Phillies Win Two Bedford Pound Ridge Little League Championships

Bedford's up and coming baseball stars were on full display on Saturday, as the Bedford Pound Ridge Baseball Association held its Little League Championship games at the Village Town Park.

The first game decided the champions of the 3-4th grade division. The Phillies defeated the Blue Jays 12-3.

The Phillies came out the gates swinging, stringing together three singles and three doubles in the first inning to jump out to a 4-0 lead. Vincent Fraili's two-run double was the key hit of the inning, and set the tone for what quickly became a Phillies' offensive showcase.

After the Phillies tacked on two more runs in the third inning, the Blue Jays responded with two runs of their own thanks to some heads-up base running. The Phils blew the game wide open with a six-run fourth inning, however, three of them coming on John Best's bases clearing double.

The Jays scored a run in the bottom of the sixth, but it was too little, too late.

Homer Gere combined with Daniel Hernandez and Lucas Sullivan to pitch a strong game and stifle the Jays' offense. The Phillies have now won two straight age group championships, after defeating the Jays in last year's championship game.

Both teams ended the season with identical records of 12-1-1, with their only losses coming against each other.

"We started from the basics," said Phillies head coach Dan Fraili. "The kids really worked hard and came together. They became a team and a family. They worked behind each other through their highs and lows. We ended up here and they put it all together and did a fantastic job. It's all about the commitment of the players, the parents for the players, and the coaches behind them teaching them the skills they need to win the championship."

In the second game of the afternoon, the Orioles and the Phillies met to decide the 5-6th grade championship and the Phillies came out on top 2-0.

The Phillies scored the only two runs of the game in the second inning, on a two-RBI single by Hudson Molinari.

Phillies pitchers Sean Walsh and Alex Foote combined to shut out the Orioles, only giving up one hit the whole game, a sixth inning single with no one on base. Foote had three strikeouts in the sixth inning to secure the second win by a Phillies team in the afternoon.

Phillies head coach Joel Foote was obviously extremely pleased with his team's pitching and defense, which had been outstanding of late, surrendering only one run in the team's last four games.

"I told them if they don't score any we don't have to score very many to win," Foote said. "We peaked at the right time on the mound and the defense came together so it was a lot of fun. If all twelve of them come out for baseball next year we did our job. There's really nothing better than coaching little kids. Hopefully winning today will encourage them to come back."

BPR Baseball President Van Muller handed out trophies to all four teams and coaches that competed on Saturday, and was especially pleased with all the different skills and talents demonstrated in the two championship games, the outcome of a long season of hard work and fun.

"What we're especially proud of is the fact that people progress so much," Muller said. "To see games like this, where the first game is all about hitting, and then you had the converse of it in the second game with great pitching, that's great. We spend so much time in the league emphasizing the development of players and we saw that today."