From New Jersey to a national title: How Cherry Hill Atlantic baseball spent its summer
Old Bridge, New Jersey.
Bangor, Maine.
Easley, South Carolina.
The three towns aren’t typical destinations for a summer vacation.
However, the trifecta trip was pure paradise for the Cherry Hill Atlantic Senior League baseball team.
While the squad finished one win short of their ultimate goal, the journey produced a national championship and plenty of memories for these Cherry Hill 16 deemed the Boys of Summer around town.
More: Which South Jersey baseball team is World Series-bound?
“This was the perfect summer,” said Zach Salsbery, who is a rising junior at Cherry Hill East High School. “It was better than any vacation or trip that I’ve ever taken.”
Cherry Hill Atlantic head coach Christian Carkeek agreed.
“It was an amazing baseball journey,” he said. “My wife (Ruby) may not think so, but it was a great summer vacation. I love baseball and this group, this journey only reignited that passion.”
Cherry Hill Atlantic's road to a title
Cherry Hill Atlantic, a mix of players from East and West high schools, won 17 of 19 games played over the last several weeks, racking up district, state and regional titles on its way to the Senior League World Series in Easley.
The squad captured the U.S. title with a 12-2 win over Hawaii on Saturday before bowing to Curacao by a 14-1 count in World Series final. Austin Hanni threw a pair of complete-game victories, including one in the national championship game while Tristan Perry (.500 batting average, five RBIs), Salsbery (.400, six runs scored) and Bechtel (.333, five runs scored) powered the offense.
Along the way, the players became celebrities back home as fans packed into Kaminski’s, which hosted watch parties for each of the World Series games on ESPN +. In South Carolina, the local kids asked Cherry Hill players for autographs. When the team arrived back in South Jersey, they received a police escort back into town.
More: Which South Jersey Senior League baseball squad earned a state title?
“It’s a special bunch of kids,” Carkeek said. “They laid it all out for their teammates and the community. This was for Cherry Hill baseball which has such a rich tradition. These kids knew they were playing for the guys who never had the opportunity to get there and the boys really took that to heart.”
Despite forming the team just before the start of the tournament last month, Bechtel said a strong bond that quickly formed was key.
“We got this team together and it was just going to be playing for fun,” said Bechtel, a rising junior at Cherry Hill West. “We got along right away and nobody was left out. We bonded and we showed off what we were made of.”
Cherry Hill Atlantic experienced more than baseball
It wasn’t all baseball for the players.
Between the infamous poker games, the team enjoyed the local seafood and hiking in Maine, and got to see nearby Clemson University while in South Carolina.
“Maine was really a beautiful area,” Carkeek said. “We did some hiking in a national park up there, and ate plenty of crabs and lobsters in Bar Harbor.”
Many of the players will try to squeeze in a little more summertime activities before the school bell rings in a few weeks. Some, like Salsbery, won’t be as lucky.
Two days after putting away his glove for another season, Salsbery put on the shoulder pads and helmet for East’s first football practice at 7 a.m.
“It was a rough practice, but I wouldn’t have it any other way,” said Salsbery, who stepped into a starting role at quarterback late in the season and helped the Cougars clinch their first division title in 32 years.
Seven players will return next season as the team will try to defend its titles. While the journey will be difficult, the squad already knows the way.
Who is on Cherry Hill Atlantic?
Members of the Cherry Hill Atlantic team were Andrew Bechtel, Eric Brown, Brody Connors, Jimmy Farley, Kyle Fisher, Carter Gill, Brody Goldfarb, Mick Goldstein, Cole Haddock, Austin Hanni, Stephen Longo, Luciano Macri, Ryan Moyer, Tristan Perry, Aiden Ryder and Zach Salsbery. Manager: Christian Carkeek; Coaches: Chandler Dunoff, Ben Keating and Scott Burnham.
Tom McGurk is a regional sports editor for the Courier-Post, The Daily Journal and Burlington County Times, covering South Jersey sports for over 30 years. If you have a sports story that needs to be told, contact him at (856) 486-2420 or email tmcgurk@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @McGurkSports. Help support local journalism with a digital subscription.
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Cherry Hill Atlantic captured U.S. title in Senior League baseball
