ShopRite won the Kearny Little League World Series championship last week for the first time. Front row, from l., are Adam Juchnik, Donavyn Eakins, Jonathan Crist, Gabe Koby, Michael Bernhardt and Nick Rodriguez. Middle row, from l., are Jake Landy, Connor MacConchie, Andre Vignier, Chris Serrano and Andrew Fernandez. Back row, from l., are coach Chris Juchnik, coach Keith Koby, Haven Ortiz and head coach Mike Landy.
There was a time in his life when Mike Landy was a successful high school football and baseball coach at Harrison High School.
But Landy, the long-time Harrison administrator and current Kearny councilman, stepped away from coaching high school sports a decade ago to focus on his other duties – being a father.
So Landy devoted his time coaching his sons, Michael and Jake, who have spent the last eight years playing for ShopRite in the Kearny Little League.
“As soon as Michael was old enough, I went to coach Little League,” Landy said. “I knew that it was impossible to do both.”
Mike Landy followed the exploits of his eldest son from tee-ball through Little League. He’s 16 years old now and just finished his freshman year at Kearny High School.
The younger son is 11 and currently pitches and plays for ShopRite. His middle name is Thurman, after the late New York Yankee catcher and captain. In fact, Jake Landy dons No. 15 in honor of the Yankee great.
When the 2015 Little League season began, the eldest Landy thought that he had the makings of something special with ShopRite.
“I thought we had a shot,” Landy said. “We had this group of kids together for some time now. I thought we had a shot if the kids played well and played to their potential. We kept plodding along through the regular season.”
Landy said that ShopRite hit a little bit of a lull in the middle of the regular season.
“We won the first five, then lost two straight,” Landy said. “We lost on Wednesday and lost again on Saturday.”
But then Landy’s team didn’t lose again.
“We got challenged there a bit, but then we did fine,” Landy said.
They sure did. They rolled through the rest of the regular season to finish 13-2 and win the American Division title.
When the playoffs began, ShopRite won two more games to set up a best-ofthree showdown with Rick’s Auto Body for the Kearny Little League World Series crown.
Rick’s Auto Body has captured the title several times in the past. ShopRite had never won.
But that didn’t deter this year’s ShopRite squad, which swept the final series in two straight games, 15-3 and 12-2, to capture the Kearny Little League title for the very first time.
Landy was impressed with the way his team had tremendous camaraderie throughout the season.
“We had such a team that we didn’t have to rely on just one or two kids,” Landy said. “We always had about nine or 10 kids contributing. That’s the sign of a good team. Everyone stepped up. It was really a team effort.”
Chris Serrano was one of the key performers for champion ShopRite. The right-handed pitcher was also a shortstop when he wasn’t on the mound.
“He’s quite a competitor,” Landy said. “As a pitcher, he throws hard. He’s been a pitcher for us since he’s been nine years old, so he’s seasoned. He’s also our lead-off hitter and the one who gets us going. He hits for power and hits for average.”
Haven Ortiz is another right-handed pitcher.
“He’s a big, imposing kid who throws really hard,” Landy said. “He’s really intimidating on the mound because of his size and how hard he throws. He really came into his own this year. We had a formula of using Serrano and Ortiz in games, one to start and the other to close.”
Landy’s son, Jake, is another of the team’s pitchers.
“The key to his success is that he doesn’t walk anyone,” Landy said of his son. “He throws strikes and pitches to contact.”
Adam Juchnik is a 10-yearold who also throws the ball around the strike zone.
“He’s always around the plate,” Landy said.
The team’s catcher is Jonathan Crist, who at first, was reluctant to become a catcher.
“I asked him to catch and he sacrificed himself to be the catcher,” Landy said. “He ended up being the best catcher in the league. He doesn’t look like a catcher, but he throws the ball real well. He picked off four guys at first base this season. He really worked at being a better catcher.”
Connor MacConchie is the team’s jack-of-all-trades. He can play first base, shortstop, anywhere Landy asks him to play.
“He also did a little catching,” Landy said. “He’s our cleanup hitter, but he’s not your typical cleanup hitter.”
Jake Landy is the regular second baseman who bats fifth in the lineup.
“He’s driven in a lot of key runs for us,” Landy said of his son. “He’s been pretty solid. He’s a tough out.” Serrano and MacConchie share shortstop duties. Juchnik is the third baseman and the No. 2 hitter.
Andrew Fernandez is the left fielder.
“It’s not common to have a really good left fielder in Little League, but he’s really good,” Landy said.
Andre Vignier is the centerfielder.
“He’s the most improved player on the team,” Landy said. “I wasn’t so sure he would be a starter. But he hit a grand slam in the first round of the playoffs.”
The right field duties were shared by a bunch of 9-year-olds, the future of the ShopRite team.
Michael Bernhardt, who “knows the game well,” according to Landy, and Nick Rodriguez played right field during the playoffs. Gabe Koby and Donavyn Eakins missed the playoffs due to injury. Koby had a shoulder injury and Eakins broke his pinky right before the playoffs began.
It was a great effort by a great Little League team, winning 16 of 18 games.
“I’m really happy for the kids,” Landy said. “They’re a great bunch of kids. They work hard. We practice as much as anyone.”
Landy was asked if his prior coaching experience helped with coaching the ShopRite champs.
“I think it has,” Landy said. “I had an idea of where I want them to be. I just try to simplify things for them, so I guess it does help. I guess I have a different perspective now.”
And he now has a championship to share with his son and the rest of the ShopRite players, the winners of the Kearny Little League World Series for 2015.
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Jim Hague | Observer Sports Writer
Sports Writer Jim Hague was with The Observer for 20+ years — and his name is one of the most recognizable in all of sports journalism. The St. Peter’s Prep and Marquette alum kicked off his journalism career post Marquette at the Daily Record, where he remained until 1985. Following shorts stints at two other newspapers, in September 1986, he joined the now-closed Hudson Dispatch, where he remained until 1991, when its doors were finally shut.
It was during his tenure at The Dispatch that Hague’s name and reputation as one of country’s hardest-working sports reporters grew. He won several New Jersey Press Association and North Jersey Press Club Awards in that timeframe.
In 1991, he became a columnist for The Hudson Reporter chain of newspapers — and he remains with them to this day.
In addition to his work at The Observer and The Hudson Reporter, Hague is also an Associated Press stringer, where he covers Seton Hall University men’s basketball, New York Red Bulls soccer and occasionally, New Jersey Devils hockey.
He’s also doing work at The Morristown Daily Record, the very newspaper where his journalism career began.
During his career, he also worked for Dorf Feature Services, which provided material for the Star-Ledger. While there, he covered the New York Knicks and the New Jersey Nets.
Hague is also known for his announcing work — and he’s done PA work for Rutgers Newark and NJIT.
Hague is the author of the book “Braddock: The Rise of the Cinderella Man.”