Seth Haverlock from the Old Town Senior Little League All Stars bats in the first inning on Friday afternoon against New Hampshire in the East Regionals at Mansfield Stadium. Photo by Chris Lessner (click to enlarge)
BANGOR, Me- The host team for the 2019 Senior Little League East Regional got to play their first game on Friday afternoon, however their opponents the state champion Monadnock Little League from Jaffrey, NH scored five runs over the final two innings to take an 8-4 win at Mansfield Stadium. The 10 team tournament began on Thursday with a double elimination format. The winner which will be decided on the final day July 24, will advance to the Senior Little League World Series in Easley, South Carolina.
It was a good start to things for the Maine District 3 champion Old Town All Stars. Seth Haverlock opened with a walk in the bottom of the first inning. He would advance on a throwing error to first base by NH starting pitcher Keegan Burke. Another error by the second baseman put two on base for the hosts with one out. Zach Dill delivered an RBI single, and Conner McCannell bounced into a fielders choice to score another to make it 2-0. A hit, an Old Town error, and then a passed ball and wild pitch by starting pitcher Dill allowed New Hampshire to even the score 2-2 in the third inning.
Haverlock gave Old Town their last lead of the day with an RBI single in the fourth. In the fifth inning, New Hampshire tied it 3-3 on the strength of no hits but three Old Town errors. The visitors tried to take the lead on an error by the first baseman, but pinch runner Joe Cocozilla was thrown at the plate by first baseman Austin Moores to keep it tied. In the sixth the Monadnock LL took over. A Griffin Labonte single, a double by Hayden Ketola to knock in Labonte, and a Colson Seppala RBI single made it 5-3. They extended to a three run lead when Seppala scored on a wild pitch. Casey Downs delivered an RBI single for Old Town in the bottom of the sixth, but they would leave the bases loaded. Jaffrey added two more in the seventh to end the scoring with two hits and another error by Old Town. The hosts had two more on base in their last at bat with one out, but Haverlock and Matt Seymour struck out to end it. The Old Town team left 13 runners on base in the game.
Landon Valliancourt picked up the pitching win in relief of Burke for New Hampshire. He allowed one run on three hits in 3.0 innings. Labonte and Seppala both had two hits. Jordan Cota was the losing pitcher for the Maine team in relief of Dill who had pitched the first 3.0 innings. Cota allowed three runs on two hits over 2.1 innings in the loss. Haverlock was on base four times with two walks and two hits. Dill had three hits, and Noah Thibodeau added two.
The Old Town Senior Little League All Stars now move into the losers bracket. Their next game will be Sunday at 4 p.m., while Jaffrey, NH plays in a winners bracket game Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.
Old Town pitcher Zach Dill throws a pitch during action against New Hampshire on Friday afternoon in the Senior Little League East Regional in Bangor. Photo by Chris Lessner (click to enlarge)
NH 0 0 2 0 1 3 2- 8 8 2
ME 2 0 0 1 0 1 0- 4 10 5
WP- Valliancourt (1-0) LP- Cota (0-1)
Left on base- NH 3 ME 13
Time of game- 2 hours, 15 minutes
