BERLIN — The Berlin Little League 11-12 All-Star team rolled past Washington, D.C., 18-7, on Tuesday morning to improve to 2-1 in pool play in the mid-Atlantic regional to advance in the tournament and will play on ESPN on Thursday night at 7 p.m.
Berlin won the Maryland state championship to advance to the mid-Atlantic regional tournament that began on Sunday in Bristol, Conn. Berlin beat Delaware’s representative Milton, 6-2, in its opener on Sunday in the double-elimination tourney. On Monday, however, Berlin fell to New Jersey’s representative Middletown, 6-2, to drop to 1-1 after two days of tournament play.
On Tuesday against Washington, D.C.’s representative Mamie Johnson, Berlin wasted no time building an early lead and cruised to the 18-7 win to improve to 2-1 and assure a spot in the mid-Atlantic region semifinals. Berlin scored in every inning of Tuesday’s rout, collecting two runs in the first inning, two in the second, four in the third, two more in the fourth, three in the fifth and five in the sixth inning.
After two days, New York is 2-1, New Jersey is 1-0, Berlin is 2-1 and the other three teams, including Delaware, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. were winless, although Delaware was set to face Pennsylvania on Tuesday afternoon and one of those teams will be eliminated with a 1-2 record.
With Tuesday’s win, Berlin assured a spot in Thursday’s nationally-televised game on ESPN at 7 p.m. against an opponent yet to be determined. The early round games were streamed on ESPN, but starting Thursday and throughout the remaining games leading up to Saturday’s regional championship, the mid-Atlantic tournament games will be shown on ESPN in prime time at 7 p.m.