'[It] was Quite an Experience'
!['[It] was Quite an Experience'](/articleimages/IMG_7117.jpg)
This was a spring and summer that outfielder Jake Bartletta won’t soon forget.
During the spring, Barletta was among the best outfielders in South Jersey, playing for Rancocas Valley. As a senior he batted .391 and stole 16 bases for a Red Devils team that went 13-13 against one of South Jersey’s toughest schedules.
Bartletta, who will continue his education and baseball career at Rowan University, was then selected to play for the Burlington County team in the Carpenter Cup.
Burlington County won the championship by going 4-0, winning the final two games at Citizens Bank Park and then being honored by the Phillies before an Aug. 4 game against the Baltimore Orioles.
The winning continued into the summer. Competing for Cherry Hill’s American Legion team, Bartletta played a major role in helping his squad earn its first state title in American Legion history.
That advanced Cherry Hill to the Mid-Atlantic Regional in Ridge, Maryland. Cherry Hill reached the regional championship game but saw its season end with a 10-6 loss to Chesapeake, Virginia.
The win advanced Chesapeake to the American Legion World Series in Shelby, North Carolina.
Even coming so close to advancing to the World Series, Bartletta, while disappointed, was able to savor such a successful last few months of playing baseball.
“To play for both the Carpenter Cup team and for the state championship Cherry Hill team and compete in the regionals was quite an experience,” Bartletta said.
With the Burlington County Carpenter Cup team, Bartletta was 2-for-8 (.250) with two runs scored and a stolen base.
“That was great, playing at Citizens Bank Park and winning the title,” Bartletta said. “And then to be honored by the Phillies was another great experience.”
Bartlett was one of the standouts in the Mid-Atlantic Regional. In five regional games, he batted .400 (8-for-20) with four runs scored and three RBIs.
“Jake was just phenomenal for us,” Cherry Hill coach Kyle Bordner said. “Every time up you expected a hit.”
Even many of his outs were hard-hit.
This was Bartletta’s first time playing American Legion baseball.
“It was so cool to see American Legion baseball and what it is all about,” Bartletta said. “There was so much great competition.”
Bartletta and his team were up for the competition, beating perennial state and national power Brooklawn, 6-5 in the New Jersey state championship game to advance to the regionals.
“I will always remember this summer with so many great memories,” Bartletta said.
Now he hopes to build on these memories as he will compete for another winning program. Rowan went 38-12 last season and earned a berth in the NCAA Division III World Series, where the Profs went 2-2.
Bartletta said he is looking for the next challenge at the next level.
Photo: Jake Bartletta / Marc Narducci
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Author: Marc Narducci
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