Little League 9-Year-Old All-Stars Win Tri-Town Championship

Hamilton-Wenham 9-year-old all-stars beat Danvers Nationals 3-1 last week to Win the Tri-Town Tournament.

The Generals rode solid defense, pitching, and timely hitting to defeat the No. 1 seed Danvers Nationals team - the same team that beat the Generals in last year's finals and the only team to defeat this group of kids in the past two years.

Conor Evers got the game started with a lead-off single and scored on Eli Leonard's hit. Leonard then scored on an Aidan Cann sacrifice fly making it  2-0 after one inning.

Cooper McGrath retired the side in order on a strikeout and two fine plays at second by Evers, who flipped to William for the outs.

In the second inning, McGrath led off with a single but was forced out at second base on a Will Frain fly ball to centerfield.

Erik Fotta knocked in Frain on a triple to right.

McGrath continued to pitch well, striking out one and made a nice play fielding a come-backer. McGrath fielded another ground ball to retire the side and it was 3-0 after two innings.

The Generals went in order in the third. McGrath continued to throw strikes, getting out of the inning with no runs scored. The first batter bunted the ball while his foot was out of the batter's box and was called out. The next batter blistered a line drive that Daniel McDonough caught at third. The next batter singled and stole second base, but Frain made a nice play at shortstop, fielding a ball and firing to William for the out, making it 3-0 after three innings.

In the fourth inning, the Generals again failed to score despite a long triple by McGrath that sailed all the way to the 250 foot fence on a few bounces. McGrath took the mound in the fourth but was starting to tire and he reached 50 pitches (which kept him eligible to pitch Sunday), so Evers came on and struck out two and got a nice play at first base by William, who slid to his left knocking down a ground ball that was right on the line and tagged the base, making it 3-0 after four.

In the fifth inning, Danvers flashed some leather of its own, fielding hard-hit balls by Frain and Fotta. Evers trotted back to the mound and pitched an amazingly efficient inning as he induced a popup to McDonough at second, fielded a bunt and fired to William and forced a fly ball to right fielded deftly fielded by Fotta. After just six pitches it remained 3-0 after five innings.

In the sixth inning, the Generals threatened on a Cann single and a walk to William but another nice play by Danvers on a McDonough ground ball got them out of the inning.

On to the bottom of the sixth - Evers surrendered a lead-off single. The next batter bunted, and again, Evers was up to the task, fielding it and fired to William for the out- one down.

The next batter walked. With the pressure mounting, the next batter bunted and Evers raced in and threw to William for the out, but a run scored. It was 3-1 with two outs.

The Generals had practiced fielding bunts since meeting Danvers National in the finals last year, where Danvers continually bunted and won 11-0.

The next batter walked. With the tying run on first, the coach visited the mound to see how Evers was doing and to talk to the infielders.

Evers talked about the pressure but he, and his teammates, remained remarkably calm. His first pitch was a strike, which lifted the Hamilton-Wenham spirits. The next pitch was a ball and the runner stole second. With the tying run on second, Evers settled down and fired strike two. The next pitch was a ball but Evers raced back to the rubber and fired strike three. The Generals won 3-1.