Berlin Little League's super season comes end in Bristol, Conn.
· Yahoo Sports
A magical ride for the Berlin Little League All-Stars ended on a rainy night in the Mid-Atlantic Regional in Bristol, Conn.
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Naamans Little League, the Delaware state champions, scored 11 times in the fifth inning to eliminate the Maryland state champions 12-4 on Aug. 10.
The trip to Connecticut could have had a much different ending as Berlin led by three runs in the fifth inning of both of its games.
“This is a great group of kids that we have,” Berlin Little League manager Anthony Torreullas said. “It is a painful one, especially at this age. Just reassuring them how great it was to get here, how proud we are, how much we love them and they are going to remember times like this for the rest of their lives. The collective effort for the last couple of months, we appreciate it.”
Delaware took the lead in the top of the fourth inning on Paddy Grugan’s RBI single. That came one batter after Berlin center fielder Declan Soares made a catch after falling down.
Jonas Isett got Berlin started in the bottom half of the inning with his second double of the game. He scored on Cooper Smith’s RBI single. Jackson Baraby drove in another run with a single. A wild pitch and two Delaware errors enabled two more runs to score to give Maryland the 4-1 lead.
Naamans Little League answered back by sending 16 batters to the plate in the fifth inning. Four of the first five runs were scored on bases-loaded walks. Paddy Grugan’s hustle down the line resulted in an RBI single and a key insurance run before the game was halted for 74 minutes due to a rain delay.
The first five Delaware hitters had hits when play resumed, including two-run singles by Kole Dzwilewski and Pauly DeNonato in the 11-run inning.
“We knew it was going to be tough,” Torreullas said. “We practiced really hard and they bought into it. They wanted the challenge and they accepted it. We have come a long way in the past couple of months. We played well, but it was just a few innings that got a hold of us. The collective effort and unity of these guys is special.”
Jason Pontari, who struck out seven, picked up the win. He had to leave with one out in the sixth inning due to the Little League pitch-count rules.
VanKlompenberg had a no-hitter for Berlin until Grugan’s two-out single in the fourth inning. Isett and Smith led Berlin with two hits each.
Grugan, Kole Dzwilewski and Taj Amobi, the No. 2, 3 and 4 hitters, combined for six hits and five RBIs for Naamans. Brady Winkelspecht also had a pair of hits as Delaware advanced to meet either Pennsylvania or Washington, D.C. in an elimination game on Thursday.
This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Berlin Little League's super season comes end in Bristol, Conn.