Summary:
For Minnesota's Plymouth/New Hope Little League, it was a summer of firsts. First-ever District 1 title in the major baseball division. First ever state championship and trip to the Midwest Region tournament.
And first-ever berth in the Little League World Series.
Plymouth/New Hope capitalized on eleven walks, took command of the game with a pair of fourth inning home runs, and defeated Canyon Lake Little League (Rapid City, South Dakota), 8-3, in the Midwest Region championship game at Stokely Field in Indianapolis. The win gave Plymouth/New Hope a clean sweep of their six opponents at the region tournament, and made the league the second Minnesota District 1 team to reach South Williamsport in a four-year span.
"When we first started, we wanted to just go out, play good baseball, and try to win," said Plymouth/New Hope manager John Vecere. "We needed a goal, though, and the kids wanted that to be getting to the World Series. So we went with it."
Plymouth/New Hope left a baserunner stranded in the first inning, then took advantage of wildness on the part of Rapid City's starting pitcher to build a 3-0 lead in the second. Plymouth managed just one hit in the inning -- Mitchell Verbeten's single that put runners at first and second with no outs -- but benefitted from five walks before the third out was recorded. Colin Quinn and Michael Segal both scored on bases-loaded walks, while Verbeten crossed the plate following a wild pitch.
In the fourth, Plymouth relied on a more aggressive approach, drilling a pair of home runs that put the game out of reach. Catcher Gabriel Gauer drew Plymouth's eighth walk of the game, then Josh Thorp reached on an error. Taylor Blausin followed, and fouled off a pair of two-strike pitched before driving the next offering beyond the outfield fence for a three-run homer. One out later, Quinn homered to give the Minnesota team an 8-1 advantage.
The offense was more than enough for pitcher Nick Tuel, who needed just 79 pitches in a complete game three-hitter. He allowed a single run in the second inning, and Matt Vickers' two-run homer in the sixth, but struck out five and induced seven ground ball outs.
"Throughout this whole thing, every player on our team has contributed," noted Vecere. "It was the same thing Saturday. Everybody did something to help out. It's just a real blue-collar team. Everyone comes to work, and they play with and for each other. It's been a remarkable experience."
"Obviously we struggled with our accuracy a little bit, and it killed us," said Canyon Lake manager Matt Hammon. "And I thought their pitcher did a great job. We didn't strike out a lot, but he kept us off-balance, and we didn't hit the ball very hard most of the time. We just didn't get a lot of great contact."
The win was Plymouth/New Hope's second over Canyon Lake in the region tournament. The Minnesota champions topped Canyon Lake 12-1 in five innings on the tournament's opening day, but both teams knew the rematch was likely to be closer. Plymouth/New Hope scored nine times in the top of the fifth inning to blow open a close game, with Tuel and Quinn each homering in the inning.
"We left eight runners on base in five innings," said Hammon, whose team stranded a pair of baserunners in the third and left the bases loaded in the fourth. "We needed a timely hit in there, and we didn't get it. But up until the fifth, it was 3-0. It was a good ballgame at that point."
"Since that first game, they've tightened everything up," noted Vecere later in the tournament. "Their last four games have been very good."
Plymouth/New Hope had tightened things up earlier, when they rallied for four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to upend Shoreview North Little League by a 10-9 score in the Minnesota state championship game. They then stayed in-form from the start of the region tournament, allowing just four earned runs in their four pool contests. The Minnesota champions batted a collective .448 during pool competition -- and .416 for the tournament -- while clubbing fourteen home runs.
Two of the home runs came in their semifinal round victory, a 15-2 decision over Daniel Boone American Little League (Columbia, Missouri). Thorp homered in the third inning to give Plymouth/New Hope a 5-2 edge, before Jack McDonough's three-run shot capped a ten-run rally in the top of the sixth.
"They're an outstanding hitting team," said Daniel Boone manager Greg Kespohl of Plymouth's offense. "Our pitchers did a great job through five innings, but it's hard to keep a team that good down for the entire game."
"Our bats have gotten stronger through the tournament," said Vecere, whose team had nine or more hits in each contest leading up to the final game. "And we will need those bats (in the title game). Our guys have been working really hard at the plate, and they all seem to be seeing the ball really well. I don't know what the reasoning would be for that, but they are just picking up the ball well, and they are hitting it hard."
Canyon Lake, meanwhile, rebounded from their opening round loss to reach the semifinal round, and then pushed past Grandview Little League (Des Moines, Iowa), 7-2, in the semifinal round. Sam Haug homered twice and drove in four runs to pace the South Dakota offense, while Vickers allowed just two earned runs in 4-1/3 innings against an Iowa team that averaged eight runs per game during pool competition.
"Matt really pitched well today," remarked Hammon. "When he had baserunners, he came up with big strikeouts. And when Iowa put the ball in play, they didn't hit it that hard. Matt really mixed things up well."
Grandview had taken an early lead on Kenny Randolph's solo home run in the first inning, but Vickers put Canyon Lake ahead to stay with a two-run single in the second. Haug drove in Luke Bates with his first home run in the fourth inning, and after Iowa pulled one run back in the fifth, added a second two-run shot to left in the fifth.
"Sam is just crushing the ball right now," said Hammon after the game.
Plymouth's offense was also in top form, as the Minnesota champions won two pool contests by mercy rule margins, and homered four times in their final pool win over Iowa. The victories set the stage for a title game in which Plymouth/New Hope showed its aggressive side with the late home runs, but also exhibited a high degree of patience with the multitude of walks issued by Canyon Lake pitchers as the team realized its goal of becoming just the fifth Minnesota league to reach South Williamsport.
"You dream of being in this position," said Vecere on the eve of his team's title game win. "But never expect it. We are in our own little dream land right now."
Linescores:
| Pool Play Game 1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
|
R |
H |
E |
| Kearney (Nebraska) |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
1 |
4 |
3 |
| Grandview (Iowa) |
2 |
1 |
4 |
4 |
|
|
|
11 |
8 |
0 |
|
|
| Pool Play Game 2 |
| Plymouth/New Hope (Minnesota) |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
|
|
12 |
12 |
1 |
| Canyon Lake (South Dakota) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
|
1 |
5 |
1 |
|
|
| Pool Play Game 3 |
| Daniel Boone American (Missouri) |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
|
7 |
7 |
2 |
| Riverton Area (Kansas) |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
6 |
7 |
1 |
|
|
| Pool Play Game 4 |
| Daniel Boone American (Missouri) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
4 |
| Canyon Lake (South Dakota) |
4 |
7 |
1 |
x |
|
|
|
12 |
9 |
0 |
|
|
| Pool Play Game 5 |
| Kearney (Nebraska) |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
1 |
3 |
2 |
| Plymouth/New Hope (Minnesota) |
0 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
x |
|
5 |
9 |
5 |
|
|
| Pool Play Game 6 |
| Riverton Area (Kansas) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
|
|
2 |
1 |
1 |
| Grandview (Iowa) |
1 |
1 |
5 |
5 |
|
|
|
12 |
11 |
2 |
|
|
| Pool Play Game 7 |
| Grandview (Iowa) |
0 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
7 |
14 |
1 |
| Daniel Boone American (Missouri) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
1 |
6 |
2 |
|
|
| Pool Play Game 8 |
| Riverton Area (Kansas) |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
|
|
1 |
4 |
3 |
| Plymouth/New Hope (Minnesota) |
0 |
7 |
1 |
5 |
|
|
|
13 |
11 |
0 |
|
|
| Pool Play Game 9 |
| Kearney (Nebraska) |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
|
5 |
10 |
2 |
| Canyon Lake (South Dakota) |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
6 |
7 |
3 |
|
|
| Pool Play Game 10 |
| Grandview (Iowa) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
|
3 |
7 |
1 |
| Plymouth/New Hope (Minnesota) |
0 |
0 |
3 |
5 |
3 |
x |
|
11 |
11 |
0 |
|
|
| Pool Play Game 11 |
| Riverton Area (Kansas) |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
5 |
|
10 |
11 |
3 |
| Canyon Lake (South Dakota) |
0 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
|
11 |
7 |
2 |
|
|
| Pool Play Game 12 |
| Kearney (Nebraska) |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
|
2 |
7 |
0 |
| Daniel Boone American (Missouri) |
4 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
|
|
12 |
14 |
0 |
|
|
| Semifinal Round |
| Canyon Lake (South Dakota) |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
|
7 |
4 |
1 |
| Grandview (Iowa) |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
2 |
5 |
0 |
|
|
| Semifinal Round |
| Plymouth/New Hope (Minnesota) |
2 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
10 |
|
15 |
16 |
1 |
| Daniel Boone American (Missouri) |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
2 |
8 |
3 |
|
|
| Championship Game |
| Plymouth/New Hope (Minnesota) |
0 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
|
8 |
5 |
1 |
| Canyon Lake (South Dakota) |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
3 |
3 |
1 |
|
|
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Last revision: 06/12/2011
