WALL — Jacob Karpell has been consistent at the plate in the District 3 Little League Baseball Tournament for his U12 Lincroft team. Monday night he was 3-for-3 with a run and an RBI to help power his team to a 13-2 victory over Toms River – putting Lincroft one game away from winning a spot in the state tournament.
Cheering him on were parents Jeffrey Karpell, the Middletown South High School head baseball coach, whose teams in his coaching career have won five public division titles; and Dawn Karpell, who runs the state’s premier girls basketball program as the head coach at St. John Vianney.
No doubt Jacob gets plenty of sports tips at home but most importantly: “It’s nice that they get to come to my games and be there to support me,” he said.
Backs to the Wall:South Wall keeps Little League baseball tournament dream alive
Dad actually oversees the baseball side of Jacob’s sports activities; the father and son have been working on the left fielder’s craft along with Jacob playing baseball all summer.
“I’m so proud of him and the team,” Jeffrey Karpell said. “They’ve had some bigtime comeback wins so far. The cool thing about it - some of these kids will come to Middletown South so it’s so easy for me to root for them. They’re a great team.”
Jeffrey said he himself never got a chance to play with a youth baseball team in the summer and appreciates the special opportunity his son has.
“Unfortunately my parents were divorced so I didn’t get the chance to play all-stars. I was traveling in the summer to see my dad, so I tell (Jacob) ‘you don’t know how lucky you are to get this experience,’ ” he said.
Of course, it takes a village: Lincroft assistant head coach Antonio Ciccone has worked extensively with Jacob, too.
“I’ve coached Jake since he was 6 years old. I’ve played with his dad in high school. I hate to call a kid a professional hitter but he’s a hitter, man,” Ciccone said.
No need for Lincroft Little League late dramatics this time
Lincroft notched a couple of comeback wins in recent games but against Toms River there was no doubt about it – Lincroft never trailed, and the bats got going early with a Logan Travis RBI single to bring home Karpell in the first inning.
In the following inning, Lincroft picked up where it left off and had a six-run outburst to make the score 7-0, with RBIs coming from Lee Cohen, Owen Warner, Hudson Ellis, Karpell, and Travis.
“I think we hit really good. Only one run in the first and the bottom of the order really got it going. Second inning putting up six runs,” said Jacob Karpell said.
In the fifth inning Logan Pereless cracked a two-run homer to center field, also plating Michael Annucci and extending the lead to 12-2.
Lincroft will play for a chance to clinch the section championship Wednesday at 7 p.m. The opponent will be the winner of Tuesday night’s Toms River-South Wall game.
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