In a battle of undefeated teams, Teaneck TBO 10U beat visiting Carlstadt 12-5 to remain on top of the Northeast Bergen All-Stars (NEBAS) standings. Only the top four teams (of 16 total) in the 10U division will make the playoffs and, with three games remaining in the regular season, Teaneck owns its own destiny. With players fighting frigid early Sunday morning temperatures at Phelps Park, Teaneck continued its hot streak to bring the team record to 5-0.

Carlstadt got on the board early with aggressive base running and uncharacteristic Teaneck fielding errors to take a 2-0 lead. Teaneck answered with some aggressive baserunning of its own to score three runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 3-2 lead, and would never look back. Starting pitcher Avi Pasternak struck out the Carlstadt side in the second inning to end the game with six strikeouts in two innings pitched. In Teaneck’s second at bat, David Wilbur smashed a two RBI double to score David Siev and Aiden Merkin. With bases loaded, Pasternak hit a hard sacrifice line drive to shortstop that brought Shai Zaretsky across the plate to give Teaneck a 6-2 lead. Carlstadt scored two runs in the top of the third inning to tighten the game up at 6-4. Teaneck ended the third inning rally by shutting down a Carlstadt attempt to steal home plate. Catcher Zaretsky scooped up a passed ball and tossed it to pitcher Caleb Block who applied the tag. After two Caleb Block strikeouts and a great ground out handled by Wilbur at first base, an Ezra Block RBI single to score Zaretsky brought the score to 7-4 to close the fourth inning.

Then, in the fifth inning, chanting started—TBO! TBO! TBO! As the Teaneck bench brought the cheers, the energized gloves and bats brought the highlights! Catcher Benjamin Chetrit entered the game and made his presence known with two great throw outs, alertly picking off a runner at first base in the fifth inning and then shutting down a Carlstadt player’s attempt to steal second base in the sixth inning, with a perfect throw. Teaneck pulled away with five more runs in the fifth inning as Ezra Block hit a two RBI double to lead Teaneck batters with three RBIs, going 2-3 at the plate. Additional Teaneck runs were driven in by RBI singles from Chetrit, Nate Tenzer and Caleb Block.

Teaneck’s remaining games are at home against Ridgewood, away at Washington Township and then close things out against crosstown rival Teaneck Southern!