Taney Youth Baseball is Headed to Williamsport

Courtesy of Paul Alesse, LiSPN.com

Commentary by John Malone

Wow.


There's not much else to say about the Taney Youth Baseball Association and its rise to the Little League World Series.

I heard about this team during its run through districts because they knocked off the 10-year old state champions, Media. The immediate though was, "Cool. We don't get to see city teams do well in Little League too often." Then, I started reading up on the team. I started following Taney's games on GameChanger. The Dragons looked like a team of destiny, but they didn't thoroughly dominate everyone. In a state as tough as Pennsylvania to get through, it was easy to think they'd be tripped up somewhere.



They made it to the state tournament with powerful teams. Everyone in the area, and a few more who follow the blog, knew that they had Mo'Ne Davis and that she supposedly had some talent. Between the big bats of Red Land, the dominance of Collier Township, the coaching of Mike Mussina and Montoursville, there was no way I wasn't going to take the chance to drive over two hours from home in New York to see the first day or two of the Pennsylvania State Tournament.



I immediately was blown away by most of the teams at Lower Perkiomen Little League. I hadn't seen a ton of baseball admittedly this year, but two or three teams looked worthy of a regional run. I wasn't sure if Taney was even one of them that first day, a 9-3 victory over Clarion, with Mo'Ne on the mound and not showing great command.

I heard about her being the best pitcher in the state of Pennsylvania in the news. I heard about her throwing 70 miles per hour. What I saw in just a couple innings didn't support that. It certainly didn't feel that way when I saw Jared Sprague-Lott, her own teammate, throw and the big arms of Kai Cummings and Joe Richardson. Boy.. or should I say, girl was I wrong.

I got to see Mo'Ne pitch against the defending regional champions during pool play with four very good hitters back with Williamsport experience. She completely dominated for five innings. She was throwing harder than I remembered. She had command of all her pitches, and wow her swagger was on point. Nothing bothered her. Meanwhile, the boys in the batters box did not look comfortable at all. She was lights out.

She allowed two home runs in the sixth inning of that game against Delaware. Then, she picked up the save in the semifinal against Colonie, New York, but gave up a two-run homer in the process. That plus seeing her for six innings earlier in the week should've erased any mental edge she had over Delaware and based on the swings I saw in the championship it did. It also didn't matter. She flat out dominated the game once again on the back of her talent and watched her cool and calm defense make play after play until the final double play ended the game.

I didn't buy into the Taney hype in the beginning. There were murmurs about the kids being from all over Philadelphia. They're not. They're from a couple neighborhoods in and around Center City. They all go to the schools in the same area and they've all been playing Taney Youth Baseball (plus their various travel ball including the NJ Arsenal and Anderson Monarchs) for years together. After seeing them play for three weeks and getting to know parents and players. I bought in.

Taney is a team. They have table setters at the top. They have two big time starting pitchers with a crafty reliever along with two powerful right arms in the pen. They are scary hitters throughout the lineup especially the murderers row of Jahli Hendricks, Sprague-Lott, and Zion Spearman, and they have a defense that doesn't make many mistakes. They could easily go two-and-out in Williamsport or they could find themselves in the U.S. Championship game. The rest of the road doesn't matter. They reached the promised land and it was unreal to watch.

I enjoyed meeting everyone from every team in Bristol this year. The success of this blog has made it a lot of fun to hear from players, coaches, and parents every day on the Road to Williamsport. The Taney kids are a big part of that. When Taney gets the bulk of the media coverage in Williamsport just remember that it has nothing to do with the kids or even their adults. It's the culture we live in. Just have fun with it. I'm telling you this group is worth watching and getting to know.






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Tuesday's National Little League Roundup

Action continues across the country as we inch closer and closer to the regionals which start at the end of next week. I can't believe its this far into the tournament already. I saw yet another classic game, this time in Connecticut. I think my streak is up to four or five now across three states in the last five or six days.


Delaware

M-O-T Little League continued its District 1 dominance, but not in dominating fashion. After dropping an 8-7 decision to Camden-Wyoming on Monday, MOT needed another high-scoring affair to finally lock down the district title with a 9-8 win. John Fritz blasted two home runs for the champions and Luke Wooten pitched a solid four innings. MOT led 9-3 heading into the sixth when Camden-Wyoming stormed back. The 3-team state tournament begins on Thursday.

Ohio

Hamilton West Side, the four-time defending state champion, is going to need to take the harder road if it wants to be the five-time champion. New Albany Little League shocked West Side with a walk-off home run by Ben Smith. New Albany led 7-5 in the fifth inning when West Side's Caleb Owens blasted a grand slam to give the champs a 9-7 lead. In the sixth, Parker Thompson hit a two-run shot to tie the game, and then Smith ended it with another two-run home run. New Albany will await the losers bracket champion in the Ohio state championship game.

Connecticut
Westport, a big favorite in Connecticut due to its pitching strength, needed extra innings to take out a really tough Bristol Edgewood squad in the Section 1 championship game. You can read about that story HERE. 

On the other side of the state, Coginchaug forced the "if" game in Section 2 with a 12-3 demolition of South Windsor American. Coginchaug blasted four home runs including two off the bat of T.J. Vallone. John John Jose struck out 10 in the victory for Coginchaug and threw the maximum amount of pitches making him ineligible for Game 1 in the CT state finals. South Windsor, who has relied on its starting pitching in the Section 2 tournament, will try and come back with a victory tomorrow.

South Dakota
Rapid City Timberline won the North Dakota/South Dakota state championship with a 3-1 victory over city rival Harney. It's Timberline's first trip to the regional since 1997. Timberline scored all three runs in the first inning and relied on starter Carter Stonecipher to pick up the win. Tyson Elliott recorded the save.

Maryland

Berlin, the state title favorite, moved into prime position after a 2-0 victory over Conococheague in the winners bracket final. Ryan Duncan had an RBI and Tristen McDonough scored a run. McDonough also closed the game out with an overpowering fastball. As in... hardest in the East region type fastball. Hayden Snelsire tossed five shutout innings for Berlin. Conococheague will face Brunswick in the losers bracket final.

Indiana

Hagerstown hasn't advanced to the Indiana state tournament in 15 years. Now, they're making the most of it. Hagerstown used four different pitchers to knock off Valpo American, 7-4, in the winner's bracket final of Pool A. Hagerstown now advances to the single elimination semifinals and will await the winner of Pool B's losers bracket. Dyer and Terre Haute North played in the winners bracket final on the other side.

Valpo American will face Jeff/GRC, a 9-1 winner over Elwood, in the quarterfinals. Jack Ellis struck out nine in the victory.

New York

In the first round of the state tournament, South Shore American blasted former 10-year old state champ, Massapequa Coast, 13-0. Horseheads also beat up on their opponent, Auburn, with an 8-0 victory.

Georgia

Columbus Northern and Warner Robins American each won their respective pools in the Georgia state tournament, setting up a potential collision course in the state championship game. Northern won the 2006 Little League World Series and WRALL won the whole thing in 2007. Austin Hicks jacked two home runs and picked up the win for Northern on Tuesday. Warner Robins hit four home runs today in another rout. They outscored their pool opponents 44-4 in four games.

Texas
Pearland Maroon knocked off Sweeny 9-6 to win the Texas East state championship and advance to the Southwest Regional.

State Champions List

Utah- Dixie LL (St. George)
Alabama- Jackson LL

Oklahoma- Tulsa LL
Idaho- Coeur d’Alene LL
Washington- Eastlake LL (Sammamish)
Mississippi- Ocean Springs LL
Nebraska- Kearney LL
Washington, D.C.- Capitol City LL
Texas West- Universal LL (Corpus Christi)
Louisiana- Bossier National LL
Texas East- Pearland Maroon LL
South Dakota- Rapid City Timberline

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Nearly the Home Stretch (July 17, 2013)

Written by John Malone, editor


We're almost into that point of the international tournament where every state is in the final stages. A few states have wrapped up already like Utah and Alabama, others will kick their tournaments off this weekend, and the bigger states will wind down next week. 

Connecticut

The sectionals began in Connecticut today and the bats were out. Bristol Edgewood bashed six home runs in four innings against Stamford National. Stamford ALSO bashed six home runs in the game. It was too little too late for the Nats though as Edgewood had an 11-0 lead in the third inning. Stamford responded with a five-spot, but Edgewood added 12 more runs in the fourth to put the game away. Both teams conserved pitching obviously.

Now, Edgewood faces Westport in a potential matchup of the two best teams in the state. Orange beat Seymour and awaits the winner in the winners bracket final.

Maine

Acadians won the District 1 championship in dramatic fashion this week. In a tie game in the bottom of the sixth, Drew Shea hit a leadoff single. He advanced to third on a double by Jacob Mitchell. Ellsworth, making the correct baseball move of an intentional walk failed to do so properly, and Shea scored from third to win the district title and advance to the state tournament.

Virginia

West Springfield American won its district for the third time in a row when it beat league-mates West Springfield National 11-1 in the final. They will look to defend their 11-year old state championship in Lynchburg next week. The schedule isn’t easy. WSA will face Bridgewater, the team that beat them in the 10-year old state championship game.

Fairfax National won its first district championship since 2002 with a 7-0 victory over SYA East.

Alabama

Jackson beat former United States champion Phenix City in the state championship game to advance to the Southeast regional tournament in Warner Robins, GA. Jackson won the state championship in 2009, its only title. EJ Jackson and Dylon Thomas hit back-to-back home runs in the championship game.

Texas

Fort Worth Westside hasn’t won a section title in Texas West since 2002. That season, Westside went all the way to the United States semifinals losing one of the most memorable games of all-time, a pitcher’s duel between Aaron Alvey and Walker Kelly. The two pitchers combined for 40 strikeouts and both pitched nine innings (Yes it was a different time back then!). Anyway, like that team, this Westside squad has faced elimination early and often but continues to persevere. Read a great article about the connections and memories of the two teams HERE.

 Delaware
Millsboro won the District 3 championship from the losers’ bracket with a 7-1 victory over Lewes. Javon Toppin was masterful on the mound, completely shutting down Lewes’ offense and striking out 10. Millsboro won six games in eight days after dropping the first game of the tournament.

Canal battled back to the championship game in District 2 with a victory to try and get a crack at Newark National, the two-time defending 12-year old state champions.

In District 1, Camden-Wyoming has advanced to the winners’ bracket final with a pair of strong victories including a 15-0 win over Smyrna-Clayton. In a 7-3 win over Milford in the tournament opener, Tommy Pomatto struck out 14 batters. The team hit three home runs in the win.

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Monday's Little League Roundup (July 15, 2013)

We hit some of the Northwest, New England, Midwest, and Europe today on our road trip around the Little League world. I personally went out to my home section's winners' bracket final today in New York Section 4. Pearl River Little League continued to dominate its opponents after a bit of a slow start against Fishkill. Sean Flaherty proved to me once again that he's an elite hitter in this age group with his fifth home run in four games and a HUGE three-run hit. He's for real. I'm not sure Pearl River has the pitching to bring home a state championship this year, but they certainly hit up and down the order. They bunt the heck out of the ball too. Away we go.........

New Hampshire

The state finals are set in New Hampshire. Salem won a tough District 1 with a walk-off home run from John Olivo to pull out a 9-7 victory in the “if” game. Bedford forced the “if” game over the weekend with a 19-1 thrashing of Salem.

Salem will face Rye LL from District 2 in the best-of-three state finals. Rye romped through its district unbeaten and won the state championship as 10-year olds two years ago. Expect to see a lot of long balls.

Germany

KMC Little League of Rammstein AFB is looking to get back to Williamsport in the newly created Europe & Africa region. KMC is 3-0 so far with a couple of thrashings in its last two games. The American boys from Germany have a lot of pop in their bats.

Nebraska

Kearney went all the way to the Little League World Series last year and now they’ve caught the bug. Kearney waltzed into the state tournament with big victories over its district foes. Kearney returns at least two players with LLWS experience as well as a coach. That’s important when/if they reach the regionals again.

Rhode Island

The Rhode Island state tournament is always one of the toughest in the country. All four districts are strong and they love their baseball. Perennial-power Lincoln is back in the state tourney after a few years and they dominated too. Johnston should come out of District 1 and they look very strong. Coventry upended the 11-year old state champions in their district.

Washington

Washington is into its winners bracket semifinals right now and quite frankly, I don’t know the teams that are there. None of them have a long term pedigree in the state. There’s no Kents, Redmond’s, Richland’s, etc… It’ll be interesting. West Seattle had the biggest blowout victory, but also had a bye.

Oregon

I don’t have any news out of Oregon yet, but I had to go on one of my scheduling rants. I’ve always hated single elimination at every level. It’s atrocious, especially after pool play. Well, Oregon decided to find out who the best team in the state is this year with a single elimination tournament of nine teams. They all play like 3-4 pool play seeding games that mean nothing, then play single elimination from there on out. It is completely mind-boggling to me.

Vermont
South Burlington continued its quest towards a repeat trip to Bristol CT for the New England regional. The boys from Burlington routed everyone in their district including a 14-1 victory in the final. They have approximately 5-6 players back from last year’s run in the regional.

Delaware

The big news in Delaware today is that Newark National is looking great again. National has won back-to-back state championships and then went 7-1 in pool play at the Mid-Atlantic regional in those years. A 1-0 loss to Par-Troy East NJ kept them from Williamsport last year. Canal from Wilmington was supposed to be the state favorite, but Newark put a hurting on them tonight with a 10-2 victory behind Nate Hardcastle, the lone returner from last year’s 12-year old team. Watch out for the Nats.

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Little League East Region: Day 6 (Plus Semifinal Previews!)

Par-Troy East (NJ) 9, West Salisbury (MD) 1

New Jersey got back into the winning ways today behind some big hits from catcher, Anthony Scannelli. PTE's clean-up hitter did just that today with six RBI including a grand slam that broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the fifth inning. David Ton was great in relief today and Bener Uygen continues to look great on the mound.

The tournament is incredibly unpredictable so far. It seems like every team has pitchers that can shut down anyone in the bracket, but the drop off after that opens the flood gates. For instance, Maryland was in pitching duels for both of its two losses before getting blown out late due to pitching changes.

Collier Township (PA) 7, Stony Point (NY) 2

Another game that was tight throughout but pitching was the difference late. Collier led Stony Point 3-2 in the fifth inning when Pennsylvania was forced to make a pitching change. New York loaded the bases but couldn't capitalize. Collier meanwhile proved they belonged in the semifinals by feasting on New York's bullpen and capped the explosion with a grand slam from Nick Serafino.

Scarborough (ME) 3, Bedford (NH) 0

I predicted winless Maine to come out with a win here because they'd have their ace on the mound and couldn't make the semifinals. That's basically how it went, although I expected both teams to hit more. Bedford's been bitten by the injury bug the last two games and really need Alec Burns back in the lineup. New Hampshire has struggled mightily without him. 

Fairfield American (CT) 9, Wellesley South (MA) 2

Connecticut's string of mercy-rule victories was stopped at two, but the three-time state champions from Fairfield American still had an easy win against Massachusetts. Biagio Paoletta continued to tear the cover off the ball and whoever Connecticut sticks on the mound continues to shut down quality opponents. If Connecticut doesn't win the region, New England will be in big trouble.

East Rankings Through Wednesday

1. Connecticut (4-0)

2. Delaware (3-1)

3. New Jersey (3-1)

4. Pennsylvania (2-2)

5. Massachusetts (2-2)

6. New Hampshire (2-2)

7. Maryland (2-2)

8. Maine (1-3)

9. New York (1-3)

10. Vermont (2-2)

11. Rhode Island (1-3)

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

Random Thoughts: Finally the semifinals are here. Take a look at those records above. Is this the most parity of all time? It might be. The top three teams in the East are definitely better than the rest, but anyone can beat anyone. It's really strange. I think anyone can win the Mid-Atlantic but Delaware would be the best representative with New Jersey a close second. Pennsylvania and Maryland both have ability to pitch themselves to the title, but wouldn't be a great fit for Williamsport.

On the New England side, it's Connecticut or bust. Fairfield was the best team in 2010 and won the region. They were one of the two best teams in 2011 but got upset. Now, they're the best team by far. They have the pitching and hitting to handle anyone they face. 

Homerun Meter: 27

Strikeout Meter: 280

Prediction Record: 3-1 (Overall 16-8)

Predictions & Previews

#3 Bedford, NH (2-2) vs. #2 Wellesley South, MA (2-2)

New Hampshire comes into this game with a two-game losing streak and sometimes that's tough to swallow even when you weren't "trying" to win those games. Both teams should be starting their top pitchers in this one, Grant Lavigne for New Hampshire and Billy Seidl for Massachusetts. The two pitchers also happen to be their team's best hitters. Seidl has been hitting the ball hard all week long even when he makes an out. Lavigne has found himself in pitcher's counts and has been defensive at the plate. He needs to breakout for New Hampshire to have a chance. The status of slugger Alec Burns is also unknown for New Hampshire. That's certainly been a hole in the lineup the past two games.

With the parity in the region this year, this is a tough game to call. Just a few days ago it looked like New Hampshire clearly the better team in this match up, but Wellesley has looked pretty solid as of late. With Seidl on the mound, I'm going with Massachusetts in a slight upset.

Wellesley South 5, Bedford 3.

#4 South Burlington, VT (2-2) vs. #1 Fairfield American, CT (4-0)

This is one of those potential trap games for Connecticut. Back in 2001, Yalesville CT steamrolled through the region and met up with a number four seed from Vermont... the team? South Burlington. Vermont had backed into the semis that year and lost handily to Connecticut. South Burlington pulled off one of the biggest upsets I've ever seen. This year, Fairfield beat South Burlington 17-1. Vermont's biggest problem for this game is pitching. Sam Premsagar is serviceable and the probably starter, but not having Tate or Sheridan available certainly hurts South Burlington.

Connecticut has the ability to start any of their top three starters in Ryan Meury, Will Lucas, or Matt Kubel. With Matty Clarkin ineligible for the remainder of the tournament, Connecticut will look to keep at least two of these pitchers eligible for the final. I honestly can't project who Fairfield will start because any of the three makes sense. Kubel, the number three pitcher, was very good against Vermont the last time he faced them and could get the start again. Lucas came in the game late and struck out the side in one inning. Meury hasn't seen work since the opening night. There's a chance all three could see action. No matter who starts though, I think the end result is inevitable. Another mercy-rule shortened victory.

Fairfield American 12, South Burlington 1