Angels Earn 5-4 Come-back Win Against Harvard

After having the first scheduled game rained out, the Littleton Major Angels took the water-logged home field against Harvard in the Summer season opener. Matt started on the mound and pitched 2 innings of no-hit ball, striking out 4. Harvard opened up a 4-0 lead in the top of the 3rd inning vs. Mike P. who had to fight for outs with the assistance of Matt at 1st Base. David P. and Logan C. took the mound for the last 3 innings and held Harvard while the Littleton bats came alive. Jarod W. started the offense in the 3rd inning by driving in Littleton’s first RBI thanks to the fast and sly baserunning of Robert C. nick-named “squirrel.” David P. opened up the rally in the 4th inning with a perfect bunt that was stretched into a 2-RBI triple. The clinch came in the 5th inning with a key RBI single by Matt followed by 2 stolen bases putting him in scoring position to bring home the winning run on an infield grounder by Logan. What a great way to start the season. Small Ball rules! Stay tuned for more action vs. Acton-Boxboro with Tuesday Night Baseball…

Summer Ball Begins!

While the 11U All-Star Tigers are continuing a rigorous practice schedule in preparation for the Cal Ripken Western Mass. State Championship later this month, the MacIntosh League has also started the Summer baseball season. Littleton is fielding a 12U Majors team with a roster of 14 players, many of whom are also playing in the tournaments. Summer ball is a bit more relaxed, especially since the roster is a bit fluid with tournament players sometimes not being available and others taking vacations. Matt will be playing baseball every day now between Summer games twice a week and tournament practices on every other day. Stay tuned for more adventures of the boys of Summer on the Littleton Angels…

Fortitude and Determination

Mark Selavka

In mid-June, ABC News featured an inspiring article about 17 year-old Mark Selavka who is a pitcher for the Manchester High School Indians in Connecticut. Mark has cerebral palsy which is a neurological condition that has severely weakened the left side of his body, giving him only limited use of his left hand and a limp when he walks or runs. However, in spite of this Mark has become a Varsity pitcher who works in relief and specializes in off-speed pitches with accurate placement to get key outs.

According to Mark, his parents helped to change his attitude as a youngster when he suffered from the taunts of others and was ready to give up his dream of playing baseball:

“My dad always used to sit me down and say, ‘You can never say that again. Don’t say I can’t. It’s I can, I can, I can,’”

As an inspiration, Mark watched videos of Jim Abbott who was a one-handed pitcher for the New York Yankees and threw a no-hitter in 1993. Mark followed Abbott’s technique of throwing and catching with one arm, quickly putting on the glove after each pitch. Mark wears #25 in honor of Jim Abbott, who is his hero and example. Mark made the Varsity team this year as a junior after having tried out before and not made the cut. He made it this time by being the hardest working player on the roster without any special considerations.

Never give up, never give in.

Littleton Tigers are 11U Cal Ripken District Champions!

The Littleton 11U All-Star Tigers won the Central Mass. District Championship, defeating the Hudson 11U All-Star Hawks 6-2. This represents an improvement in this All-Star roster’s record since last year’s Runner-up finish, and also reclaims the 11U title for Littleton. What a great and unexpected finish to the tournament which Hudson was strongly favored to win. Matt L. turned in repeat web-gem performances at 1st making diving catches of a screaming line drive and pop-up foul heading out of play. Michael P. held off the Hawks with reliable pitching and Cole A. earned MVP honors for key bunting in a classic game of small-ball. Go Tigers!

Cal Ripken Central Mass. District Tourney Recap

The Cal Ripken Central Massachusetts District Tournament was held over this past weekend in Dunstable. Competing 11U All-Star teams representing Ayer, Littleton, Groton, Fitchburg and Hudson played for both the District Championship title and advancement to the Western Massachusetts State Tournament in later July. As happened last year, Littleton and Hudson battled for the Championship title, although this year it required the final tie-breaker game as both teams had established an even record of 4-1. Here’s a recap of how the Littleton Tigers did during the 6 games of this intense 4-day event culminating in the Finals.

Friday, 6/26

Littleton defeated Ayer 9-4 in the first night games. Ayer opened a commanding 3-0 lead in the 1st Inning, but then Littleton’s pitching and defense combined with solid hitting to turn the game around in the 3rd Inning and the Tigers blew it open in the 5th with a 4-run offensive rally that closed the door. Nick F. was the offensive leader with a key single and double earning 3 RBI’s and also scoring a run. Christian W. was the MVP with 5 innings pitched.

Saturday, 6/27

Littleton lost to Groton 1-3 in a closely played morning game that remained scoreless until the 4th Inning. Connor B. pitched a complete game earning 6 K’s against 21 total batters. The offense was lead by Nick F. and Matt L. who both hit 2 for 3, but only Nick was able to score in the 4th. Overall the combination of Groton defense and some costly Littleton fielding errors made the difference in this match-up.

Littleton then defeated Fitchburg 9-3 in an afternoon game and restored their winning record. Matt L. pitched 3.3 innings of no-hit ball, striking out 8 of 13 batters. The Tiger’s bats also got hot with everyone in the line-up getting hits. Mike R. and Matt L. gave a command performance at the plate, both hitting 3 for 3, scoring twice, and earning 3 RBI’s between them. Matt also stroked a double during the game and was named MVP.

Sunday, 6/28

Littleton defeated Groton 8-3 in a morning re-match to both win the Semi-Finalist bracket and clinch a berth in the State Tournament. Cole A and Chris R. battled on the mound to hold Groton to three runs by the 3rd Inning with key fielding plays reinforcing the defense. Littleton’s offense took charge with everyone in the line-up getting hits. Chris R. was the power-hitter with a triple, double, 1 RBI and 1 run scored, and was named MVP.

 Littleton then played undefeated Hudson in the first Championship game, winning in a 5-4 nail-biter that evened the records of the two teams and forced a play-off for the District Title. The game was scoreless into the 4th Inning with unbelievable web-gem defense by both teams. The 3rd Inning featured a spectacular defensive display by Littleton with Matt L. making a flying mid-air catch of a screaming line drive from 1st base and holding the ball during the crash landing. This was followed by Adam S. making a key catch of a fly ball in right field, and Nick F. making a running catch of an infield fly from 3rd base that nearly ended in a face-plant. Littleton established the lead with Joey D. stroking key kits including a 1-RBI single and 2-RBI double which earned him props as the MVP. Other runners stole home to run up the score to 5 by the 6th inning. Hudson came back in the 5th and 6th innings, nibbling at the lead with the bases loaded and runners scoring one at time. The final out saved the game with the bases loaded and the tying run on 3rd: Matt L. scooped a hard groundball half-way to 2nd base and legged it to 1st, beating the runner across the bag by just a step. Unbelievable. Last year, Hudson defeated Littleton to claim the District Title. This year, Hudson has a real fight on its hands. Now it’s on…

Stay tuned for the outcome of tonight’s Championship Title game!

Red Wings Season Wrap-up

The Red Wings wrapped up their Spring season in the District Playoffs with a 13-5 win against the Little Rock Hounds on June 13, and a 4-3 loss to the Groton Rockies on June 15. The Red Wings finished the season with the best record of any Littleton Team (8-6), and the coaching staff and half the roster then immediately turned to focus on the Cal Ripken All-Star tournament season as the 11U Littleton All-Star Tigers. Stay tuned for an update of the Cal Ripken District Tournament…

Red Wings Fall to Rockies 7-6

OK, it’s been awhile since I posted a season update. To begin with, the Red Wings schedule was front-loaded with games during the season, leaving a 2-week hiatus near the end of the season that hurt the momentum of the team when they did retake the field. The Red Wings split a loss and a win over the past week including one game that went for 8 innings. Tonight the Red Wings lost in the bottom of the 6th inning to a walk-off RBI double after leading all game. Matt L. got the offense started with a 2-RBI double followed by another 2-RBI single and a rocket to Center Field stolen from him at the wall which drove in another pair of runs to put 6 on the board. Good pitching by Jon, Cole and Nick anchored by Matt behind the plate kept the Rockies on their heels until the end of the game. A great web-gem was turned by Luke at 3rd who made a 1-man double-play in catching a line drive and also tagging a runner. Now the Red Wings are tied for 4th place going into the playoffs.

Stay tuned for playoff action starting this weekend…

Papi’s Back!

At least let’s hope so. Congratulations to David Ortiz on a long-overdue homerun blast last night against the Toronto Blue Jays. His AVG may still below the Mendoza line, but the Big Man has his spirit is back which means everything in baseball.

As quoted by Dan Shaughnessy in the Boston Globe today, Papi had this to say:

“My father told me, ‘It’s not going to get worse than this. Get out there, have fun and forget about what happened. Do what you know how to do.’ “

Now that’s advice that every ballplayer from T-Ball onwards can take to heart from their dad!

Red Wings Claw Come-back Win From Shirley 12-8

The Red Wings clawed a come-back win from Shirley in a 12-8 melee that wasn’t resolved until the end of the 6th inning. Shirley is a very good team which was apparent from the skills and demeanor of the players. Matt started the game on the mound for the Red Wings and pitched the first two innings. A lead-off single was followed by a strikeout and a fielder’s choice play, but then the Shirley clean-up man tooled a 2-run homer over the fence and opened up a first-inning lead for Shirley. The second inning Matt held Shirley scoreless with 1 strikeout and 2 put-outs keeping them at bay. Connor B. pitched the next 2 innings and struck out 3 while giving up 2 hits and 1 run. Cole closed out the game, giving back 5 additional runs and striking out 2 to finally close the book on another victory.

In the meantime, strong pitching from Shirley kept the Red Wings to only 1 hit and no runs for the first 3 innings. The tide suddenly turned in the 4th inning when the entire Red Wings line-up came to the plate. Jon started the offensive by stealing home on a passed ball to put the Red Wings on the board. Nick L. and Christian tied things up with RBI singles before Matt drove in the go-ahead run with an RBI double. The rally continued with Will hitting another RBI single and Connor M. driving a 2-RBI single past the shortstop. By the time the Red Birds were done, they had rallied with a score of 7-3 in the bottom of the 4th inning. Unbelievable. The next inning the rally continued with the Red Birds booking 5 more runs on key hits from Nick M., Connor B. and Nick L. Matt was robbed by the Shirley center-fielder who made a leaping catch to turn what might have been a home run into an RBI sacrifice fly, the second game in a row for Matt where that has happened. Nick M. and Christian both stole home on passed balls, running up the final Red Wings score to 12 before they were done.

An outstanding team effort by all the players! In baseball anything can happen. Never give up, Never give in!

Red Wings Defeat Rock Hounds 12-3

The Red Wings extended their winning streak with a 12-3 victory over the Rock Hounds. Strong pitching from Jon struck out 5 in the first 2 innings allowing only 1 run. Nick M. and Christian also pitched 2 innings each and both allowed just 1 earned run, keeping the Rock Hounds from advancing while the Red Birds went to work with their bats. The entire batting order contributed to the win. Connor B. hit a RBI triple and also stole home on a passed ball. Jon hit 3 for 4 including a double with 4 RBIs. Nick L. also hit 3 for 4 including a double with 3 RBIs.

Next games are Friday and Saturday…