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ELL All Stars 2009 Wrap up
Every year, ELL and the other 14 leagues that comprise District 31 pick their best players to form three teams to compete in three different age groups of all star tournament play at the end of June and into July. In the Majors division, eight lucky (and very good) teams qualify to advance to the Little League World Series in August. Although ELL has not sent a team to Williamsport in its' long history, it takes pride in its past and recent all star success. In 2007 and 2008, all 3 ELL teams advanced to the final eight or beyond in District play and 2 of 3 in 2009. ELL hopes to continue its' all star success for years to come.
CONGRATULATIONS!!! to our 11U All Star team for going 3-0 in pool play taking first seed. They beat Escondido National 16-0, Poway American 14-4 and Rancho Bernardo 19-15 to advance into the elimination round starting on Monday against Carmel Mountain Ranch. In a back and forth thriller, ELL was bested by Carmel Mountain Ranch, 13-12. Although they were ousted from the tournament in the quarter finals, their 61 runs in 4 games proved that this was a great hitting team that will be ready for next year. All results can be seen on the District 31 web site link.
Congratulations to our Majors All Star team for a solid 5-1 win over Escondido American which qualified the ELL boys for the final 8 in the District 31 tournament from a field of 14. With great pitching from Jake Brown, Evan Ogden and Cy Nolan, accompanied by a key double by Danny Atkin and a booming home run by Kevin Hornbeak, it was a total team victory. On July 8, in an elimination game at Poway American Little League, Encinitas National beat the ELL Majors club, 6-1 in a very well played defensive battle. Thanks to Coaches Cardinale and Brown for their time and hard work.
Our 9-10 year old team lost to tough squads from Escondido American and Del Mar and failed to qualify to advance further in the tournament. The boys played hard and made it clear that our youngest all stars hold great promise for the future. Thanks to Coaches Brown, Foster and Carattini for the hard work with the team. The team seemed to heal quickly from their tough run in the tournament with a team pool party and BBQ after their final game.
2009 Regular and Post- Recap
ELL is also very active in participating in several post-season tournaments, the Leo Mullen Cup, the Tournament of Champions and the Coast Cities Tournament. The Mullen Cup pits the best teams from ELL and ENLL in a single game winner take all in the Majors and Minor A division. Although the ENLL teams won both games in 2009 to capture the cup, we hope to get it back in 2010.
The Tournament of Champions is an extremely difficult tournament pitting the 14 Majors division champions from District 31 against each other. Our 2008 Majors Dodgers were the defending champion.
The Coast Cities Tournament allows the 2nd and 3rd place Majors and Minor A teams to play in a tournament, against similar finishing teams from ENLL, Rancho Santa Fe, Solana Beach and Del Mar. Our 2008 MA Blue Jays came in 2nd the 2008 Majors Padres were defending champions, again from a field of approximately 18 teams. Our 2009 results were also impressive:
Congratulations to the Majors Indians, MA White Sox and the MB Cubs for having a great winning season and taking first place in their league. In one interesting note, every single player on the Majors Indians hit at least one home run in the 2009 regular season. Their 18-3 mark within ELL proved to be no fluke, as they went on to go 5-1 in TOC play, see below.
In the ELL post season tournament the Major D-backs, MA White Sox and MB Pirates took the tournament trophies in 3 very good games on closing day. It was a great day capping of another successful ELL season.
Congratulations to all of our ELL teams who represented our league in post-season tournament play. The 2009 Majors Indians won their pool to advance in to single elimination play, where they faced a Poway team in the semi-final game that had a 20-1 regular season record. Coach Miles guided the Tribe to a one run win to advance to the finals, where they lost to a very talented Carmel Mountain Ranch Club. Another excellent run in the TOC by ELL.
Not to be outdone, our Minor A White Sox who made it to the semi-finals of the Coast Cities Tournament where they were defeated by our own Minor A Angels, 7-6, in a great game. The ELL Minor A Angels were defeated in the final by an excellent Del Mar club, but Coach Brown and the Halos were proud recipients of the 2nd place trophies.
Please send me your tournament pictures so I can post on our site. Let's give the teams some face time on the web...GO ELL
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