Wisconsin District 4 Little League: News

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.

District 4 has had a good showing in the 2009 state tournaments thanks to a couple of teams from West Madison LL. 

In the Majors division, West Madison American LL sailed through the tournament undefeated, although there was some good competition along the way.  Glendale (District 1) provided the toughest competition during the round-robin losing 6-5 in an exciting match-up.  Franklin National (District 6) was the semi-final competitor and nearly knocked West Madison out of the tournament, but the Americans came out on top 8-7.  Glendale returned in the championship to try to avenge their earlier loss, but West Madison secured the championship winning 5-2. 

The team advances to the Great Lakes Central Region tournament held in Indianapolis, IN.  Their first game will be on Friday, August 7.  The winner of this tournament heads to the LLWS in Williamsport, PA.  Check the "Recent Tournament Championship" Page for updates.

In the Seniors division, West Madison National LL defeated Lakeland LL 7-1 with strong pitching from Chris Anderson along with some timely hitting and solid defense.  With the victory, the Nationals advance to the Central Region tournament in Columbia, MO.  The winner of this tournament heads to Bangor, ME for the SLWS.

This is the second consecutive year that a team from West Madison National LL won the state tournament.  

Good luck to both teams!

West Madison National won the District 4 Seniors Championship with a 3-1 victory over their counterparts from West Madison American.  The victory gives the Nationals the right to advance to the State Seniors Championship to be held at Verona LL.

The Nationals avenged an earlier loss to their counterparts from West Madison American during the round-robin.  The first match-up was also close with the Americans winning 2-1.  The Nationals sailed through the rest of the round-robin undefeated and brought strong pitching and defense to each game throughout the tournament.

Good luck in the state tournament!

Verona LL added another district champion to their record books on Wednesday in the 11 year-old age division.  The district tournament, held at Reedsburg LL, saw the team face Kennedy in the semifinals on Tuesday the 28th.  It was a tough game that Verona almost let slip away.  Leading 12-1 in the bottom of the 4th, with the "mercy rule" in hand, Kennedy put the brakes on the early celebration, plating 6 runs in the inning.  The boys from Verona were able to hold off the vicious attack from Kennedy, however, winning the game 13-10.

In the championship game on Wednesday, Verona LL battled West Madison National LL.  West Madison scored first giving them an early 2-0 lead, but Verona struck back for 3 runs in their half of the 2nd inning.  Verona added two runs in the remaining innings while Keaton Knueppel allowed only one additional run for West Madison in his complete game effort giving Verona the 5-3 victory.  

Verona LL advances to the state tournament held at their complex starting Saturday, August 1.  Good luck guys!

Central Region Headquarters has announced that two umpires from WI District 4 have been selected to work at the Regional Tournament level this summer.  This is one of the highest accomplishments an umpire can achieve. 

Congratulations to Marianne Kelley who will be headed to Indianapolis for the Majors Central Region Tournament.  Marianne has been a volunteer district 4 umpire for over 30 years with a large portion of her work dedicated to Madison East LL. 

Congratulations also goes out to Tim Shaw who will be headed to Fort Wayne, IN for the Junior Central Region Tournament.  Tim has been a member of the district 4 staff for nearly 10 years.

These are the first regional tournament assignments for both umpires.

District 4 is pleased to announce the addition of Jason Kelley to our staff.  Jason began his LL "career" playing for Madison East LL.  Soon after his LL playing days were over Jason found a new passion in umpiring.  Jason was a quick study and soon found his roles and responsibilities increasing.  He was named to the district umpire staff and has worked numerous regular and post-season games. 

Jason attended umpire schools at the Central Region in 2003 and 2004, at Williamsport in 2004, and at the Western Region in 2008.  In addition, Jason's umpiring accomplishments already include 2 Junior Regionals.  The first was for the EMEA (2007) and the latest for our very own Central Region (2008).

Jason's passion recently has turned to helping new umpires learn the craft.  After a very successful showing at the Jim Evans Umpire Academy and a chance to umpire in the minor leagues, Jason returned to his roots actively pursuing learning and teaching opportunities for LL umpires.  He has been an instructor for both the Central and Western Region Umpire Schools this past spring and most recently has been named our district's assistant umpire coordinator.  Jason also runs an internet board for umpires who have been to a LL umpire school where he moderates discussions specific to LL rules and situtations LL umpires encounter.  

District 4 is fortunate to have such a fine umpire helping coordinate and instruct umpires for south-central WI. 

The second day of games in pool A in Majors District 4 tournament action saw hitter after hitter being returned dutifully back to their own dug-out.  It was a day for the pitcher and some solid defense behind him. 

In the first game of the evening, West Madison American's Aaron Mack faced the minimum number of batters--12, and never let the ball leave the infield.  Mack struck out 8 and registered 4 ground-outs to accomplish the perfect game.  West Madison American's bats provided more than enough fire-power to secure the win in a run-rule shortened, 4-inning game.

In the second game of the evening, two Waunakee pitchers combined for a no-hitter.  Jacob Nellis came within one out of throwing the complete-game no-hitter, but Waunakee's manager, Brian Smith, was forced to remove Nellis with one out remaining in the game due to the pitch count rule.  Nellis struck-out 13 and surrendered only 2 walks in what was nearly the second perfect game of the evening.  The no-hitter was well timed as Pardeeville's pitching staff surrendered only 2 hits in the game which Waunakee won 4-0.

The third day of the tournament gives teams from Pools B and C a chance to finally get on the diamond.  Pool A will get a break until Thursday.  For complete and updated standings, please click on the handout in the article above and continue to check back for the latest on all of the district tournaments.

Wisconsin District 4 is excited to be hosting the state tournament for the 11 year-old, Junior, and Senior age divisions.  We will be welcoming teams from around the state to compete for the state championship, the highest honor in the 11 year-old age group.  Teams in the state junior and senior tournaments will be playing for the right to advance to the regional tournaments held in Fort Wayne, IN and Columbus, MO respectively. 

Action in the Junior and Senior state tournaments starts on Wednesday, July 29, while the state 11-year old tournament begins on Saturday, August 1.  All games will be held at Verona LL just off of USH 18-151 southwest of Madison (from the beltline (USH 12-18), take exit 258 south; go approximately 5 miles and then take exit 81; Verona LL will be on your left, across the stree from Blain's Farm & Fleet).

Please click on the handout below to view tournament schedules and to access information about hotels, restaurants and "things-to-do" in the area.  Also, please note that the mandatory coaches meeting for the 11 year-old age division will take place at Verona LL at 11am on Saturday, August 1. 

With the help of homeruns by Aaron Mack, Mark Zanoya, and Collin Dean, West Madison American captured the District 4 Majors Championship with a 20-5 win over West Madison National. Colin Dean pitched a very strong 4 innings, with Adam Bihun coming in to secure the victory.

With the championship, West Madison American will advance to the State Majors Tournament to be held at Lakeland LL in south-eastern Wisconsin where they will join the district champions from Wisconsin's other 5 districts. You can find the state tournament schedule by visiting this website. While here you can also check out the results from each of the 6 district tournaments by scrolling down to the District Tournament section located near the bottom of the page.

Keep checking our website for updates on our District 4 champions. You can find these updates on the "Recent Tournament Champs" page. Final results of our district tournament can be found by opening the handout below.

Madison Kennedy LL was formed 30 years ago in the summer of 1979.  Some interesting history has accompanied the league's growth including a 2006 trip to the Senior League World Series.  Other interesting facts can be found in an article that appeared in "The Capital Times" which you can read by clicking here.

Verona LL captured the 2009 District 4 Juniors Championship with a 5 - 2 victory over Waupun LL on Sunday afternoon.  Eric Matyas pitched a 7 inning complete game gem with the help of a strong Verona defense that played nearly error-free ball throughout the tournament.  Waupun got out to an early 2 - 0 lead in the championship game but Verona came back with some timely hitting to go up 4 - 2 in the 5th before adding an insurance run in the 6th to secure the victory.

Verona LL will advance to the state tournament held at Verona LL.  Their first game is on Thursday, July 30 at 5:30pm.  Good luck guys!