Little League Insider: Horseheads

Showing posts with label Horseheads. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

New York State Tournament Preview

The New York State Tournament begins on Tuesday with a 6-team double elimination bracket. Auburn opens against Horseheads with the winner facing Pearl River. South Shore American opens with Massapequa Coast with the winner facing Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake.

With the way 6-team tournaments are set up, if you play in the first round, you can't blow any of your pitching. It's not worth it. Winning a first round game, and then losing to the bye team sets you back at the beginning of the losers bracket. You have to win the first TWO games if you don't have the bye. The way to do that? Save your pitching for game two. Obviously, if you have the bye, you play to win every game. That's your Little League Insider strategy of the day.

Section 1: Auburn (District 5)
2000-Current History: District titles- 8, Section titles- 2

Auburn is 6-0 in the tournament so far and faced three straight elimination games in the Section 1 tournament because the Section 1 tournament is single-elimination. Don’t ask me why. Auburn last won a Section 1 title in 2010 and made the semifinals out of pool play. Unfortunately, there’s not much info out there right now on Auburn. They’re a big unknown this year.

Section 2: Horseheads (District 6)

2000-Current History: District titles- 6, Section titles- 1

Horseheads has completely rolled over everyone in its path to this point in the tournament except for New Hartford in the Section 2 championship game. Horseheads pulled out a 9-7 victory in that game and has outscored its 11 tournament opponents 138-15 on the road to the state tournament. Mike Limoncelli gets it done on the mound and at the plate. He leads the team in both categories. Eli Schooley tossed a six-inning perfect game during districts with 16 strikeouts. Adam Cook and Tony Burlingame and the rest of the lineup really hit the ball well. This team won the section championship as 10-year olds and finished third in the state.

Section 3: Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake (District 12)

2000-Current History: District titles- 4, Section titles- 1

Burnt Hills is playing in its first 12-year old state tournament, but this particular team isn’t green. BHBL won the Section 3 title both as 11s and 10s. Hunter Valley struck out 12 batters in the sectional championship win over Colonie. Evan Bowers carries the big bat for Burnt Hills.

Section 4: Pearl River (District 18)
2000-Current History: District titles- 2, Section titles- 2

Pearl River won its second section title in three years with an epic 14-13 victory over New Rochelle Central. It was the fourth straight section championship for a team from District 18. In fact, D18 has cleaned up at every level since New York went to six sections. This group doesn't have dominant pitching, but they hit 1-12 and find ways to win all the time. Sean Flaherty and Jon Farley have the most power on the team, and PR isn’t afraid to leg out a few bunt singles.

Section 5: South Shore American (District 24)
2000-Current History: District titles- 7 (incl SSN), Section titles- 4, State titles- 1

South Shore is the most storied LL program in New York and one of the best in the Eastern Region. South Shore has been to the Little League World Series three times and won handfuls of state championships. They have experience and they expect to win. SSA is led by Nick Scala, a big right hander who strikes out about two batters per inning. Scala also has power in his bat. Thomas DiOrio and Mike Ciancio tend to come up with big time hits and South Shore truly relies on a great defense.

Section 6: Massapequa Coast (District 31)
2000-Current History: District titles- 9, Section titles- 4

Massapequa needed extra innings to pull out a Long Island championship, but winning is nothing new for Coast. This group won the Mid-Atlantic title as 10-year olds and took home the Long Island title last year as 11s. They are the first team to ever win three Long Island titles. Nick Collins and Matt Zanfardino are a solid 1-2 punch on the mound, and everyone seems to come through at the plate when necessary. It’s to be expected from a team that has played together for so long during the entire year.

Predictions

South Shore American wins the title over Horseheads with Massapequa Coast taking third.

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Wednesday, July 17, 2013

As the World Turns: Little League Edition (July 16, 2013)

Written by John Malone, editor

Pennsylvania

We have a couple stops to make in the Keystone state, and it begins with…. Keystone. The team to watch in Pennsylvania proved it some more tonight with a 25-2 victory in the Section 3 championship game. This team scores runs like no other in the country right now. The state tournament should not be as easy. Warwick Twp was the team last year doing that to everyone and they faltered in states. We shall see what Keystone does.

Now, we move onto my pet peeve of all pet peeves. Pool Play. I absolutely hate single-division pool play. In the regionals, they shouldn't have semifinals. It should just be a championship and in every single other level of play it should be outlawed when followed by single elimination. Read previous rants on the subject HERE and HERE to show how long I've been saying this and why. On to 2013… DuBois outscored its opponents in Section 1 47-4 in three games. The other three teams all went 1-2. For some reason, one of those teams deserved to play a championship game. After an injury to the starting catcher and 13 walks, DuBois’ season ended with a 10-8 loss. It’s really a shame. Rant over until the next victim of poor scheduling.

Texas

Sweeny beat perennial Texas East power Lamar National in districts and instantly became a team on the radar. They easily rolled through sectionals and now head to the state tournament. They beat Halletsville 12-2 on Monday night in the championship game. Here’s a team photo for those of you who like to analyze team size.

Georgia

Warner Robins American is back in the state tournament for the millionth time and I’m sure they’re the favorite. They lost in the regional final a season ago and return one player from that team. The coaching staff continues to be very similar year after year. It’s one of the reasons WRALL continues to be so consistent. Everyone wanting to play there is probably another one. Another famous Georgia name is in the tournament and that’s Columbus Northern, the 2006 LLWS champions.

California

Sherman Oaks reached another step towards a berth in the West Regional with an 8-0 victory over Burbank. Noah Taylor didn’t allow a hit through 5 2/3 innings, but couldn’t finish the game due to pitch count. SOLL broke the game open with a big five-run fourth inning fueled by three home runs.

New York

We’re down to the final 12 teams in New York with section finals wrapping up by Friday. The 6-team state tournament begins next week. Auburn won Section 1 with three wins in three days in single elimination. They’ll have nearly 10 days off. Why they needed only three days for sectionals is beyond me.

Horseheads will face New Hartford in the Section 2 final on Wednesday. Horseheads has dominated the entire tournament but trailed 1-0 on Tuesday for the first time. They responded with an 11-2 win. Burnt Hills is the favorite in Section 3, but faces the best program in its section for the title, Colonie. Pearl River is a heavy favorite in the Section 4 championship game which is also Wednesday against New Rochelle Central. In Section 5, South Shore American awaits a challenger for its final on Thursday, and in Long Island’s Section 6, Massapequa Coast dominated pool play and will take its chances in a single elimination final against Smithtown National on Friday. Coast is potentially the state tournament favorite.

Radio Show

As most of you know, we dropped some big news today. We'll be hosting a one-hour radio show about the Little League tournament throughout the country on Sundays at 1pm, starting this week. The show will be available LIVE on WFAS 1230 News/Talk AM radio in New York and LIVE online at www.wfasam.com. They have an iHeart Radio station, and we'll have the recorded shows right here on the blog, so make sure you tune in and give us a call.

Monday, July 15, 2013

Little League Road Trip: Sunday July 14, 2013

Written by John Malone, editor

New Jersey

I made my way to neighboring New Jersey on Sunday four games in the Section 1 and Section 3 tournaments (read full recaps of the NJ Section 1 games HERE). Wayne National showcased one of the top pitchers/athletes I’ve seen in the early going this year in Dominic Cancellieri. I’m not going to say he’s Par-Troy East’s Emil Matti (LINK) yet, but he’s that type of player. Wayne’s opponent, Lackawanna, was very solid, and had good size throughout their lineup. They had the short end of the stick pitching-wise to start the tournament, but definitely can make a run.

Par-Troy East, the 2013 edition, isn’t the same team as last year’s Mid-Atlantic champions…obviously. They’re still a team worthy of the state tournament and could definitely win the Section 1 bracket. They have a tough matchup with Washington Township on Monday. Tyler Grieco is like the hulk at and behind the plate.

Next, I went to the shore to see Section 3 play and saw the potential New Jersey state champions, Nottingham. One of the more storied Little Leagues in the entire East region, Nottingham looks like it has all the pieces. They have three or four great to good arms, big bats throughout the lineup, and solid defense. They have “the look.” They pounded a scrappy Eatontown team 10-1 on Sunday night. Eatontown has an excellent ace pitcher who exited the game with 49 pitches in the third inning trailing just 1-0. After his departure, Nottingham smoked five straight hits to take a 7-0 lead.

Utah

Believe it or not, we have our first state champion already. Dixie Little League of Saint George, UT annihilated the competition to win its first state championship since 1997. Dixie made a great run in the regional that year. We’ll have a post all about Dixie this week.

Connecticut

Watch out New England region, there’s potential for MAJOR crowds at the regional tournament this year. Edgewood Little League of Bristol, Connecticut dominated the District 5 championship and advances to the Section 1 tournament this week in CT. If Edgewood can navigate its way to a state championship, we could see record crowds every night in August.

New York

Sectionals have kicked off throughout the state. On Long Island, Massapequa Coast continues to dominate pool play with a 3-0 record, outscoring opponents 28-1. They’re the lone unbeaten team on the island now. In New York City, Peter Stuyvesant from the east side of Manhattan faces perennial-power South Shore American of Staten Island in the winners’ bracket final. Pearl River is rolling through its section in the northern suburbs and Burnt Hills and Saratoga American are on a collision course in the capital region. In Central New York, Horseheads continues to rout opponents. After beating District 6 foes 100-2 over six games, Horseheads opened the Section 2 tournament with an 11-1 victory.

Pennsylvania

There’s been some dominance early on in the home of the Little League World Series. Keystone continues to roll with another barrage of home runs. West Point, perennially challenger, has two big victories, and DuBois hit seven home runs today in a 21-1 victory. Lionville has also beat up its opponents in its respective sectional tournament. The state finals will be a dandy in PA.

Southern California

The record for most home runs on Sunday most likely goes to Santa Maria Southside. In SoCal’s Section 1 tournament, SMS hit ten bombs including a walk-off to advance to the championship game in the winners’ bracket with an 18-16 victory in seven innings over Goletta Valley South. Let’s hope they have pitching available.

Sherman Oaks has competed well as 10-year olds and 11-year olds and even took home a state championship. Both times it faced Burbank in the Section 2 finals. Today they met in the second round of the tournament and it was a barn burner. Sherman Oaks came away with an 11-5 victory behind three home runs from Jake Robbins. It was a back-and-forth affair for five innings before SOLL took a 6-5 lead and opened the game up late.

Northern California

Belmont Redwood Shores made a statement over always tough San Ramon in its sectional opener and then continued that trend with a mercy-rule victory to advance to the title game. I still have my eyes on Santa Cruz American who face off with former district foes, Gilroy, on Monday.

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