Whiz Kids of the Week: Waterford South Little League All-Stars

Tuesday marked the opening day of Little League All-Star baseball. Waterford South faced off against Mystic at Rossie Field to start the season.

The crowd was anticipating a great game from the two baseball towns. Although they didn’t walk away with the win, Waterford South’s 10-11-year-olds gave the crowd exactly what they had expected. After being down seven runs the team turned around and ended the game with a final score of 9-10. 

Pitcher Walker Sutman scored the first run for Waterford South. At the top of the fourth inning Mystic had surpassed Waterford with a score of 1-8. 

Waterford rallied with back-to-back homeruns, bringing the score to a closer 5-8. Glenn Faber scored the first homerun by slamming a ball into center field. Next up to the plate was Kevin Grandieri, who sent the ball sailing out of the park giving Waterford South its second homerun in a row.

After scoring four runs, coach Greg Waldron met his team in the dugout. “They thought it was over, keep it up,” he told them.

Mystic finished off the bottom of the fourth by scoring two more runs, making the score 5-10. 

Mystic coach Don Beeney commented that he was very proud of his pitcher, Connor McCrea. Despite giving up two homeruns, Beeney said that he was very pleased with McCrea’s performance, “He did fantastic today,” he said.

As the game neared the end, it looked as if the score would remain 6-10, until Waterford caught up in the sixth inning with a second four run stretch. With the bases loaded and third baseman Max Mozzella at the plate, the crowd began to chant, “Waterford, Waterford,” in hopes of getting another homerun to tie up the game.

Mozzella was able to make a base hit and the game ended with the close score of 9-10.

Beeney told Patch the chanting “made me nervous, but it added some drama to the game. I’m proud of the boys for not getting caught up,” he added, “they didn’t give up and stayed focused.”

Waterford South manager John Ryan explained that the loss wasn’t a direct result of any team weaknesses, it was simply a “slug fest."

Ryan said he thinks his team’s strength is hitting and that was how the runs in both the fourth and sixth innings helped them almost come out on top.

Despite their loss on opening day, Ryan told Patch that his team is ready to take on all. 

“These boys are always looking to improve,” Ryan said, “and they’re willing to work hard to get there.”