Wisconsin District 4 Little League: Welcome

Post-season tournaments have come to an end, but not after some very memorable baseball.  Once again our district was well represented in post-season play far beyond our own district's borders.

But first, congratulations goes out to all of our all-stars.  Special mention goes out to our district champions--West Madison National LL in the 9-10 age division, Verona LL in the 11 year-old division, West Madison American LL at the Majors level, Verona LL at the Juniors level, and West Madison National LL at the Seniors level.

Both Verona teams advance to the championship game of their respective state tournaments providing fans extended excitement.  West Madison Majors fans were also treated to some outstanding baseball with the Majors team winning the state championship and advancing to the Central Regional tournament in Indianapolis. 

But the 15 and 16 year-olds playing for West Madison National LL accomplished a feat only one other District 4 team has EVER accomplished--a trip to the World Series.  Congratulations goes out to our young men from West Madison--District, State, and Central Region Champions.  They put up a strong fight at the World Series but came up just short of advancing to the semi-final round.  Nevertheless, they had an unbelievable season.

Check out the "News" and "Recent Tournament Champs" pages for more information about these teams and the post-season tournaments. 

With the off-season now upon us, things will seemingly quiet down for a few months.  However, the district staff will be working hard behind the scenes getting ready for LL Baseball 2010.

District 4 Little League fans, this is your webpage!  We hope that it is your first home for information on Little League baseball in southcentral Wisconsin.  If there is anything you feel needs to be added or changed, please send an e-mail to jjkautza@charter.net.

Jeremy Kautza--Webmaster

If you need to contact someone from District 4:

West Madison lost a heart-breaker on Thursday night ending their dream of winning the Senior League World Series.  The 9-8 loss to West University LL from Houston, TX sent West Madison to 1-3 in pool play and eliminated them from advancing to the semi-final round.

A win would have allowed West Madison to advance.  The Nationals went to work early taking a first inning 3-0 lead on Chris Anderson's RBI-double and Zach Addamo's 2-run home-run.  West University LL battled back however, tying the score at 3 after 2 complete innings.

West Madison opened things up in the third by stringing together some timely hits and taking advantage of a few West University miscues.  Chris Anderson, Sean Blythe, Josh Horman, Thomas O'Keefe, and Nate Hall all scored for West Madison giving them an 8-3 lead. 

But West Madison was held scoreless the rest of the night.  Two runs in each of the third, fourth, and fifth innings for the senior leaguers from Houston secured the win for the Southwest representative.

Congratulations to the West Madison National team for their great run.  This is only the second team from District 4 to make it to the World Series at ANY age level.  Madison Kennedy accomplished the feat, sending their senior league all-stars to Bangor, ME in 2006.

In the first game of the third day of pool-play at the Senior World Series, West Madison National LL dropped the ball numerous times leading to their second loss in the tournament.  Friuli Venezia Giulia LL took advantage of all of the miscues and registered their first win of the tournament.

It was an ominous start for West Madison.  The first inning was filled with miscues including 2 walks, 2 wild pitches, and 3 errors that lead to 3 runs for the Italian team despite not registering a single hit. 

West Madison fought back in the fourth, however, tying the score at 3.  Kody Parman led off the inning with a single and advanced into scoring position after Zach Addamo's base-hit.  Sean Blythe followed with an RBI single giving West Madison their first run.  Josh Horman then added his own RBI single scoring Zach Addamo.  Blythe moved into scoring position and later scored on a wild pitch before the inning ended.

The Italian team took some of the air out of West Madison's sails in the next frame scoring four runs on four hits.  A hit-batter and an error by West Madison helped the EMEA representative during the inning.  The scoring continued on even more West Madison miscues in the sixth where the Italians scored four runs on four hits with 2 walks and 3 wild pitches thrown into the mix.

West Madison scored a single run in their half of the sixth on Josh Horman's second RBI of the game.  Abe Lenoch who had reached earlier in the inning on a base-hit scored on Horman's single.  The lone run made the score 11-4 and set the stage for a dramatic seventh.

After a lead-off single by Nate Thill, a hit-batter, and a walk, Chris Anderson made things interesting with a 2-out grand-slam home-run.  However, it wasn't enough for West Madison who lost the contest 11-8 and fell to 1-2 in the standings.  They have an off-day on Wednesday and will finish pool play with a matchup against West University LL from Houston, TX (Southwest) on Thursday at 8pm EDT.  West Madison will need a victory for any chance to advance to the semi-final round.

Despite an all-time tournament record of 3 triples in one game by a single player, the West Madison National Senior team secured its first victory in the Senior League World Series being played in Bangor, ME.  West Madison beat the East representative, South Vineland LL (New Jersey), 8-6.

Abe Lenoch's two-out single scored two in the bottom of the fifth capping a four-run rally.  Sean Blythe who came in with two outs in the top of the fifth pitched the final 2 1/3 innings without allowing a run and secured the victory.  West Madison's Stefan Schlitz drove in three runs in the game and was the team's RBI leader. 

West Madison bounced back strong after an opening day loss to Aruba South LL (Latin America).  West Madison will take 1-1 record into their game against Italy (EMEA) on Tuesday at 10am EDT before enjoying an off-day on Wednesday.  Pool play wraps up on Thursday when West Madison will face West University LL (Houston) at 8pm EDT.

In the game, Chris Bell from South Vineland LL (New Jersey) hit three triples, easily smashing the old tournament record of two triples hit by the same player.  The prior triples record was accomplished over the entire tournament whereas Bell's three triples came in a single game.  Bell went 0-3 in his first game on Sunday and has at least 2 more games to add to his tournament total.

The "official" Senior League World Series website is here.  Box scores can be accessed by clicking on "The Scores" in the navigation pane on the left-side of the page.  Box scores are updated live during games so you can follow the team's progress in real-time.  A chat feature is also available.

More information about Mansfield Stadium, home to the Senior League World Series, can be found here.  You can also listen to a LIVE radio feed of all 23 games of the tournament for FREE by clicking here.

The 15 and 16 year-olds from West Madison LL will be playing ball just a bit longer.  They'll also be playing just a bit further from home.  That's thanks to a 7-6 nail-biting victory over Michigan in the Central Region Championship game in Columbia, MO on Wednesday, August 12.

West Madison emerged from a pool of 9 teams from throughout the Midwest and Great Lakes states to earn the right to represent the Central Region at the Senior League World Series held in Bangor, ME.  There they will join 9 other teams from throughout the world in a battle to be crowned the best in the world.

In the Central Region tournament, West Madison went undefeated, but the victories were far from easy.  In the semi-final game, first-seeded West Madison defeated fourth-seeded Holmes County LL (Ohio) 3-1.  South Bend LL (Indiana) who matched West Madison's 4-0 record in pool play earned the second-seed for the semi-final round but lost to third-seeded Midland LL (Michigan) setting up the Michigan vs. Wisconsin championship game. 

In the championship game, West Madison had to fight back from deficits of 2-0, 5-2, and 6-5.  The team scored twice in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead going into the final frame on an RBI double by Chris Anderson who then scored on Zach Addamo's RBI single.  Sean Blythe, who came on to relieve Gary King in the sixth, gave up a lone single in the seventh before securing the win.  King also induced a weak two-out pop-up in the sixth to get West Madison out of a bases-loaded jam.

The team will be travelling to the Senior League World Series in Bangor, ME set to start on Sunday, August 16.  West Madison will play its first game against Aruba South LL (Latin America) at 8pm EDT.  The team from West Madison is the second ever from District 4 to earn a world series berth.  Madison Kennedy played in the Senior World Series in 2006. 

For the complete schedule and game results, please visit the Senior League World Series webpage.

Check out pictures of the team by visiting madison.com.