West Hartford Storm 11U Wins Southington South Tournament

West Hartford Youth Baseball League’s 11U team, the West Hartford Storm, has been taking the state by storm this summer, and capped off a great week with a championship victory in the much heralded and prestigious Southington South Tournament on July 27.  The tournament is the top 11U tournament in the state, where this year 12 of the best 11U baseball teams converged on Recreation Park in Southington for two weeks of top-notch baseball. The locals won the championship with a hard fought 5-3 victory over Wallingford to complete an 8-0 run in the tournament and moved its record to an amazing 24-3 on the summer to date. Let’s recap the championship round of the tournament:

Quarterfinal:  West Hartford Storm 14   Southington North 12

In this back and forth contest; West Hartford outslugged Southington North to advance to semifinal action. The Storm jumped out 6-0 in the 1^st, only to see its lead evaporate in the 2^nd.  In the 1^st, Paul Wilson walked to open the game. Nick Becker then singled sharply to right, with Wilson going to 3^rd. Sean Langan singled hard to left, followed by Drew Hungerford’s single up the middle to plate Becker. Chase Jeter (2 for 4, 3B, 3 RBI) then ripped a triple to the right field corner, scoring both Langan and Hungerford.  Charlie Murray followed with a sacrifice fly as the locals stormed out to a 6-0 advantage.  Southington would not be deterred.  Southington put up a 7 spot in the 2^nd to take a 7-6 lead.  Again, West Hartford fought back. In the 3^rd, West Hartford scored 6 more to stretch its lead to 12-7. Two walks opened the inning, and then Luke Fox drilled a base hit to right which opened the floodgates. Wilson (1 for 2, RBI) then singled, Becker walked, Langan (2 for 3, RBI) singled and Hungerford (3 for 4, 2B, 3RBI) singled as the bats continued to roar.  In the 4^th, Southington fought back with 4 more runs to put the score at 12-11 through 4 innings. Jeremy Spooner delivered the big blow for Southington, a 3-run shot in the inning. In the 5^th, West Hartford pushed its lead to 14-11 as Hungerford ripped a double to deep center to plate Langan, who had walked and stole second. The locals then survived a Southington threat in the 6^th to advance.

Semifinal:  West Hartford Storm 10  Plainville 0

The semifinal match up was billed as a thriller, as Plainville was the pre-tournament favorite, and both teams came in with undefeated records in the tournament. West Hartford turned this much-anticipated matchup into a ho-hummer with a methodical 10-0 victory in a 4-inning mercy-shortened game. Sean Langan took the mound for West Hartford. In the 1^st Langan got a nifty 4-6-3 double play from Wilson – Jackson – Hungerford to erase any thoughts of a 1^st inning rally for Plainville. Then the bats got to work. Paul Wilson, West Hartford’s leadoff extraordinaire, worked a 7-pitch walk to start things. Nick Becker reached on a catcher’s interference. Sean Langan then dropped a bunt single, scoring Wilson who had advanced to 3^rd on a passed ball. Drew Hungerford and Chase Jeter delivered RBI’s with infield ground outs to put the score at 3-0 after 1 inning. Meanwhile, Langan continued to dominate the vaunted Plainville lineup with his scorching fastball, setting down 9 straight batters. In the bottom of the 3^rd, Langan got all the support he needed as the Storm unleashed a 7-run barrage off Plainville ace Mike Wisnicki. Wilson singled to start things. Becker (1 for 2) singled to right advancing Wilson to 3^rd. Langan (2 for 2, RBI) smoked a 1-2 pitch over the left fielders head to plate Wilson. Hungerford (1 for 2, 2B, 2RBI) then ripped a first pitch double to the gap in left center to score both Becker and Langan and push the score to 6-0. Chase Jeter followed, and copied Hungerford, ripping a first pitch double to the exact same spot to score Hungerford. After 2 walks, Luke Fox (1 for 1, 3B, 2 RBI) put the stamp on this one, rifling a liner into the right field corner for a 2 run triple to put the score at 10-0. Langan closed out Plainville with a 1-2-3 4^th to send West Hartford into the championship game.

Final:  West Hartford Storm 5  Wallingford  3

A capacity crowd greeted the teams in the final game of the tournament, a matchup of the tournament’s only unbeaten teams. It was an anticipated matchup between’s the teams ace’s, Chase Jeter for West Hartford and Mike Huttgren for Wallingford, and neither disappointed. Wallingford jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, as Kyle Ransom ripped the 2^nd pitch of the game over the left fielders head for a stand-up double. Jeter then worked 2 outs in the inning, but Anthony Caposso ripped a double to right to score Ransom. Jeter limited the damage to 1-0 to give the bats a chance. With 1 out, Nick Becker drew a 9 pitch walk to start things. Sean Langan then dropped a bunt single down the line at 3^rd. Drew Hungerford (2 for 3, RBI) then singled to center, scoring Becker to tie things. Jeter (2 for 3, RBI) helped his own cause with an infield ground out to score Langan to give West Hartford the 2-1 lead after 1. Wallingford fought back to knot the score at 2 with 2 hits in the 2^nd. Again, this resilient bunch of West Hartford’s finest responded. Patrick Baron (1 for 1) ripped a single to left to start the inning. Ryan DeLutrie (1 for 1) singled to center. Paul Wilson then laced a single to right to score Baron, and DeLutrie came around to score on consecutive ground outs to give the Storm a 4-2 lead after 2. Huttgren and Jeter then settled in, with Jeter retiring 9 straight through the 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th, mixing a blazing fastball and sharp change up to keep Wallingford off the scoreboard. West Hartford increased its lead to 5-2 via a Nick Becker solo homerun, a shot into the bleachers in left, and got 2 hits from Nick Gaglioti (2 for 2), but could not convert. Becker would be called on for some heroics in the 6^th as well, this time with his arm.  As Jeter neared the 85-pitch limit, Becker was called upon the get the last 2 outs. With the bases loaded, Becker induced an infield ground out to Will Jackson, who had a spectacular play to his right at short and flipped to 3^rd for the force. A classic at bat followed with Mike Jameson, as Jameson had a 13-pitch at bat before drawing a walk to load the bases once again. Becker then beared down, striking out the final Wallingford batter on a 3-2 heater to set off a celebration amongst the West Hartford faithful.

The team is as follows:  Will Jackson, Ryan DeLutrie, Patrick Baron, Ryan Orlowski, Paul Wilson, Drew Hungerford, Nick Becker, Charlie Murray, Nick Gaglioti, Luke Fox, Chase Jeter, Sean Langan.