The homestretch of a season is hardly the time to get nostalgic. But it’s necessary to understand the foundation of the Mercer Island baseball team. Six years ago, 11 of the team’s 12 seniors were sweltering under the San Bernardino, Calif., sun as they competed for a berth to the Little League World Series. The group lost 6-2 to a team from Oregon in the Northwest Region semifinals broadcast on ESPN. The experience proved to form an unbreakable connection. The Islanders (14-1) are now the top-ranked team in the state for Class 3A and closing in on a third consecutive KingCo 2A/3A championship. “For a lot of programs, sometimes people just wash out and baseball isn’t for them,” said Alex Shanks, a senior outfielder. “For this group of guys, we’re all super close and we stayed really close. It’s really cool that we’re all still playing on the same team and striving for the same thing.” Not once since that August day in 2012 did … [Read more...] about Mercer Island was stopped short of the Little League World Series in 2012. It helped build the Islanders into the state’s top-ranked team
Little league world series
5 Island teams made Little League World Series baseball runs
Posted June 04, 2018 at 09:40 AM | Updated June 04, 2018 at 09:51 AM llwseries-5.jpg undefined llws06-5.JPG Staten Island Advance/Hilton Flores 5 great runs to Williamsport! Little League all-star tournaments on the Island and across the country are a handful of weeks away. With that in mind, we wanted to take a look back at Island teams, which reached the Little League World Series in Willamsport, Pa., through the years. Mid-Island Little League made the 2006 Little League World Series with manager Nick Doscher's team rolling to state and regional titles. Four other Staten Island squads have advanced to Williamsport, Pa.: The 1964 Mid-Island LL team that won the world title; 1985 South Shore LL; 1991 South Shore American LL (behind future major-league pitching star Jason Marquis); and the 2009 South Shore National LL. We had some fun going through the archives for the following slideshow and we hope you enjoy the trip down memory lane! llws-64d.JPG Staten Island … [Read more...] about 5 Island teams made Little League World Series baseball runs
Little League World Series veteran now gets to see grandsons play at Mid-Island
Jeff Paul fondly remembers Mid-Island LL tryouts on an open field near the intersection of Vedder and Richmond Avenues. "Baseball was my first love and Mid-Island was an important to me when i was a kid,'' said Paul. "And I remember, way back then, when they had tryouts, they'd put an index card on your shirt with a safety pin and you'd get your number called when it was your turn to do something. "All these years later, I see the same thing with my grandsons,'' laughed Paul, who was referring to 7-year-old twins Christopher and Justin Nichols. "It's a simplistic system, but it works. "And that's all that matter.'' Paul, or course, was a member of the fabled 1964 Mid-Island Little League World Series team that went to Williamsport, Pa., and won it all. He met up with his legendary manager, Bill Rogers, who wore just about every title imaginable during his tenure at Mid-Island, including league president when the current complex opened in the early 1970s. Rogers, who first started … [Read more...] about Little League World Series veteran now gets to see grandsons play at Mid-Island
Despite loss, Mo’ne Davis and team push onward in Little League World Series
The girl everyone is watching had a tough night at the Little League World Series. Mo'ne Davis' team, the Taney Dragons of Philadelphia, lost yesterday to Nevada 8-1. More than 34,000 people packed the stadium, about 10,000 more than attended last night's major league Phillies-Mariners game in Philadelphia, CBS News correspondent Elaine Quijano reports. Despite the newly-minted superstar's best effort, the opposing kids from Nevada took an early three-run lead, and never looked back. The soon-to-be 8th grader topped 70 miles per hour on the radar gun, mowing down six batters from Las Vegas. But it wasn't enough. "There's no question, you know, she didn't have her A-game today," said coach Alex Rice. The 13-year-old phenomenon, who was virtually unknown only a month ago, has experienced a meteoric rise to fame. During this year's tournament, Mo'ne cemented her place in history books as the first girl to pitch a shutout in a Little League World Series game, and the first little … [Read more...] about Despite loss, Mo’ne Davis and team push onward in Little League World Series
Holbrook Little League moving on after theft arrests, Little League World Series run
JACKSON — In just over two months, hundreds of kids will gather at Holbrook Little League and take their first official swings of the year. There will be Opening Day celebrations for last year's All-Stars team, which went to the Little League World Series and finished as the fourth-best team in the United States, and awards for players throughout the league. But before that? The bills must be paid and vendors must be reimbursed, even with less than $6,000 in the league's diminished bank account. And league officials must convince the Jackson community that Holbrook Little League can move on from the arrests and scandal that have rocked it to its core.On Friday, former Holbrook president Tony Del Vecchio and former treasurer John Lehmann were arrested on theft charges after allegedly pocketing more than $118,000 in league money over the last four years.The charges came 24 hours after an Asbury Park Press investigation into Holbrook’s finances … [Read more...] about Holbrook Little League moving on after theft arrests, Little League World Series run