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. 

New England Region Preview

Tournament History: Since New England split with the Mid-Atlantic region, Massachusetts has excelled winning four regional championships in the last 11 years. Rhode Island’s Cinderella run to the title last year gave the Bay State its third trip to the World Series to trail Mass, and Connecticut has won the regional championship twice in that time. New Hampshire and Maine each have one title and Vermont is the lone team in the region without a championship. Vermont has never reached the Little League World Series, in fact.

2012 Team Pedigree: Fairfield American (CT) didn’t have much of a history before 2010. Now? They have a Little League World Series appearance and a third straight state championship. It’s the first time in state history actually. This group has won three state championships on their own as 10’s, 11’s, and now 12’s. In 2010, this group won the entire East Region as 10-year olds up in Cranston, Rhode Island.

Bedford (NH) just won its eighth state championship and first since 2005. Bedford won the entire East region in 1993 and has a good history in the regionals. Overall, Bedford is 15-6 all-time in the East/New England region. That’s excellent. South Burlington (VT) has won three state championships, all in the last ten years. They’re only 3-7 overall, but in 2001 advanced all the way to the New England regional championship after sneaking into the semis at 1-3 and upsetting undefeated Yalesville, CT.

Coventry American (NH), Scarborough (ME), and Wellesley South (MA) all won their first state championships this year. Coventry won Rhode Island’s 11-year old championship last year and Scarborough has won the Maine title each year so far with this group (10s, 11s, and 12s). Wellesley made the state final four last year as 12-year olds with four 11’s on the team. That group is back and led WSLL to the state title.

Team Previews

Bedford, NH (7-0): Any talk of Bedford starts with Grant Lavigne who I dubbed “The Little League Barry Bonds.” Lavigne is 17-for-19 in the tournament so far with 11 homeruns and 11 walks (most of which are of the intentional variety). If you think he’s the whole team though, you’re wrong. The team is hitting .449 overall with 23 total homeruns. At least seven players have hit homeruns in the seven games leading up to the regional. Timmy Saltzman is one of the team’s top starters and fired a complete game 2-hitter in the state championship game. Lavigne is a capable #2 starter. Alec Burns is another hitter to watch.

South Burlington, VT (11-0): South Burlington won the state championship as 10-year olds and easily defended their crown as 12’s. Eamon Sheridan is a dominant number one pitcher and also one of the team’s best hitters. South Burlington’s power travels up and down the lineup as nine different players have taken Vermont pitchers deep.

Fairfield American, CT (13-1): This group of 12-year olds has won a regional championship and three state championships. They’ve only lost two games in three years. After sweeping the state championship series 10-0 and 8-0, FALL is feeling good. Everyone on the team has homerun power, and the most surprising is diminutive third baseman Kevin Oricoli. “KO” has three homeruns since the sectionals began and is swinging a great bat. The team’s best player though is catcher Biaggio Paoletta. The Italian Stallion has four homeruns since the section 1 tournament and is a fantastic athlete. He might be the best catcher I’ve seen this year behind the dish. Pitching is Fairfield’s forte led by another diminutive star, Ryan Muery. Muery has 46 strikeouts in his last 23 innings pitched and has only allowed two runs. Watch out for pitcher/hitters Will Lucas and Matt Kubel.

Coventry American, RI (8-0): Coventry didn’t run wild through the state of Rhode Island, but coming through the Bay State unblemished is certainly something to behold especially with the pitch count rules now. Pitching seems to be Coventry’s method of winning. In the state finals, Coventry gave up just five runs in its three games. Look for Jarrad Grossguth to lead the way at the plate along with Quentin Rearden. Manny Bjorklund and Grossguth are the fireballers for Coventry.

Scarborough, ME (8-0): Scarborough has dominated the state of Maine for three years in a row and is looking to put a nice run together in Bristol. Scarborough has power through the lineup and is led by Jared Brooks on the mound along with Connor Kelly. Zoltan Panyi has some big-time power as well.

Wellesley South, MA (13-1): Wellesley won Massachusetts for the first time coming out of a tough district and walking off with a come-from-behind victory in the state championship game. Wellesley reached the state final four in 2011 but went winless during pool play. Four players from that team had enough experience to lead their team to a championship in 2012. Billy Seidl is the unquestioned leader of the team. He hits homeruns in bunches and is one of the best pitchers in the state. Kaeden Bentley is the team’s other go-to starter and T.J. Maley is one of the team’s hottest hitters right now.

Projected Records

Connecticut 4-0

Rhode Island 3-1

New Hampshire 2-2

Massachusetts 2-2

Maine 1-3

Vermont 0-4

Semifinals: Connecticut over Massachusetts 7-2, New Hampshire over Rhode Island 4-3

Final: Connecticut 10, New Hampshire 5

East Region News Package

Tyler Jankoski, a longtime volunteer at Little League's East Region headquarters in Bristol, is an aspiring weather and news man. Here's a YouTube clip he put together for the East Region tournament and its impact on the local area.

Little League regionals are on the way!

2012 Mid-Atlantic Region Preview

Tournament History: In the 11 years of the Mid-Atlantic region, Pennsylvania, New York, and Maryland have each won three championships. Delaware and New Jersey each have one title, with District of Columbia looking for its first trip to a regional final, let alone the title itself.

2012 Team Pedigree: Newark National (DE) and Northwest Washington (DC) are both returning for the second consecutive year to the regional. Newark has been to the regional six times prior to 2012, and its 11-6 overall in the tournament. Newark National made the regional semifinals four times. Northwest Washington is 0-8 all-time in the regional, but NWLL returns seven players from last year. That’s a significant experience advantage.

Stony Point (NY) won its first state title in 2010 and returns this year. Assistant coach John Greeley was an assistant two years ago as well when he coached his oldest son, SS/P John. Now, he coaches SS/P Stephen. West Salisbury (MD) has two previous state championships, both within the last ten years. In 2007, WS made it to Williamsport after finishing fourth in pool play.

Par-Troy East (NJ) and Collier Township (PA) both won their first state titles this year. PTE doesn’t have history in the 12-year old division but became the first New Jersey team to win state championships at different age groups (PTE won NJ’s 11-year old title last year). Collier will look to piggy back the success of Keystone Little League which won the regional title a year ago.

Team Previews (Tournament Records in Parentheses)

Northwest Washington, DC (4-0): District of Columbia is traditionally the weakest team at the region and that should be the case again this year. NWLL has become a force in DC recently and this could be their best team yet. They return seven players from last year’s team. They easily won the DC tournament. NWLL not only has the only girl in the regional tournament this year in Sydney Love-Baker, but Love-Baker has turned into one of the team’s top hitters and is fantastic behind the plate. Her twin brother Ty is also one to watch. Owen Isaacs is the team’s ace and will look to steal a victory somewhere to give the league its first win ever at regionals.

Newark National, DE (9-1): Newark went undefeated in pool play a year ago and faltered in a tough battle with Paramus, NJ. With multiple players returning from that team and a 10-year old state title under their belts, Newark is looking to go even further. The two unquestioned leaders of the team are Matt Theodorakis and Clayton Hansen. Theodorakis is a bonafide star in the leadoff spot and Hansen is an excellent top of the rotation starter.

Stony Point, NY (11-1): Stony Point comes into the regional after handling the state of New York fairly easily. The lone blemish on Stony Point’s record is a 12-inning loss in the state finals game one. Stony Point’s pitching is its strength. The team has two top of the line pitchers in Brian Wholey and Stephen Greeley. Both throw hard. Stony Point has a deep lineup with power throughout. Ray Pacella is the probably the team’s most consistent hitter.

Par-Troy East, NJ (14-1): Par-Troy lost its first game in the state final four and needed to win four straight games to make it back. With the explosive lineup they possess, it was almost easy. With power up and down the lineup, Par-Troy can slug with anyone. Bener Uygun hits homeruns and doubles nearly every time up and is an RBI machine. Emil Matti is powerful at the top of the order and has dynamite speed. Anthony Scannelli is fearsome in the cleanup spot and Vinny Prezioso has two homeruns in his last two games.

West Salisbury, MD (9-1): West Salisbury came out of nowhere to win the state of Maryland which had two other potential favorites, but that’s not for lack of talent. Matt Chrysostome is the team’s leader at the plate and gets the job done on the mound too. He and Grason Winterbottom form a solid pitching duo. Cade Hurley hits homeruns in bunches.

Collier Township, PA (11-0): Collier wasn’t the favorite in the Pennsylvania state tournament, but found a way to win and is one of lone undefeated teams left in the entire country (welcome to pitch count rules!). Collier can outslug almost anybody and it starts with Reed Bruggeman. Bruggeman clubbed two homeruns in the state tournament and racked up 11 RBI. He hit .583. Steve Alauzen also hit .583 and smacked a pair of homeruns. He had 8 RBI. In all, Collier drove 12 balls over the fence in the four state tournament games and nine different players hit one. Pitching may be Collier’s biggest issue, but with bats like theirs, it may be good enough.

Projected Records

New York 3-1

New Jersey 3-1

Pennsylvania 3-1

Maryland 2-2

Delaware 1-3

Washington, D.C. 0-4

Semifinals: New York over Maryland 4-1, New Jersey over Pennsylvania 8-5.

Final: New York 5, New Jersey 4

Nebraska: Kearney Little League

Nebraska: Kearney Little League

Thirty-Year History: 2011, 2010, 2008, 2000.

Number of Majors Team: Eight

Roster: N/A

Preview: Kearney has become the power program in the state of Nebraska in recent years winning four of the last five state championships now after a 15-0 thrashing of Blair in the Nebraska state championship. According to Nebraska Central News, Blake Quintana and Jared Wegner each homered for Kearney in the title game. Wegner tossed a complete-game four-inning shutout. Kearney made it all the way to the Midwest Regional championship game a season ago dropping a 4-2 decision to Harney (Rapid City), South Dakota. While the College World Series is fully supported in Nebraska each year in Omaha, no team from the Cornhusker State has ever reached Williamsport for the Little League World Series. 

North/South Dakota: Canyon Lake (Rapid City, SD)

North/South Dakota: Canyon Lake Little League (Rapid City, SD)

Thirty-Year History:  Regional Champs (2008), State Champs: 2010, 2008, 2003, 2000, 1998, 1996, 1995, 1993, 1992, 1982

Number of Majors Teams: Eight

 Roster


Manager: Mike Good

Noah Johnson

Cooper Bowman

Tanner Good

Ian Krump

Brooks Rainwater

Sam Morrison

Will Moore

Kai Torgerson

Connor King

Jack Sorensen

Austin Franke

Brian Petereit

Preview: Canyon Lake is no stranger to Little League success. Although it’s a short road to regionals for the North/South Dakota champion, getting out of Rapid City is tough with rival leagues like Harney around. Canyon Lake is 4-1 so far on the road to Williamsport with victories over Spearfish, South Dakota (17-0), Timberline, South Dakota (10-2), and Fargo, North Dakota (11-3). In the championship game, Canyon Lake dropped a tough 4-3 decision to Rushmore, South Dakota, but bounced back in the “if” game to take the title easily 11-3.  Canyon Lake has been led by solid pitching and defense. Offensively, Canyon Lake puts the ball in play as well as anybody. Connor King struck out 21 batters in his last two starts and belted two homeruns in the winner’s bracket final. He was intentionally walked three times in the championship game.

Canyon Lake opens up the Midwest Regional in Indianapolis against the Missouri state champion. Harney Little League (also from Rapid City) advanced all the way to the Little League World Series a year ago. 

Bedford, NH May Be the Home of the LL Barry Bonds

Where Can You Find the Little League Version of Barry Bonds? Bedford, New Hampshire, it seems.

Grant Lavigne and his Bedford All-Stars tore through the state of New Hampshire en route to a state championship this weekend. Bedford is currently 7-0 on the road to Williamsport and its next stop is Bristol, CT for the New England Region Tournament. In the seven games, Bedford has outscored its opponents 108-22 while belting 23 homeruns. Ten of those homeruns have come off the bat of slugging shortstop/pitcher, Grant Lavigne.

Lavigne is 15-for-17 in the tournament. He struck out once and reached by an error in his two unsuccessful at-bats. Only 17 at-bats in seven games? That's because Lavigne has been walked intentionally and unintentionally countless times already. In the two state championship games he was 2-for-2 with two first-inning homeruns. His other six plate appearances? All intentional walks.

Lavigne isn't the only star for Bedford. The boys from New Hampshire blasted five homeruns in the 14-0 state championship victory over Lamprey River. They're ones to watch in New England.

52 Team Previews on the Way?

Well, Little League fans... we just got a bit more ambitious here at the LL blog. In the next week or two, state champions will begin to pop up all over the country as they qualify for their regional tournaments. In fact, two of them already have. Northwest Washington Little League from Washington, D.C. in the Mid-Atlantic, and Canyon Lake Little League from Rapid City, South Dakota. I've reached out to both teams to write preview articles on their road to Williamsport. Hopefully, we can get all 52 state/divisional champions. We will see.

If you happen to win a state championship in the next couple weeks, please don't wait for me to contact you. Email me at section1guycom@aol.com. Are you a fan and know of a team that wins a state title? Forward me as many game articles as you can. I'll do my best to get some info on everyone in the country. We can do this. Let's make the road to Williamsport as special as possible.

Keep spreading the word about the blog!

Never Count Out a Champion

Fairfield American Little League in Fairfield, Connecticut has put together one of the more historic runs in recent Little League history. In 2010, Fairfield American won the New England championship and advanced to Williamsport for the World Series. While the 12-year olds were doing that, the 11-year olds won the state championship as well. While the 11 and 12-year olds were winning state championships, the 10-year olds copied the feat and advanced to the first 10-year old East region tournament... they went undefeated and won it all including a victory over Mid-Atlantic champion, Commack South, New York. It was an incredible summer for Fairfield American to say the least.

They weren't finished in 2011 though. Both the 10s and 11s moved up a year in 2011 and continued winning. The 11-year olds won the state championship again (this time without a regional to shoot for), and the 12-year olds won another state championship and went to the New England regional semifinals.

Enter the present.

The original 10-year old East Region champions are now 12 and shooting for Williamsport themselves. They have two state titles already under their belt. Another state title would mean the first 3-peat in Connecticut history at the 12-year old level. The Fairfield Americans easily won their district championship and beat one of the best pitchers in the state to open CT Section 1 pool play in a 13-0 mercy rule victory over Yalesville.

On Friday night, they faced Wilton, the district 1 champion. Wilton dropped a tough 9-8 opener to Seymour in the Section 1 tournament and another loss would be backbreaking. Facing the behemoths known as Fairfield American is not a recipe for success. Wilton would not go quietly however. Billy Black, Wilton's starter, shut down the fearsome hitters from Fairfield for four innings and Wilton hit two solo homeruns early to hold a 2-0 lead. In the fifth inning, Wilton loaded the bases with nobody out, but back to back fielders choices held Wilton to two runs. An infield single finally gave Wilton a big insurance run before a mammoth grand slam seemingly put the game out of reach with a 7-0 lead. Fairfield was shocked, the crowd was shocked, I was shocked.

In the bottom of the fifth, Fairfield's tough bottom of the order continued to stay hot. Back-to-back homeruns by the seven and eight hitters to lead off the inning gave Fairfield American some life. A couple more hits and a passed ball put runners on second and third with still nobody out and Biaggio Paoletta at the plate. Paoletta roped a line drive up the middle...this should score two, right? No. The ball was snagged by Wilton's second basemen who easily doubled up the runner at second for a double play. Fairfield hit another single scoring their third run, but the rally was killed. Wilton led 7-3 heading into the 6th inning.

After a quick top of the 6th, Fairfield American came to the plate down four runs. Once again, the hits came from up and down the lineup, but Fairfield found themselves down to their final out facing a 7-4 deficit now. With one on, leadoff batter Ryan Muery worked an impressive at-bat and fouled off a handful of tough pitches. The diminutive spark plug finally worked a walk after a taking a tough ball four to bring Paoletta up as the tying run. Paoletta worked a full count of his own before he drove a fastball to deep left field for a game-tying three-run homerun. Fairfield American had erased a 7-run deficit in two innings.

Matt Kubel who threw a perfect pair of innings in relief for Fairfield American shut Wilton down again in the seventh setting up a potential walk-off homerun for Fairfield. I don't think there was a doubt from anyone at the Southington South complex. It was inevitable. Michael Ghiorzi led off the inning by crushing another no-doubter homerun to keep Fairfield American undefeated and still kings of Connecticut with an 8-7 extra-inning victory.

Fairfield American has hit seven homeruns in two days by seven different players. The train keeps rolling towards Bristol and maybe Williamsport.

Welcome to the 2012 Road to Williamsport!

Hello, Little League fans.

This is the first of many blog posts you'll see from me, your resident Little League "expert," this summer. I've been following and covering the Little League tournament since 1998 from the district level in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey right up to the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, PA. 

I've attended every year of the Eastern Regional in Bristol since 2001 and that includes nearly every pool play game and every semifinal and final. It's my favorite week of the year. To me, it's bigger than the World Series itself.

The Reason?

Teams are still wearing their home uniforms, its the first time a lot of teams in the East are on the road. There's the pomp and circumstance of the World Series, but none of the "we're just happy to be here" that you get in Williamsport. 

This blog will focus on Bristol for that week more than the other regions, but we'll have plenty of information about them as well. 

Be sure to check back every day and night for multiple blog entries and tell anyone you know that this is the place to be for Little League coverage. 

It's currently July 20th and I'm making my first irrational prediction! 

Your pre-state tournament picks to WIN the New England and Mid-Atlantic regionals are....drum roll, please........

New England: Fairfield American, CT

Mid-Atlantic: Warwick Township, PA

More on these teams later! Check back soon!