Leominster American Little League: News: Leominster American captures Major League City Championship

Sentinel & Enterprise (Fitchburg, MA)

August 28, 2011
Section: Sports

Leominster American captures City Championship

Chuck Sargent, Correspondent LEOMINSTER -- Heading into Saturday's title clash in the Leominster City Championship, Leominster American Little League's Whitton Realty had the comfort of knowing they had ace Tyler Brandt toeing the rubber. The Schuster Plumbing Cardinals of Leominster National trotted out a strong pitcher of their own to the hill in Dylan Gallant.

The result was a classic pitchers' duel between the two, with Brandt and Whitton Realty coming out on top with a 2-1 victory to claim the title at North Leominster's Justin DeSantis Field.

"It was a great game by two good teams," said American manager Jim Xarras. "You can't take anything away from National, that's a good team. You don't get here without being a good team."

Both pitchers went the distance in this one, with Brandt allowing five hits while striking out 10. Gallant, meanwhile, allowed just three hits in five innings of work while striking out seven batters in the tough-luck defeat.

With scoring at a premium, it was American that had the slight edge in timely hitting. James Purcell put Whitton on top in the bottom of the second inning with a mammoth home run to straightaway center field that landed at second base of the adjacent field.

"I didn't really think about anything and just swung," said Purcell. "I just used my normal technique."

National threatened in the top of the third when Nick LeBlanc led off with a single and advanced to third a few pitches later on a throwing error from behind the plate. Brandt then went on to strike out the next three batters to end the threat.

American plated another run in the bottom of the third. Miles Lora led things off with a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Then, with two outs, Jacob Blodnikis belted a double to left-center field to score Miles and make it 2-0.

National got a run back in the top of the fourth inning, started off by a one-out walk by LeBlanc. With two outs, Braden Schuster ripped a single to left field, and the ball was misplayed by the left fielder, allowing LeBlanc to come all the way around from first to score, making it 2-1.

Schuster had one more threat in the top of the sixth inning. Nick Rodgers led off the inning with a bloop double down the left-field line. Brandt, however, forced a pop up from the next batter and struck out the following two hitters after to clinch the championship.

National forced Saturday's game after Rodgers pitched a shutout gem Friday night, extending the championship series an extra day. That contest was the first loss of the season for Whitton Reality, which finished the year with an incredible 25-1 record.

"It was a very well-played game," National manager Manny Rodgers said of Saturday's finale. "Their pitcher was on today. We had one yesterday and they had one today. One pitch was really the difference in the game.

"Both teams played hard. Both games were good games. They always come to play hard at American, and they've got a good coaching staff over there and I've got a good coaching staff over here, too. It was two great teams here and just a good day for baseball."  Leominster Little League

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