Boyle propels Forest Hills to another District 26 crown

Greg Boyle was a bit player on last year’s Forest Hills 11-12-year-old District 26 championship team. He was a substitute, one of the players who came on late. As one of the Bombers’ older players this year, however, his role is quite different - he is their anchor, ace and top hitter.
The burly 12-year-old made sure Forest Hills repeated last week, twirling a complete-game shutout and blasting a homerun in the Bombers’ district-clinching 10-0 win over College Point. He threw a mercy-shortened five-inning no-hitter, retiring 12 of 15 batters via strikeout at the Elmjack Complex in Jackson Heights.
“He’s big, he’s intimidating and he throws hard,” Forest Hills Coach Phil Fragale said. “In fairness to the other children he has that extra year on them really, and that’s big. On this level, he just dominates.”
Boyle’s birthday - July 24 - barely made the cutoff date for the Minor Division. The Bombers, who also received a three-run double from shortstop Daniel Scarpulla and two-run triple from Adem Sadik, are certainly happy it did. He won all three of his outings in the round-robin tournament, allowing just one hit and striking out 33 in 15 innings pitched.
Now, Forest Hills returns to sectional play, beginning Saturday in West Harrison, N.Y. - when they will meet an opponent from Westchester - where they have been four of the last nine years. They have never come close to reaching the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA, but did get to the Section 3 final in 1998, losing to a team from Staten Island led by Jason Marquis, now a Major League pitcher with the Chicago Cubs.
Last July, Forest Hills won their opener but were blown out by Peekskill in the second round. Boyle actually started that game, but lasted just five pitches because of shoulder soreness.
“It was disappointing,” he said. “But things happen; you got work through them. Look where I am now.”
Boyle will start the opener, but then the single elimination tournament gets difficult, depending on whether second starter Zach Davidson (appendicitis) can go. No matter how far the Bombers go, this has already been an impressive postseason for the Central Queens league. They won district titles in three other age groups, falling one short (13-14-year-olds) of a sweep.
“I think we’re on our way back,” Fragale said. “Our organization has grown, we’ve spent a lot of money to fix our fields, putting in lights, and you hear other people talking about wanting to bring their kids here.”