Phillies Win EGLL Championship 3rd Year In A Row

When the going got tough, the Fat Belly’s Phillies got going. It was a nail-biter, but in the end, the East Greenwich Little League Majors champions from 2009and 2010 pulled out yet another championship victory, beating the tenacious Dodgers 10-9 Sunday at Cragan Field.

One out into the bottom of the sixth inning, that victory looked anything but sure. The Dodgers were up 9-6, but knowing that they were up against a resourceful team, they only hoped that cushion would be enough.

With one man on, "fastest man alive" Cris Argys managed to beat the throw to first for a single, providing what Coach Mike Gemma later said was the deciding play.

“He doesn’t do that, I don’t think we win,” said Gemma. Mitchell Gemma, who’d hit a home run and a triple earlier in the game, singled in the bottom of the sixth, loading the bases.

A single by David Sarazen and a passed ball at home, brought in two runs for the Phillies.

The Dodger’s put in a new pitcher, Alex Stern, but nothing could hold back the Phillies.With bases loaded, Andrew Blessing got “the biggest hit of his life,” according to Coach Gemma, driving in two runs and ending the game.

For coaches Gemma, Ed Peironi and Dick Argys, the win was nothing short of incredible. “We called this ‘The Impossible Dream,’” winning the championship again, said Coach Gemma. The beginning of the season had looked a little bleak, after their first-round draft pick decided to drop baseball and power player Sarazen was sidelined for weeks with an illness.

But, said Gemma, that’s what the Phillies were all about.

“We’re used to adversity. We never say die. That’s what Little League baseball is all about,” he said.

For the Dodgers, who had gone 3-15 in the regular season, the playoffs were when everything began to click. But despite early runs in the game on Sunday - they had an 8-2 lead after three innings - it just wasn’t enough. Having come from the loser’s bracket, the Dodgers would have had to beat the Phillies twice to win the championship. For Coach Paul Gavin, that would have been just fine.

“We wanted to play one more,” he said after the game.

Still, it was a special night for one Dodger in particular. Ten-year-old Harrison Leonard hit his first homerun in his majors career, a three-run bomb in the 2nd.

Pitcher Mitchell Gemma got the win for the Phillies. Cris Argys also had a home run earlier in the game. The game ball went to Phillies captain David Sarazen.