Seaford Little League Eliminated As Merrick Advances On

The Seaford Little League 12-year old Williamsport team fell to Merrick by way of a 7-4 loss on Wednesday night at Burns Park. The group came up just short of the District 31 championship round, finishing with a 1-2 overall record.

“We showed a lot of character in coming back, but Merrick is a tough team and they will give Coast a good run for it,” said Seaford head coach Jimmy Roell. “I’m very proud of the kids for their great tournament and we will move on from here.”

The Merrick side collected momentum right at the start with Eric Gossert pitching on the mound. Holding Seaford in their first turn at bat, it gave Merrick the chance to take an early lead. Dylan Hughes knocked in the first run with an RBI double in the bottom of the first inning.

Nicky Wisniewski hit a two-run single for Merrick in the next inning to extend the lead to 3-0. After a great line drive snag by pitcher Anthony Pristera, Seaford missed an opportunity to escape the inning after Brendan McGovern couldn’t hold on to a tough, shallow fly ball hit by Robert Backus. The error allowed two more runs to score, giving Merrick a 5-0 lead.

Keith McHugh knocked in the first Seaford run on a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 5-1 in the third inning. Andrew Cain hit a bases-clearing double with two outs in the next inning to bring his team to within one run at 5-4.

Jerry Kourkoumelis gave Merrick a cushion with an RBI single in the fourth, followed by an RBI triple by Gossert in the fifth to extend the lead to 7-4. Robert Backus picked up the save with three consecutive outs, including two strikeouts, to end the game and move Merrick onto the finals.

“We jumped out to an early lead and I thought it was going to be a battle and it eventually turned out that way,” said Merrick head coach Craig Levine. “Since our first game, our kids have not quit at all. They’ve been playing great defense and no matter when the adversity comes, they’ve gotten out of innings.”

Merrick, who now holds a 3-1 record, will play defending District and Long Island champion Massapequa Coast in the finals on Sunday, July 10 at 4 p.m. at Burns Park. Seaford won their opening game against Massapequa International, but went on to lose their next two games to Massapequa Coast and lastly against Merrick.

Despite their elimination from the 2011 District 31 tournament, Seaford has next year to look forward to, where they will return five players to lead the way. Amongst the returnees in the 12-year old age group are Andrew Cain, Michael Tito, Carter Skretch, Joe Ippolitti and Christian Alfano.