The Fair Haven Diamond Dawgs 9U baseball club is in the midst of a wonderful 2005 summer season.

The team has been participating in 9U tournaments, as well as a summer league created among teams within the two-rivers communities. The league, originated by Shrewsbury baseball, is being played by teams from Fair Haven, Shrewsbury, Oceanport, Little Silver and River Plaza. The league has proved a wonderful learning experience for all the kids involved.

The awesome sportsmanship and stiff competition have led to the Diamond Dawgs’ success in the tournament in which they have played to date. Currently, the Dawgs are 6-3 overall in tournament play, including a fantastic 2-1 record in what has become a summer classic in the Hazlet Tournament, and a recently completed perfect 3-0 record in the Fair Haven Summer Heat tournament. The Dawgs will play North Howell in the championship within the next couple of weeks. The team is currently playing in the Middletown 2005 Classic tournament, and has its sights on a winning record there as well. The 2005 team consists of Michael Alescio, Thomas Culligan, Brian “Boots” Smith, Christopher Drummond, Jimmy Purcell, Colin Heath, Petey Martin, Charlie Whitelaw, Brian Dunphy, J.T. Jennings, Liam O’Connor, Matthew Dell, Steven Hand, Peter Righi and Jack Donlon. This year’s team is coached by Ducky Smith, Tom Culligan and Mark Donlon.

The Central Jersey Hawks 11U Girls basketball team competed in its first AAU National Basketball tournament, finishing 13th out of 77 national-level teams. The Hawks defeated Texas Select and the Missouri Valley Magic. The girls had some very impressive wins over three ranked teams — the West Virginia Thunder, North Carolina Angels and Texas Express — before being defeated by Missouri Valley Extreme and Mid Atlantic Elite.

The players are Kasey Chambers (Colts Neck), Lauren Bowler (Shrewsbury), Jessica Nevins (Wall Township), Mary Kate Byrnes (Colts Neck), Michaela Mabrey (Belmar), Megan McGuiness (Lincroft), Arron Zimmerman (Ocean Township), Missy Repoli (Colts Neck) and Samantha Clark (Shark River Hills). The coaches are Cheryl Vota and Mary Beth Chambers.