 16 times.
Rob Finneran, the winning pitcher in the 16-6 clincher over the Maryland Hustlers Sunday evening, won the batting title with a .700 batting average, three homers and 16 RBI. Earlier in the day, in the semi-final game, Jared Macchirole pitched a complete game in topping the Long Island Cardinals, 4-2.
A majority of the team was assembled three years ago. The following season they finished an impressive fourth in the NABF World Series in Tulsa, Oklahoma. But this year, with a crop of kids that had been together for several seasons, Manager Anthony Macchirole signed them up for the Long Island Federation of Amateur Baseball League's 17- and 18-year-old wood bat division. They managed an impressive 12-5 record, beating the dominant Long Island Titans twice to earn a bid to the NABF World Series, which uses metal bats, a determining factor in their success.
&#8220I definitely think it played a role,” shortstop Dennis O'Grady said. &#8220We went back to metal and the ball jumped off our bats.”
From the outset, they were &#8220a hitting machine,” as a duly impressed Macchirole described the 85-run, 10-homer performance. The Leisenheimer brothers, Ian and Justin, Finneran, Anthony Carnacchio and Jason Malefakis all went yard at least once.
Several Dodgers said they had been asked to join other, more prominent summer organizations in summers past. But they all gave the same response: why leave when they could win where they were at.
&#8220We think we can win as much as other kids,” O'Grady said. &#8220I'm just really glad for Anthony. He's at the fields 24-7. He does all the paperwork, he's at all the practices, all the games. He puts all his time and effort into the organization.”
Upon the team's return, Macchirole's phone was ringing off the hook; friends and the local media wanted to know how they did it. Macchirole, a former CYO and RGMVM Little League manager, didn't have many answers - other than reiterating that these were the same kids that had been beating up on the opposition in the lower leagues, but were now proving their mettle with the big boys. &#8220Sometimes good things come in small packages,” he said of the group that is now 86-11 over the last three summers.