West Hartford Youth Baseball League Travel 11U wins Cal Ripken District 2 Championship

The West Hartford Youth Baseball (WHYBL) 11U Storm created a path of destruction on their way to winning the Cal Ripken District 2 Championship last week at Wolcott Park. 

The hometown heroes cruised through the districts with a perfect 6-0 record and have qualified for the Cal Ripken state tournament later this month. WHYBL is in its first season as a member of Cal Ripken Baseball, a national organization based on the baseball instructional methods and sportsmanship principals of Hall of Fame player Cal Ripken.

Here are the highlights from the championship round of the districts, a best two out of three series against the defending champion, South Meriden.

Game 1: West Hartford Youth Baseball 11U 14 - South Meriden 11U  1

West Hartford scored 4 in the 1^st, 5 in the 2^nd and 5 more in the 3^rd inning to overwhelm South Meriden in Game 1. In the 1^st, West Hartford capitalized on 3 South Meriden errors and a 2-run single from Patrick Baron to jump out 4-0. In the 2^nd, Paul Wilson (1 for 3, 2B), Nick Becker (2 for 2, 2B, RBI), Drew Hungerford (2 for 3, 2B, RBI) and Sean Langan (2 for 3, 2B, RBI) had consecutive hits to start the inning. After 1 out, Chase Jeter ripped a double to left center to plate 2 more runs as the locals batted around in the inning. 

West Hartford put it out of reach in the 3^rd, and again it was the top part of the order doing the damage. Wilson, Becker, Hungerford, Langan and Jeter all banged out hits in the inning. Nick Gaglioti made the defensive play of the night, throwing out a runner at 3^rd base from left field to snuff out an early rally by South Meriden.

Jeter was the winning pitcher, going 2 innings while striking out 4 and allowing no hits. Langan and Wilson pitched in relief.

Game 2: West Hartford Youth Baseball 11U 22 - South Meriden 11U 2

There was no doubt who the champion would be this night, as the West Hartford Storm 11U unleashed an offensive barrage to defeat South Meriden 22-2 and capture the district 2 crown. West Hartford started the game with 6 straight hard hit shots as they went on to score 8 times in the 1^st. Drew Hungerford (5 for 5, 2B, HR, 6 RBI), Nick Becker (4 for 5, 2B, 4RBI), Luke Fox (3 for 3, 2B, 3 RBI), Chase Jeter (2 for 3, HR, 2RBI), Patrick Baron (2 for 2, 2 RBI) and Will Jackson (2 for 4, 2B, 2RBI) had big nights for the Storm. Ryan Orlowski also hit his first HR of the summer season, a 2-run shot in the 4^th. Fox (3B) and Ryan Delutrie (RF) were the defensive stars for West Hartford, with Fox recording 3 assists and Delutrie making a nice running catch down the line in right field.

Becker, Hungerford, Orlowski and Patrick Baron shared the pitching duties this night, limiting the stars from South Meriden to 1 hit by JT Thiede in the 1^st which drove in both South Meriden runs.

The team starts its local tournament season on July 5 with an opening round contest in the Farmington Linquist Tournament against the Burlington 12U all stars. The Storm will also compete in the highly competitive Southington South tournament, as well as WHYBL’s own Ken Hungerford Invitational Tournament this summer.

The summer season also includes a trip to Cooperstown, NY, the weekend of July 8-10 to play in an all wood bat tournament.