Toms River East Little Leaguers Head To Regional Tournament

TOMS RIVER, NJ — The Toms River East Little Leaguers are headed to Connecticut Friday to try to stretch their summer baseball season a bit longer at the Metro Region tournament this weekend.

The team received a send-off Thursday evening at the Toms River East Little League complex, with town officials and supporters gathering to cheer the team of 12-year-old All-Stars.

The Toms River East team won the New Jersey championship on Saturday, earning themselves a spot in the new Metro Region tournament. Little League has added four teams to the Little League World Series tournament for 2022, and the Metro Region, which consists of four teams (New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island) is one of the four new regions.

Toms River East is scheduled to play New York representative Massapequa Little League at 4 p.m. on Saturday in Bristol, Connecticut.

The team is following in the footsteps of the 2021 Toms River East team that won the Mid-Atlantic Region title and reached the Little League World Series in Williamsport.

The team — players Jayce Cappello, Jake Gallagher, Brady Gillen, Philipp LaGrossa, Logan Macchia, Christian Mascaro, Ryan McHugh, Michael Mendes, Kevin O'Donnell, Gavin Senger, Deklin Sloan, Tyler Todaro, Bryce Tomitz, and manager and coaches Mike Mendes, George Gallagher and Ed Todaro — is hoping to follow in the footsteps of the 2021 team that won its region and advanced to the Little League World Series in Williamsport.