2012 Little League East Region: Day 5

South Burlington (VT) 10, Coventry (RI) 9

After a 1-0 loss to Connecticut on the first night of the tournament, I don't think many people expected to see Rhode Island completely missing the New England semifinals. After watching Vermont lose 17-1 to Connecticut on the second night of the tournament, I don't think many people expected to see Vermont IN the semifinals. Well... here we are.

South Burlington never got down on themselves after falling to 0-2 early in the tournament and now find themselves securely in the semifinals. Ryan Hockenbury, Ben Tate, and Nate Gaboriault were great on offense today.

Rhode Island has two of the best pitchers in the entire region, and had the bad luck of facing Connecticut's Ryan Meury in the first game. I know that Fairfield is sleeping easier now that Coventry is headed home.

Wellesley South (MA) 9, Bedford (NH) 5

The victory by Massachusetts effectively eliminated Maine and Rhode Island from the tournament while clinching a spot for them at the same time. New Hampshire was undone by terrible defense today. Six errors is just too much to overcome. Massachusetts' Billy Seidl swung the bat like a stud today. If he hits that way (and pitches like he can) Wellesley may find themselves beating whoever they meet up with in the semis.

New Hampshire didn't need to win this game and set their pitching up for the playoff round. Lavigne, Saltzman, and Collins will all be available. As long as the defense comes around, they're still the second best team to Connecticut.

Stony Point (NY) 8, Northwest Washington (DC) 2

New York finally got its first win and it still wasn't that easy. DC absolutely proved how tough the whole region is this year because they were legit this year. New York has hit with each team they've played, but the lack of a homerun threat has been the difference. To beat great pitching (which is all that's left) teams need to hit a few balls out of the park. That will be the key to advancing to Williamsport.

Newark National (DE) 13, Collier Township (PA) 0 (F/4)

Wow. Delaware looked scary good with their offense today. To be fair, Pennsylvania didn't use either of their top pitchers (coach's decision/ineligible), but PA's #3 certainly got hit hard. Matt Theodorakis has led this team all summer and is getting hot at the right time. Joe Silan is possibly the best hitter on the team right now, and if Delaware wins the tournament, Clayton Hansen will be the team MVP. When you have three stars playing like that, plus others like Drew Emory. You're in good shape. The first three in the lineup were 9-for-11 today with two homeruns and seven RBI.

Pennsylvania decided to put all its eggs in one basket and will most likely throw their #1 tomorrow against New York. That game now becomes an elimination game with both teams throw one of its top two pitchers. Neither has much available in relief either.

East Region Rankings Through Tuesday

1. Connecticut (3-0)

2. Delaware (3-1)

3. New Jersey (2-1)

4. New York (1-2)

5. New Hampshire (2-1)

6. Massachusetts (2-1)

7. Maryland (2-1)

8. Pennsylvania (1-2)

9. Vermont (2-2)

10. Rhode Island (1-3)

11. Washington D.C. (1-3)

12. Maine (0-3)

Random Thoughts: When New York saw it's pool play schedule, I'm sure they thought they had a good one. Delaware and Pennsylvania would be coming off their third games in three days, usually nobody needs to throw tough pitchers on the final day of pool play, etc... Instead, New York will face four #1 pitchers in all four games.

I've been catching flak for talking negatively about coaching decisions. I'm not trying to second guess anyone (its usually not second guessing because I tweet it the moment I think it). I'm just giving my opinion. I'm just an internet blogger that watches a bunch of baseball. Take it with a grain of salt. I have no problem with people rubbing anything in my face if I'm wrong, but so far the three instances I've been most vocal about have come to fruition. Maine's pitching, Pennsylvania's pitching, and New York leaving their #1 in during a game they were losing against Delaware.

Homerun Meter: 21

Strikeout Meter: 235

Prediction Record: 2-2 (Overall 13-7)

Predictions: New Jersey over Maryland 9-8, New York over Pennsylvania 4-3, Maine over New Hampshire 8-5, and Connecticut over Massachusetts 16-6.

Connecticut, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Vermont are all in the semifinals. If Massachusetts beats Connecticut, they are the one seed.

New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware have clinched. The winner of New York/Pennsylvania is in. The seeds cannot determined yet. If Maryland wins and New York wins, then it's MD vs NY and DE vs NJ. If Maryland wins and Pennsylvania wins, it's MD vs PA and NJ vs DE. If New Jersey wins, DE vs. MD and NJ vs winner of PA/NY (unless the winner is NY and they give up a ton of runs in the process).

For New England, there's a few different scenarios, so I'll just tell you what it will be if my predictions are correct. CT would be 1, NH would be 2 (head to head over VT and MA), Mass/Vermont determined by Runs Against per inning. If MA beats CT and ME beats NH, then Mass would be 1, CT 2, New Hampshire 3, Vermont 4. If MA beats CT and NH beats ME... CT is probably the 1 based on Runs against per inning, Mass 2 (head-to-head), New Hampshire 3, and Vermont 4.



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