8 Photos
East End Little League 12U All-Stars line up on the third base line for the Star-Spangled Banner prior to their game against Southampton on Wednesday, June 30.
East End's Aiden Calamita catches a fly ball at second base during the first inning. DREW BUDD
East End's Ben Libutti starts his swing. DREW BUDD
East End's Dan Schumacher takes a cut at a pitch. DREW BUDD
Liam Brand takes a healthy cut at the plate. On the very next pitch, Brand tripled to center field. DREW BUDD
Brady Hudson was strong on the mound for East End in its victory over Southampton last week. DREW BUDD
Brady Hudson was strong on the mound for East End in its victory over Southampton last week. DREW BUDD
Aiden Calamita slides safely into third base for the East End Little League 12U All-Stars. DREW BUDD
Never say never.
The East End Little League 12-and-under All-Stars are holding out hope that they can advance in the District 36 Tournament, and while it’s certainly an obtainable goal, they’re going to need some help along the way.
First things first, East End needed to have defeated North Shore American on Tuesday to have any shot at advancing. Results of that game occurred too late to appear in this week’s issue.
With a victory over North Shore American, and if East Hampton defeated Southampton in its game on Tuesday, it would create a three-way tie for second place in pool ‘A’, but only the top two teams in each pool move on, so only one of East End, North Shore American and East Hampton will move on based on run differential. Longwood will be the other team advancing to the single-elimination playoff that starts later this week.
“We’re optimistic,” East End manager Sean Brand said this past Sunday of his team’s chances of moving on. “If we play our best and avoid mistakes, then we think we can do it. The stronger teams don’t have those bad innings and don’t give up extra outs.”
East End opened the tournament, which ultimately leads to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, with a 16-0 loss to Longwood on June 28, but bounced right back with a 16-6 victory at Southampton two days later on June 30. East End then lost, 9-0, in East Hampton this past Friday.
It’s hit or miss whether or not Longwood enters a team into the annual tournament, but when it does, it always has a strong team, and this year is no different. Brand joked that Longwood has two to three players his size, but that they’re good overall.
“They’re essentially Longwood’s travel team with a few other players mixed in,” he said. “They’ve played a lot of ball together, and, of course, draw from a large pool."
Aside from one bad inning that included some defensive miscues, East End controlled much of its game against Southampton at Downs Family Park. Liam Brand got East End on the scoreboard early, mashing a triple to deep center field to bring in the first run of the game. Romeo Rivas went 4 for 4 and Coach Brand said he was “smoking the ball all day.” Aiden Calamita had a couple of hits and drove in some runs and Travis Hefter hit a triple in the fifth inning that brought in a pair of runs. Nicholas Simon drove in the final run that ended the game early in the fifth inning with the mercy rule in place.
Brady Hudson started the game on the mound for East End and pitched well. Liam Brand came in and struck out a batter in the fourth to get East End out of a jam and then he struck out the side in the fifth to lock up the victory.
This year’s team is comprised of Liam Brand, John Cafone, Aiden Calamita, Luca Carriero, Jude Dawson, Travis Hefter, Brady Hudson, Ben Libutti, Gabe Monserrate, Romeo Rivas, Dan Schumacher and Nicholas Simon. Sean Brand, Bill Dawson, Chris Hudson and Rick Monserrate are all coaches on the team.
