New Providence Falls to Chatham in 9U Baseball Semifinal

Chatham’s Mac Clark wasn’t about to let this one get away.

With his team trailing 3-1, Clark came on in relief and tossed 4 1/3 innings of no-hit ball, as Chatham went on to beat New Providence, 8-3, to advance to the North Jersey All Star Youth Baseball 9U championship game.

“Clark did a tremendous job,” Chatham coach David Dempsey said. “He came in a key spot, closed them down, and just pitched lights out. He’s been a great competitor the whole entire year.”

Chatham improved to 20-9 on the season, including a 12-2 record in league play. The team will meet Summit for the 9U title at the Long Hill Little League Complex on Thursday at 6 p.m.

Andrew Bergman drove in four runs on two hits, and Kyle McClintock and Thomas Dempsey had two hits apiece for Chatham.

“Our offense is averaging 11 [or] twelve runs a game,” Dempsey said. “We hit the ball. I was really impressed the way we hit the ball with two strikes all night. We had about five hits with two strikes, great job by everybody.”

Richie Wawzyck had two hits, and Ryan Sherman and Tucker Davidson had one hit each for New Providence.

New Providence had scored three runs in the top of the first, and it threatened for more before Clark came on and silenced its bats. 

Clark entered into a tight spot in the second, with the bases loaded and two outs, and got New Providence’s cleanup hitter to ground out to third to end the threat.

Turns out, it would be the last challenge New Providence would provide.