BERLIN- The hits keep coming for the Berlin Little League with the Intermediate team winning its fourth straight state championship last week and the 9-10 team on the threshold of a state championship of its own.
The Berlin Intermediate team beat District 5 champion Hughesville, 8-2, last Wednesday to win the Maryland state championship and advance to the Eastern Regionals of the Intermediate Little League World Series. The same core group of players has won four straight District 8 championships and four straight state titles. This year, they had to beat Hughesville twice to advance, including a remarkable 18-11 comeback win last week in the semifinals.
Against Hughesville again in the state championship game last Wednesday, Berlin left nothing to chance, jumping out to an early 5-0 lead after the first three innings and never looking back on their way to the 8-2 win. Ryan Duncan got Berlin started with a sacrifice fly in the first and then Kevon Wharton drove in two with a single in the second. Hayden Snelsire led the offense, going 3-4 at the plate including a double and scored twice.
Tristan McDonough was dominating on the mound for Berlin striking out 16 Hughesville batters and allowing just one earned run through six and two thirds. With the state title in hand, the Berlin Intermediates are headed to Long Island this weekend for the Eastern Regionals of the Little League World Series. The team is departing on Friday and will play their first game against Connecticut on Saturday. Pool play continues all next week with the finals set for July 25. If Berlin wins the east regional, they will travel to California later this summer for the 2014 Intermediate Little League World Series.
Meanwhile, the Berlin Little League 9-10 team is making noise of its own. After capturing the District 8 championship last week, the 9-10 swept through three straight games in the Maryland tournament this week and stood on the threshold of a state championship last night. In their state tournament opener, the 9-10 team beat Rising Sun, 21-2, after scoring 18 runs in the first three innings. Berlin scored four in the first, three in the second and 11 in the third and cruised to the opening round win.
Back in action last Sunday, the Berlin 9-10 team beat Hughesville, 15-5, in a game much closer than the score indicated. Hughesville jumped out to 2-0 lead in the first, but Berlin responded with six runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 6-2 lead. Hughesville clawed its way back into the contest and cut the lead to 6-5 in the fourth, but Berlin settled the issue once and for all with a nine-run outburst in the fifth to extend its lead to 15-5.
With the win, Berlin’s 9-10 team advanced to the semifinals of the state tournament on Tuesday and beat Brunswick, 9-3. Berlin scored five runs in the first inning and added a single run in the second and three more in the third to take a commanding 8-0 lead. In the first inning, Berlin got an RBI double from Ashten Snelsire, an RBI single from Evan Truitt, another RBI single from Luke Mergott and a two-run single by Calvin Lorance.
Snelsire led the Berlin attack with two extra base hits, while Cole Lynch also had two hits. Mergott and Snelsire shared the pitching duties with Mergott going one and third allowing two hits and no runs. Snelsire went six-and-two-thirds, and allowed three hits and struck out two. With the win, Berlin advanced to the state championship final last night in a game played too late to be included in this edition.