Bayonne going to the Little League World Series is taking me back

As Yogi Berra might have said, it feels like déjà vu all over again. 

What happened Friday night with those 12-year-old young men from Bayonne in a come-from-behind win gave me goosebumps and made me nostalgic for 1998. That’s the last time a New Jersey team won it all at the Little League World Series.

The Toms River team was nicknamed the Beast from the East and included future MLB star Todd Frazier. He pitched relief in that championship game and even showed an amazing baseball IQ for a 12-year-old player under enormous pressure when he physically stopped his own teammate from grabbing a ball Frazier knew left alone was going to roll foul.

While that’s the last time a Jersey team won it all, it’s not the last time a team from the Garden State competed in Williamsport. There was Toms River East in 2021. There was Elmora Youth from Elizabeth in 2019. 

Now it’s Bayonne. The Bees fell to a 4-0 deficit after one inning and never lost confidence. They rallied. They defeated Darien, Connecticut 8-6 to earn their way to the LLWS. Hudson County should be proud. It’s only the second time they sent a team to the LLWS and that was way back in 1966. 

Bayonne will represent our region starting Aug. 19 at the Little League International Complex, Lamade and Volunteer Stadiums in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. I hope we’re all watching and sending the kind of spirit vibes we did for the boys back in 1998.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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