Historic Run Leaves Largo Little Leaguers in Select Company

There’s an old saying in sports: only one team is happy at the end of the season.

It means only the champs truly feel like celebrating once the dust has settled and the trophy has been raised.

But despite falling one victory short of a chance to play for a trip to the World Series, the 2011 postseason will always be considered a happy time for the Largo Little League Seniors All Stars.

“It was a great experience. I’ll never have this experience again” said Colin Lonsberry, outfielder who hit four homers including two grand slams during the postseason. 

“I know for sure I’m going to remember this for the rest of my life.”

Lonsberry wasn’t alone in expressing his satisfaction at what the team accomplished.

Head coach Bob Gibree, who has guided the Largo All Stars to a 32-2 record over the past three years, tried to put everything in perspective after his squad was eliminated by South Carolina, 9-8, in the Southeast Regionals last weekend in Viera.

“We had to win 11 games to get there. We went 11-0 heading into the Regionals. That’s pretty unbelievable,” he said.

Indeed the run was the culmination of a postseason streak unmatched in Largo Little League history.

Loaded with a mix of power hitters, on-base guys, and solid starting pitching, the team reeled off a string of wins that led them straight to a shot at the ultimate baseball prize.

After capturing the District 12 championship, winning its three games by a combined score of 45-5, they earned a spot in the sectionals, held at their home field at the Highland Recreation Complex. 

Trailing 5-0 after one half an inning to Palma Ceia in the opening game, they came back to beat the Tampa team, 11-7, then easily handled Cross Bayou (10-0) and Inverness (13-3) to earn a trip to states.

The boys responded by winning five straight games in four days, many of them in convincing fashion.

In the semifinals, Derek Gibree tossed a two-hit, complete game shutout in an 8-0 win over Niceville.

Then in the championship game, after falling behind 2-0 in the first inning, Lonsberry launched a grand slam in the bottom of the inning to give Largo the lead. They knocked off North Lakeland, 8-4, to capture the first state championship in Largo Little League history.

“Our big hitters hit, our little guys got on base, our pitchers pitched great,” Gibree said. “I mean we did everything right.”

But there would be no rest for the weary champs. Just two days later, Largo had to travel to Viera for the Southeast Regional.

“Of all the teams in the Regionals, we were the only one to have played 11 games. Everyone else had played 5-6 games. They were all rested and we were running on fumes,” Gibree related.

Tired and unable to use their top pitcher, Largo fell to Virginia, 10-0, in the opener on Friday, setting up must-win situations in the next two games in order to advance.

They drilled West Virginia, 18-3 on Saturday, and had to defeat South Carolina on Sunday to move to the final round and a shot at the World Series.

Early miscues and a slow start doomed the team. Though they clawed back from a 9-4 deficit, they came up just short and ended up losing by one run.

“To lose that way was really tough for the kids,” Gibree said. “We just didn’t play our game, didn’t play the game we needed to play.”

Still, he wanted to emphasize all the positives and not dwell on the final loss.

“I told the kids, ‘your names will go down in the history of Largo Little League as the first team ever to win a state championship. So you’ve got something to be proud of’.”

“They know they had a huge accomplishment. They worked hard and they deserved everything they got,” he said.