Morrisville 11-and-under Little League team caps super season with Eastern Regional title
They didn't know what to expect when they arrived at the Eastern Regional 11-and-under Little League Tournament outside of Boston last week.
"You don't know what the other teams are like because they're all coming from different states," Morrisville head coach Matt Wolski said.
"And, they're 11-year-old kids and things can change quickly at that age."
One thing that didn't change was Morrisville's dominance on the diamond. After defeating Council Rock Newtown to win the Pennsylvania state title, Morrisville advanced to the 12-team regional and quickly showed what it could do by dispatching its first three opponents by a combined score of 35-1 ― all three games being shortened by the mercy rule.
Those three victories set up Morrisville for a championship game last Saturday against New York state champion South Shore of Staten Island, a team that entered the game with a 17-0 record.
Staten Island left 17-1 as Morrisville rallied for a 4-1 win to claim the championship.
"We were losing 1-0, but came back and scored four runs in the top of the fifth to take the lead," Wolski said. "There wasn't a big hit in the inning, just a couple of bunts, some walks, a sacrifice fly. A lot of little things that got us going."
Winning the Eastern Regional was as far as Morrisville could go. Next year, as 12-year-olds, is when a team can compete to try and earn a spot in Williamsport for the Little League World Series title. It was 68 years ago when a team from Morrisville did in fact win the LLWS in Williamsport.
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The final out Saturday came when starting pitcher Wyatt Bressler finished off a complete game by fielding a bunt and getting the out to let the celebration begin.
"After I threw to first (for the final out), we all just started screaming," Bressler said. "We played as a team and it felt great to win.
"And next year we get to try to make it to the (Little League) World Series."
As for Wolski, winning the regional crown left him reflecting from the bench for a few minutes.
"I just kind of sat there for a little bit when the game was over and watched," Wolski said.
"I'm just so proud of our kids. We left runners on base in three innings, but they never gave up. We kept telling them it was only one run and we could come back and that's just what they did. They believed in themselves and kept giving all they had like they did all season."
The team members included (in alphabetical order): Wyatt Bressler, Seamus Burke, Robbie Ellis, Charlie Holmes, Aaron Huffman, Alex Pappas, Tilak Patel, Holden Perry, Gavin Reilly, Will Szablewski and Matthew Wolski. The coaches included Wolski, Ben Bressler, Brian Holmes and Jason Huffman.
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Drew Markol: dmarkol@theintell.com; @dmarkol
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Morrisville 11-and-under Little League claims Eastern Regional crown
