By Sean Reilly
Its teams may have played a few games already, but the season for the Morris County Cubs organization doesn’t truly begin until its big RV pulls into its regular spot in the auxiliary parking lot and its players wearing the familiar navy blue and white uniforms converge on Diamond Nation.
That was the case over the weekend, when a number of Morris County Cubs teams competed in Flemington for the first time in 2026 at the April Fools tournament.
In the case of the Cubs 14U Navy, the group was not only ready, they went home with a championship trophy after taking the 14U Silver Bracket with a 3-0 victory over the Diamond Jacks Gold 14U in the final on Sunday afternoon.
The Cubs lost their first game on Saturday, but won the next four – including two in their final at-bat. Three of those wins came on Sunday, the last two by shutout.
“This was our first real tournament,” said leadoff man Chase Van Gorder, who was 2-for-2 in the final and 5-for-11 in the tournament. “Our team did well, our pitching did well and the players came through to get a good dub.”
The Morris County Cubs’ RV is a familiar sight at tournaments throughout the spring and summer.
The weekend could have gone either way for the Cubs following an 8-2 loss to the Connecticut Grind 14U Navy in Saturday’s pool play opener.
That was especially so in the second pool game on Saturday, when the Diamond Jacks Gold 14U scored eight times in the top of the fourth and final inning for a 13-9 lead. The Cubs responded with five runs in the bottom of the inning, capped by a game-winning RBI single from Zach Dionyssiou with the clock having expired.
Sunday’s playoff opener was an 11-1 quarterfinal win over the Rising Rebels 14U, with Anthony Reali going 1-for-2 with a walk, two runs and two RBI.
In the semifinals, the Cubs survived a different kind of game as Marley Norlin (six innings, three hits, six strikeouts, two walks) and Van Gorder (one inning, one hit, two strikeouts and one walk) combined to blank the CPI Cubs 14U, 1-0.
The Morris County Cubs scored in the top of the seventh. Reali led off the inning by reaching on a dropped third strike. He stole second and crossed to third when Vincent Morse grounded out to second. Mason Bertos had a one ball count before hitting an RBI double to left field.
Chase Van Gorder of the Morris County Cubs 14U Navy was 5-for-11 in the tournament.
In the championship rematch against the Diamond Jacks Gold 14U, Van Gorder began the game with a double to left field. After a pop out, Van Gorder stole third before John Pallino walked. Dionyssiou was retired on a ground out to the pitcher that scored Van Gorder.
Norin began the second inning with a single to center. He moved to second on a ground out and stole third before holding on another ground out. After a walk to Brady Hood, Norin scored on a wild pitch before Van Gorder singled to center.
In the third inning, Pallino led off with a walk. Dionyssiou hit a double to left field, and Aaron Mills – running for Pallino – scored on a wild pitch with Reali at the plate.
At that point, the game was declared over with the DJacks having run out of pitching in their fifth game of the weekend.
“Hopefully we’ll keep getting better and better as we go,” said Van Gorder, whose team will be back at ‘The Nation’ this weekend for the Around The Horn tournament. “I’m just trying to do stuff to help my team win, and keeping things positive and getting behind my guys. I want to have good at-bats, get the boys going and make sure we keep on winning and getting better every day.”