New York State Little League Tournament Preview (2016)

Wow. We're back. I missed the entirety of the 2015 Little League season because work just doesn't allow me to be Little League Insider anymore. I guess being an adult can stink sometimes. Who knew?

Anyway, I've been out to a few games this season around the New York and New Jersey area and I'm pumped up for all the state tournament action. Even though the blog itself isn't nearly as active as it used to be, the Little League World Series Discussion Group is always firing on all cylinders. Seriously... join it. There's Little League fans (1000s of them) across the country giving updates every single day. It's a great community.

I've done state tournament previews for New York and New Jersey in the past and its always one of my favorite posts to write, so I decided to give NY a shot this year since I've seen a couple of the teams so far and I'm incredibly excited to see Maine-Endwell this season, a team that could be historically good in New York. We'll see this week.

The state tournament is being hosted by Van Nest Little League and Bronxchester Little League in District 22 in the Bronx. The two fields are in walking distance of each other and will showcase the best the state has to offer.

Without further ado, here's this year's state tournament preview. Remember that most of this is based on simple research and I did it all in a couple hours. If any names are wrong, spelled incorrectly, or didn't showcase enough or the proper players, I'm deeply sorry. I'll get it right once the tournament starts today. Finally... come say hello if you see me. I'll be there on Wednesday and Thursday for sure.

Section 1 West: Penfield (District 4)
Recent History (2000-2016): 4 district titles, first section title since 1979

Penfield National rolled through the sectionals by averaging 14 runs per game. The last time PLL played a close game was the District 4 championship when they knocked off Fairport, 6-4. Noah Rogoff, Matt Salina, Jake Lipani, and John Scoenhardt are just some of the names to watch from the Rochester-area squad.

Section 1 East: Maine-Endwell (District 7)
Recent History (2000-2016): 8 district titles, 5 section titles, 2 state titles

Maine-Endwell are the defending state champions. Normally, this doesn’t mean much… new crop of kids, right? Wrong. M-E had six 11-year olds on that state championship team and they’re bigger and stronger this season. This group also won the state championship when they were 10-year olds. M-E is led by Michael Mancini, Conner Rush, Jude Abbadessa, et al. The boys in blue and gold have been as dominant as you can be, winning by mercy rule in every game thus far.

Section 2 North: New Hartford (District 10)
Recent History (2000-2016): 2 district titles, first section title

New Hartford won its first section title in the long history of its league and the Utica-area squad is excited to take its show to the Bronx. NH is 10-1 through the tournament so far and topped a strong Rotterdam-Carman squad in a Best-of-3 series to reach the state tournament. Roman Kimball has been the staff ace and one of the team’s top hitters. Tyler Potocki has shown some big time ability on the bump as well including a 12 strikeout performance in the district championship game. Will Gall and Kyle Philipkoski have had big hits in recent victories.

Section 2 South: Town of Wappinger (District 17)
Recent History (2000-2016): 7 district titles, 2 section titles

Wappinger has become the defacto leaders of District 17 since becoming one charter and this particular group is experienced. They reached the state tournament last season as 11-year olds, so they will be experienced. The group is young with some 11s mixed in this year, but Shane Heinemann, Sean Camacho, Ben Tullo, and Parker Nevins have been great leaders thus far.

Section 3 North: Pine Bush (District 19)
Recent History (2000-2016): 4 district titles, 2 section titles

Pine Bush enters the state tournament at 13-1. They’ve won 13 straight games. The offense for the Bushmen has been relentless. PB has scored less than 10 runs in a game just three times in their run to the Bronx. They put up 20+ runs four different times as well. The team has 54 home runs in total, an astronomical number. Joe Croce leads the way for an offense that puts them up in bunches. He homered three times in the district “if” game, the second straight year he’s hit three in a title-winning performance. Watch out for Will Pitt, Ethan Velanga, and Gunnar Meland as well. Nick Scala provided an epic 6th-inning homer in Game 1 of the district final.

Section 3 South: Mid-Island (Staten Island) (District 24) Recent History (2000-2016): 4 district titles, 3 section titles, 1 state title, 1 regional title

Mid-Island reached the LLWS back in 2006 and is ready for another run. MILL comes from one of the toughest districts in the entire Eastern Region and is battle-tested. MI has some big boppers at the top of the lineup and strong arms.  Matt Rupp has been the team’s most dominant starter and one of the big sticks. Matt Polemeni, Eric O’Neill, and Chris Field are also major home run threats every time they step in the box.

Section 4 West: Port Washington (District 28)
Recent History (2000-2016): 9 district titles, first section title

Like Wappinger and St. James/Smithtown, Port Washington played in the 11-year old state tournament last year. So they have some experience at this level. They went 2-2 with wins over the other two teams in the tournament. Chris Chang and Jake Spiryda are two players to watch for PW.

Section 4 East: St. James/Smithtown (District 35)
Recent History (2000-2016): 2 district titles, first section title since 1999

Smithtown had an interesting road to the Bronx. In one of the worst and wildest tournament formats you’ll see, St. James/Smithtown went 1-2 in pool play of its sectional tournament, placing third. All four teams make the semifinals though and SJSLL promptly won the semifinal and then beat the 0-3 team in the championship. They obviously worked the tournament the right way. It’s no accident though that Smithtown is in. They were in the state tournament last year as well, falling twice in mercy-rule shortened games. James Ackerman and Tyler Lawrence are two of the guys who should be on your radar.

PREDICTIONS

It’s hard to predict how teams will pitch a double elimination tournament, so instead of straight picks, I’ll give you the teams ranked in order… Remember that I’ve only seen two (Pine Bush and Mid-Island) play in person.

1. Maine-Endwell

2. Mid-Island
3. Pine Bush
4. Penfield National
5. New Hartford
6. Port Washington
7. Town of Wappinger
8. St. James/Smithtown

I’ll be at Van Nest and Bronxchester Little Leagues on Wednesday and Thursday for sure. Join in on the conversation for the Road to Williamsport at my LittleLeague World Series Discussion Group on Facebook.

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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Which Version of the Little League East Regional Tournament Was Best?

Little League expanded the World Series participants from 8 to 16 total back in 2001 giving twice as many teams the Williamsport experience. 2001 happens to be the first year I traveled to Bristol, Connecticut for the Mid-Atlantic and New England region tournaments. Together, it’s still known as the East Region tournament despite two teams advancing.

In the past 11 years, there have been some amazing baseball games, teams, and talent. The best year, in my opinion, was 2006. Portsmouth, New Hampshire won the New England region and Mid-Island LL from Staten Island won the Mid-Atlantic region that year, but the story lies in the talent of almost every team that made it to Bristol. After a couple days of the tournament, most people can get a feel for who the best team or best couple teams are. Good years have three teams worthy of the championship, and great years have four. In 2006, the New England region had FIVE teams that would’ve been a great representative for the LLWS. The Mid-Atlantic was no slouch either with a couple great teams and a one of the best pitchers I’ve ever seen.

I’m known for always sitting on my blanket in the third base bleachers and also keeping a notebook with the scorecard for every single game in Bristol. Referring to my 2006 notebook, here’s the picture I can paint for you about that great year.

The first game of the tournament was a Mid-Atlantic pool play game between Capitol City Little League and South Caroline, Maryland. Coming into the tournament, Maryland’s Brandon Nelson had a reputation of being a power pitcher. This was an understatement. Using a radar gun at the field, Nelson was clocked as high as 78 MPH and consistently threw 73-75 MPH.  He tossed a complete game shutout giving up one hit, striking out 17, and walking just one batter. It was remarkable. South Caroline won 4-0.

Peabody Western, Massachusetts blew out Yarmouth, Maine 15-0 in the next game. They smacked six homeruns including three in a row at one point. Their top pitcher, Sean Glabicky, also topped 70 MPH. He struck out eight in just three innings. In Game 3, New York was down 9-4 to Naamans, Delaware in the fifth inning before storming back to win 10-9 behind a grand slam from 11-year old Chris Goetz. The day didn’t slow down at all in the night cap. Glastonbury American, Connecticut beat Lincoln, RI 4-3 in seven innings behind a walkoff homerun from Steve Michalek. Michalek also struck out 14 in six innings.

After one of the craziest days of games ever, it didn’t stop on day two. Portsmouth, NH and Colchester, VT had their first of two battles and Jordan Bean put his hat in the ring for best pitcher in the region. Bean threw a complete game 1-hiter with all outs via strikeout, 18 of them in total. Vermont’s Josh Place did a valiant job matching Bean zero for zero after giving up a first inning run.

On day three, Massachusetts and Rhode Island battled, and RI (now 0-2) was in yet another extra-inning game. This time they came out on the right end of it when Ryan O’Dell blasted a tenth-inning homerun to walkoff with a 3-1 victory. If ten innings and four runs were too much pitching for you, New York played another barnburner, this time beating Maryland 20-10 with 20 hits. Vermont continued its pitching prowess with a shutout of Connecticut and blasted three homeruns in the first inning to prove they were the best Vermont team in history, quite possibly.

Maryland got back in the win column with Nelson on the mound as hit fired off 14 more strikeouts, but gave up his first run. He had 31 strikeouts in 12 innings at that point. Colchester continued to pitch well, but lost another tough one, this time to Massachusetts. Glabicky struck out ten in a complete game 1-hitter and Matt Tehan and Ryan Church hit back-to-back homeruns in the fourth to do all the scoring.

Lincoln, Rhode Island finished pool play 1-3 and out of contention despite going to extra innings three times. The third and final time was against New Hampshire. It was 1-1 through six and yet another pitcher’s duel. Bean gave up an unearned run in the sixth and struck out 14 batters. He had 32 strikeouts in 12 innings. O’Dell struck out 10 batters in six innings before Portsmouth unloaded in the seventh inning off Rhode Island’s relievers.

Back in the Mid-Atlantic, Livingston American, New Jersey was proving to be the best team in the region and bolstered that claim with ANOTHER extra inning game. New Jersey beat New York 8-6 in seven innings giving them an unblemished record heading into the semifinals. The loss by New York forced them to have to face Nelson in the semifinals.

New Jersey felt all but assured the regional championship with the semifinals matchups. Nelson and Maryland should take care of New York, the second best team in the region, and then they could easily handle Maryland’s weak back end pitching. Not so fast. Nelson led off the semifinals with a long homerun, and didn’t allow a hit for five innings.  Down 1-0 in the sixth against the most dominant pitcher in the region, New York squeezed two hits off Nelson to score the game-tying run. Nelson finished with 14 strikeouts in six innings, but was done for the day due to the six inning pitch rule. 11-year old Chris Goetz did his part for New York by not allowing another hit after the Nelson homerun (intentionally walking Nelson twice in the process). He struck out 12. In the bottom of the seventh though, Matt Davis belted a walk-off homerun to shock Maryland and enter the Mid-Atlantic championship game.

The game that followed is responsible for many rule changes in Little League, specifically, the fact that a mandatory play violation doesn’t result in a forfeit anymore.

Vermont, which hadn’t hit well for most of the tournament, blasted three homeruns against New Hampshire and took a 9-7 lead into the sixth and final inning. The Vermont manager realized that he hadn’t put in a sub, so he did the only thing he could do to try and make sure his team had a chance to play in the championship. He instructed his players to walk everyone on New Hampshire. This would allow New Hampshire to tie the game and give Vermont a chance to get their player in the game.

New Hampshire recognized the problem obviously and their manager instructed his players to swing at the balls which were purposely being thrown the backstop. Players on the field were crying, nobody knew what to do. It was a mess. Little League got involved. Told the managers they were making a mockery of the game and Vermont forfeited a game they were winning in the sixth inning. New Hampshire went on to the World Series behind 13 more strikeouts from Jordan Bean and another shutout. He had 45 strikeouts in 18 innings during the tournament. He finished the entire tournament run leading to Williamsport with 91 strikeouts in 40 innings. In Williamsport he added 26 more strikeouts in 12 innings for a grand total of 125 strikeouts in 52 innings.

Back in the Mid-Atlantic, New Jersey and New York played another game for the ages this time in the regional championship. New Jersey took a 1-0 lead when 11-year old Nick Ebert blasted a solo homerun in the fourth inning, but New York got the run back in the fifth on an error. In the bottom of the sixth with the score still tied 1-1, Frank Smith drove a walk-off homerun and sent Mid-Island Little League to the World Series. It was the second walk-off homerun in a row for New York.

I’m not sure the drama of the games, the quality of the pitching, or the overall talent on the field can ever be topped in Bristol again, but no matter what I’ll never forget those ten days in 2006.