Council Rock Newtown Clinches Berth in LLWS

	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H	E
Capitol Hill	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	2	1
Council Rock Newtown	0	0	1	1	3	X	5	8	0

WP: Longo LP: Toney

As the rain eventually cleared and the skies brightened just a few shades, Council Rock Newtown emerged as the champions of the Mid-Atlantic tournament, clinching their first berth in the Little League World Series since 2005.

The tightly-contested title match was nip-and-tuck throughout, featuring not one, but two, hour long rain delays. A pitching duel was the story most of the way, as Sav Longo and Rhys Toney went toe-to-toe behind excellent defensive efforts by their teams.

Both teams went in order in the first inning. After a leadoff single in the top of the second, Longo struck out the side. In the bottom of the second, Greyson Gage hit a liner into right. He tried to come home on a Gavin Caudill double into right-center but was gunned down at the plate by an awesome throw from Nick Guthrie to Brady Thomas who fired home to catcher Lee Rubin.

As a steady rain got heavier, Longo struck out Guthrie and Rubin, but walked George Ashley and William Toomajian, the latter on four pitches, struggling to keep his hands dry and grip the baseball. The tarp came out and the game was into its first delay, which lasted for about an hour. As the watherl ifted, Longo returned to action and in three pitches, got William O’Rourke to ground out to end the third.

Newtown finally broke through in the bottom of the third. Brody Gage led off and reached on an E5. He was moved over by Ryan Uhl’s grounder to third and aggressively took third base. Will Siveter, the only returning member of last year’s team, from the 11-hole in the lineup, singled up the middle, giving the Blue Dawgs a 1-0 lead.

Capitol Hill responded quickly in the fourth, as Brady Thomas reached on a dropped third strike and Toney doubled him home to tie the game. Sav Longo was starting to struggle in the rain again, showing frustration as Casey Meier walked on five pitches. Coach Hamilton, who has showed the propensity to push the right buttons at the right times, came out to talk to his pitcher.

“I told him to smile. This isn’t that serious. Show me your pearlies, dude. You’re great. We’re good.” When things are going wrong, look at your shoes. Be where your feet are.” The pep-talk worked. Longo struck out then ext batter and induced a ground out to get out of the inning.

The next big play came in the bottom of the fourth. Brayden Peiffer led off with a single and Tyler Neeld doubled to left. With two outs and two in scoring position, Rubin threw the ball back to Toney. As the throw back to the mound was tossed, Brayden Peiffer took off for home and Tyler Neeld bolted for third on the delayed double steal.

Hamilton commented on Peiffer’s play, “He’s the one that can do that on this team comfortably. He understands the game very well. His dad’s coaching third, so there’s a great dynamic. He has a good feel for when a catcher is kneeling or on one knee—watching the game within the game.”

Then the heavy rains came once more, leading to another one-hour delay. “I felt confident we would break through but needed to keep the boys alert and alive, so we got a little dancing going. They seemed relaxed,” said Hamilton. With the second resumption, Hamilton made another big move–he pulled Sav Longo in favor of Tyler Neeld. “Tyler Neeld is that kid who gets a little more amped at the end and knows how to do it very well.” And Tyler certainly did, striking out the side in the fifth.

Hamilton was also right about his team eventually breaking through. They did just that, loading the bases in the fifth. Ryan Uhl provided the key hit, clearing the bases on his double to the fence in left and increasing the lead to 5-1. Capitol Hill did get two on in their final turn at-bat, but Neeld struck out Toney to end it and send Council Rock Newtown to the Little League World Series for the first time since 2005.

Brad Hamilton on how it feels to go to South Williamsport: “it feels surreal, still, and accomplished. It’s not the end goal, but you’ve got to be in it to have a chance. Just having the ability to be there gives you the chance to do something more magical.”

Council Rock Newtown will look to keep the magic going when they face Boerne, Texas Thursday night at 7:00 to begin World Series tournament play. LSV Sports has been credentialed for the entire tournament and will continue reporting from South Williamsport next week.