WI Little Leaguers Advance to State Finals

The West Islip 12U Williamsport baseball team fended off talented East Meadow to claim its first ever Long Island Championship on Sunday night at Plainview Community Park with a 4-2 win.

As the newest Section 6 Little League victors, West Islip will move on to compete at the NYS tournament in hopes to continue a run to the Little League World Series.

“It was a great game tonight. [Raymond] Weber pitched a great game into the fifth and [Jimmy] Mattera came in to finish it up,” West Islip coach Mike Montiglio said. “They are a great hitting team, but great pitching stops that. No team has ever gone this far out of the town of West Islip.”

In the top of the first, East Meadow took an early lead after Joey Minucci hit an RBI ground-rule double. West Islip quickly tied up the score at 1-1 in the bottom half of the inning following a fielder’s choice hit by Weber.

East Meadow pitcher Ryan Wallstedt rebounded after letting up the lead with three consecutive strikeouts in the bottom of the second inning to keep the score knotted at a run apiece. In the next turn at bat, West Islip’s Nick Valenti got a hold of a pitch for an RBI single to lead 2-1.

East Meadow had a prime opportunity to tie or take the lead with runners on second and third with no outs, but Weber threw three consecutive strikeouts of his own. Weber recorded 11 total strikeouts against East Meadow hitters on the night.

In the bottom of the fifth, Wallstedt fell into trouble on the mound and was relieved by Minucci. Jake Russo stepped in for West Islip to hit a two-run double to centerfield, extending the lead to 4-1. Minucci limited the damage with three strikeouts to end the inning.

Frank Ippolito hit a solo home run to cut the lead to 4-2 for East Meadow. However, the score would stay put as relief pitcher Jimmy Mattera struck out Tom Zitzmann to end the highly touted match-up.

West Islip handed East Meadow their only two losses of the tournament, as they finished with a 4-2 overall record.

“It is a great accomplishment for West Islip in representing Long Island in the States,” Weber said. “I had my two-seem fastball going well to be able to jam them on the inside.”

West Islip will move on to compete against five other New York Sectional champions from July 27-August 1 at venues hosted by the South Shore Little League in Staten Island. The winner of the six-team tournament will advance to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament hosted in Bristol, Ct.