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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Little League Roundup (July 18, 2013)

Written by John Malone, editor

Note: This is the third of three blogs today, make sure you read them all
With a lot state tournaments starting around the country this weekend, sections are starting to wrap up in the East. Others are in the break between tournaments resting up. Here’s tonight’s edition of Little League Roundup.

New York

Five of the six sections are set now after Pearl River finished off one of the most amazing comebacks these eyes have ever seen. PRLL rallied for 10 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and knocked off a really really good New Rochelle Central team, 14-13. You can read a full game article HERE.

Pearl River changed their lineup today for the first time and moved its three hitter, Sean Flaherty, into the two-hole. The move ended up working perfectly for Pearl River. As good Little League minds know, you want your best hitter leading off or batting second at worst in Little League. There are not enough at-bats and you DO NOT want to be stuck with your “guy” on deck. Great move by Pearl River.

New York City wrapped up its first-ever double elimination section tournament today when South Shore American of Staten Island (one of the most storied programs in the country) rallied to beat Franklin Square 10-7. Thomas DiOrio homered and picked up the win in relief after SSA trailed 4-0 early. Hulking Nick Scala, South Shore’s pitching ace would’ve been available for the “if” game. He also homered.

New Jersey

Wayne National won the Section 1 championship behind six home runs including two from winning pitcher Dominic Cancellieri. You can read a full game story right HERE.

In Section 3, Toms River East American (three-time LLWS participants and one-time champion) put on another hitting display that could rival the 1927 Yankees. TREA beat South Wall 19-5 and has now scored 59 runs in the four games of the Section 3 tournament. Toms River East has hit 16 home runs in the sections. However, TREA has the toughest test of all now, knocking off state title favorite Nottingham…twice.

Connecticut

CT’s District 2 has been locked down by Fairfield American for a few years now. FALL has won three straight CT state championships in the 12-year old division and went to Williamsport twice. Their cross-town rival, Fairfield National, won the state title as 11-year olds last year, but Westport decided to break up the party.

Westport won the championship last week and is now primed as the state tournament favorite after beating Bristol Edgewood 8-0 in the Section 1 tournament. Edgewood scored 23 runs on Wednesday to open the tournament, but couldn’t muster a hit off of Westport pitcher Chad Knight who also struck out 13 batters. What’s the impressive thing about that feat? Harry Azadian had a no-hitter through 5+ innings in Westport’s last game.

Washington D.C.

While the District of Columbia has six teams in its tournament now, it’s truly a three-team race between perennial power Capitol City, recent champion Northwest Washington, and newcomer Capitol Hill. With just one game left in the round-robin pool play, Capitol City has restored order and is in the driver’s seat. Cap City didn’t allow a run to either Capitol Hill or Northwest Washington in its two victories against the other contenders. In fact, Cap City didn’t allow a runner to reach second base in either game. Against Northwest Washington, Robert Reynolds was perfect through 5 1/3 innings including 13 strikeouts. His relief didn’t allow a runner either to combine on the perfect game.

Arizona

The Arizona state tournament kicked off on Thursday and some of the tradional powers picked up big wins in the opening round. Chandler National South beat Casa Grande 18-8, Canyon del Oro beat West Flagstaff 16-6, and Arrowhead beat Mountain View 16-5.

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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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