The 2011 Parent Pitch champions are the Yankees! (L-R, front) Lucas Sheils, Jacob Dorr, Amy Carpenter. (L-R, middle) Bianca Zimmer, Ella Sporn, Kevin Viren, Tate Crawford. (L-R, back) Abby Crawford, Mason Liljestrand, Adam Dorr, Keenan Hingos, Vaughn Swindlehurst, Pete Sutton.
On Tuesday, July 26, Cook County’s Parent Pitch and Little League both entered the playoffs, offering their fans exciting baseball action.
Parent Pitch teams made coaches proud
Parent Pitch had two games on Tuesday. The first one was between the Lions and the Yankees. The Yankees finished the regular season in first place and the Lions were at the bottom of the standings. That didn’t matter to the Lions as they came out swinging!
Trevor Berglund hit a home run on his first at bat, leaving the Yankees in a hole to start the game. The Yankees fought their way back into the game. The Lions played great, but like most of their season just came up a little short in the end. The Lions played hard all season and I know their coach Dave Furcht is very proud of them. The Yankees advanced to the championship game.
The other game pitted the Thunderbirds against the Lumberjacks. The Thunderbirds have been the hottest team in the league lately and they showed it. The Lumberjacks were the higher seed, but found themselves out of the playoffs at the hands of the Thunderbirds. The Lumberjack coach, Tom Nelson, mentioned after the game that they had their chances to win but couldn’t get the big hit when they needed it. Coach Nelson and his Lumberjacks had a great season, one to be proud of.
Josh Prom of the Dodgers waits for the throw as Colton Furlong of the Twins slides underneath the tag. The Twins won the Little League Championship Game 8-4.
The championship game was a battle between the best team all year—the Yankees— and the hottest team at the end of the season—the Thunderbirds.
Thunderbirds’ coach, Pat Pierre, said his team has really improved and they practice every other day. It showed as they gave the Yankees all they could handle.
The Thunderbirds hit the ball all game long, forcing the Yankees to work hard out in the field. The defense on both teams kept the game close. Great fielding by Adam Dorr and a triple by Abbie Crawford got the Yankees back in the game. Mason Liljestrand’s home run may have been the difference as the Yankees won the game and the league championship.
Abby Crawford of the Yankees rounds third base and digs in for home as Joe Deshampe makes a throw into the infield. The Yankees won this year’s Parent Pitch championship.
The Thunderbirds were the league’s most improved team. Though they were disappointed in the loss they displayed big smiles as they received their second place medals.
The first place medals went to the Yankees. Led by their coaches, Rick and Cindy Crawford and assisted by Mitch Dorr, they had a championship season.
Twins are Little League champs
Little League playoffs started with a game that matched the Dodgers against the Cubs. Both teams started their ace pitchers—Ethan Sporn for the Dodgers and Andrew Miller for the Cubs. The Cubs scored some early runs, but in the middle of the third, the Dodgers blew the game open with some big hits and the Cubs simply were not able to answer.
Great pitching by Andrew Miller and a double play on defense by Raina Ryden kept the Cubs in the game. In the end their season came to a close. Only one team finishes the season with a win and it wasn’t going to be them. The Dodgers brought in Josh Prom to close out the game and the Cubs’ season.
Next for the Dodgers was the championship game against the Twins. In the championship, the Dodgers drew first blood with a two-out single by Ethan Sporn that started a Dodgers’ rally. Two runs were scored as a result of the two-out rally. Sporn’s pitching kept the Twins off the board for a couple innings, but in their third trip to the plate they got their bats rolling. Lief Anderson had a couple of hits that got the Twins bats started and a grand slam by Jacob Bilben drove Sporn off the mound.
Josh Prom came into the game and slowed the Twins’ bats down. By this time Bradley Wilson had settled into a groove on the mound for the Twins and had control of the game. The Twins’ Maranda Deschampe hit a long drive into left center that would have put the Dodgers away for good, but a great catch by Levi Sheils that resulted in a double play gave the Dodgers hope. The Dodgers got some base runners on but they couldn’t string enough hits together to stop Bradley from closing the door on their season.
The Dodgers played well all season and their coaches Chris Goettl and Paul Sporn had a lot of praise for their team. “They are a young team and they never quit.” Great season Dodgers!
The Twins looked like the team to beat from day one and they didn’t disappoint. They were all smiles as they received their first place medals and trophy. The Twins are your 2011 Little League champions! The Twins were coached by Brian Finke and Tom Nelson.
There are so many kids who played so well this season I wish I could name them all. Thank you for a great season everyone. See you next year!
Leave a Reply