MoCo Junior All-Stars End Run at State Title
The Montgomery County Little Junior All-Stars, which are the 12-14 year-olds, ended their run in the Maryland State Little League Tournament on with a record of 2-2.
After winning the District 2 tournament earlier this month, the MoCo Junior All-Stars were off to the state tourney, which began last Saturday in Waldorf. The 12-14 year-olds from Montgomery County dropped the opening game of the double-elimination tournament to Maugansville, the District 1 champ, 9-4, on Saturday afternoon.
The MoCo Juniors came back on Sunday with a 9-7 victory over District 5 champs North East, behind a pitching performance from Kevin Allison, who struck out four and walked just two over 6-and-one-thrid innings. The MoCos got nine runs on eight hits, with two hits from Andrew Abrams for the victory.
The win kept them alive in the tournament. On Monday, they blanked the District 7 champs from St. Mary’s 10-0. The MoCos won behind stellar pitching performance from Nathan Proctor, who struck out 14 and walked just one over six full innings. MoCo spread out ten runs on nine hits, and worked ten walks and tallied just one strick-out. Allison led all batters with two hits and an RBI. Andrew Abrams, Justin McDermott, Kollin Miller, Brandon Orem, Joshua Petrie, Payton Shoe, and Mitch Wasserman each contributed a hit in the victory.
The MoCo Junior All-Stars run came to end Tuesday night in Waldorf after a 12-7 loss to District 6 champs from Talbot. The MoCos could only manage three hits, one from Kevin Allison, and two from Jalen Toombs, including a double. The three hits, combined with seven walks gave the MoCos 10 baserunners. However, they managed to get only four runners home, despite Talbot using five different pitchers over the seven innings.
While the MCLL Junior All-Stars were eliminated from the post-season, the MCLL 11/12-year-olds are on a roll. After losing their opener, the MoCos have won three in a row and will face Bethesda Little League tonight in the Maryland State 11/12 Tournament being held in Easton. If the MoCo All-Stars can win tonight, they will advance and have a chance to play for the Maryland State Championship on Thursday night. It is the 11/12-year-old Little League teams that go on to play in the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa, each year.
Captions:
Top: MoCo Junior All-Star Justin McDermott pitches to Talbot, with a man on third in last’s night 9-7 loss.
Next: Montgomery County Little League Juniors All-Star team: Left to right. Andrew Abrams, Joshua Petrie, Coach Darren Petrie, Payton Shoe, Coach Marc Thompson, Kevin Allison, Nathan Proctor, Coach Scott Wasserman, Brandon Orem, Mitch Wasserman. Not pictured. Sam Eig, Justin McDermott, Kollin Miller, Logan Thiessen, Dominic Thompson, Jalen Toombs.
Photos courtesy MCLL.
