With the new year at Patrick M. Villano School comes the restart of a popular passtime: a backyard baseball hitting contest among now sixth grade students. Sixteen students will pair off in rounds and brackets to show their batting, pitching, and fielding talents. Currently, Caden Castillo is the reigning champion.
Castillo faced Micheal DiBono in round one. They both hit a double, then a triple puting them in an overtime matchup. Both hit a triple, then a double putting the boys into a second and a third overtime. With no clear winner, the competition moved to the next matchup which was Theo Duffy and Lincoln Bahng. Duffy won.
“Winning it by placing is good,” Duffy said.
Ryan Izzo won his matchup, and confidently stated: “That trophy is mine!”
Caden Peyko took on Desmond White in the next round. Desmond hit a double, then a single. Peyko scored a single and a triple to advance to the next round.
“Well, I played to the best my ability,” White said.
In the final four were Dibono, Izzo, Duffy, and Castillo. Castillo and Izzo faced off with Castillo advancing to the next round facing DiBono.
“DiBono is an extremely hard person to go against when he’s up at bat,” Castillo admitted. “His size advantage makes his batting box really hard to fit the ball in.”
Castillo secured the win and is the first back-to-back champion in this tournament. The next round of playoffs is scheduled for November.
