Locals win once, then fall in Section 2 Little League tourney
The dreams of qualifying for the Little League State Championships this weekend in Little Ferry died hard for the youngsters from the West New York National All-Stars Monday night in Secaucus.
The WNY Nationals dropped a tough 11-1 decision to eventual champion Belleville in the semifinal round of the Section 2 Little League tournament, eliminating the locals from the tourney.
The Nationals, who won their second straight District 7 crown last week, won their first game of the tournament on Saturday, defeating Teaneck 3-2 and putting them in fine position in the double-elimination tourney’s winner’s bracket.
But the Nationals lost a heartbreaking 7-6 contest to Westfield on Sunday – a game that featured several controversial calls, most of which went against the Nationals.
With the season on the line, the Nationals fell hard to a well-rested Belleville team, which hadn’t played since Saturday afternoon.
Nationals manager Tito Gomez thought that the team’s pitching depth would be able to carry the team to the State Championships, but it wasn’t meant to be.
Still, it was a solid performance by all of the West New York youngsters, who deserve a world of credit for bringing home a second straight District banner to Baseballtown, USA, also known as West New York.
And how much of a baseball hotbed is West New York?
Well, the town’s 9-and-10-year old All-Stars are playing for the District 7 title this weekend, while the town’s 13-year-old Dale Murphy team just celebrated winning the state championship and will play in the regional championships this weekend in Maryland.
And that’s just the start. There will be more championships to follow. Thus, the moniker of being Baseballtown.