Little League Insider: Utah

Showing posts with label Utah. Show all posts

Monday, July 22, 2013

Little League Insider Radio: Episode 1

On the debut episode of Little League Insider Radio, John Malone educates co-hosts Mike McGinnis and Chris DeAngelo about the Little League tournament in its early stages. In the second segment, Nate Andrus, the manager of Dixie Little League from Utah, joins the show to talk about his team’s run to the West Regional Tournament. Local favorite, Pearl River from New York, came on the show live to talk about their epic comeback in the NY Section 4 championship game, and finally we took a phone call to discuss the differences in the tournament from the 90s to today.

Next week's show is going to be right in the heart of state championship games around the country, so it should be a big one. We're looking for more phone calls and more interviews. If you'd like to be on Little League Insider Radio next Sunday, let us know on Facebook.

You can play the show right here on this page, or download it from the bottom right corner of the link.

Without further ado...

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Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Utah: Dixie Little League (St. George, UT)

The first of our state champion previews starts with Utah which finished up this week. Based on the chatter out there, Dixie Little League may have a shot to be the first Utah team to reach Williamsport. It's a tall task, however.

Thirty-Year History: State champions – 1997, 1990, and 1989.

Number of Majors Teams: 8

Roster

Mason Creager
Boston Miller
Chandler Welch
Bronson Andrus
Wyatt Woodland
Blake Milne

Jayden Peterson
Brenden Blanchard
Collin Garrett
Bo Barben
Austin Hepworth
Landon Levine

Preview: Dixie last won the Utah state championship back in 1997 when the West included the Northwest. That year, Dixie made a great run through the tournament all the way to the winners’ bracket final. Utah is a single-district state which doubles as the state tournament. Dixie went 4-0 through the tournament while shutting out its first three opponents. Dixie averaged nearly 17 runs per game.

Dixie has home run power throughout the lineup and obviously a strong pitching staff. Wyatt Woodland hits three home runs in the last two games and Mason Creager added a pair of homers in the state final.

Dixie coach Nate Andrus won a state title for Dixie on the 1989 team… he was coached by his father, much like the current team with his son Bronson.

The Utah state champions will open up the West region with the first game of the tournament against Nevada on Friday August 2 at 11:45am.

You can find articles about Dixie from their local newspaper: The Spectrum

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.

Want to see your state tournament represented on Little League Insider? Send me an email at: section1guycom@aol.com

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