BEVERLY, MASS. – It wasn’t the showing the team had hoped for, but that didn’t stop the North Manchester/Hooksett 9- to 11-year-old Little League team from making the most of the experience.
Making the relatively short trek to Beverly, Mass. for the Eastern Regionals on Monday and Wednesday, the New Hampshire state champs came up short in their two games against Mid-Island, New York and Milton, Delaware – falling 7-0 and 8-0, respectively – before their consolation contest Thursday was rained out.
Scoreboards aside, the kids enjoyed themselves and accomplished much this summer, said their head coach, Marcus Luce, who noted the players, coaches and parents were not only able to take part in parking lot tailgates and pizza during their time in Beverly, but said the entire team was able to stay overnight Wednesday and enjoy swimming and other fun activities one last time this summer.
The key, of course, being that they did it together, a staple of the players on this year’s team and one of the chief reasons for their success, said Luce.
“Im proud of the way the team came together from the start of the season,” he said. “Eight players returned from last year’s (8- to 10-year-old) state runner-up team and we added five new players to the team that fit in really well to this group.”
Those contributing this season were Elizabeth (Ellie) Faulhefer, Anthony Coski, Felix LaPierre, Will Keoha Vong, Landon (LJ) Ishimwe, Andrew (Andy)Arvanatis, Bryce Good, Ethan Lemire, Aaron Connolly, Landon Raiche, Lincoln Scott, Nathaniel (Nat) Chesley and Braylon Frometa.
Though the team started play at the district/state level with a 1-2 record, they soon found their groove, winning their last five round-robin games against the likes of Portsmouth, Concord and Salem before earning two wins in the knockout phase to take the state championship, North Manchester/Hooksett’s first at the 11U level.
“We started off a bit slow with getting into the rhythm and grind of all-star summer baseball, but it came together when it mattered most,” said Lucy.
Of course, the players and coaches couldn’t have done it without the support and dedication of parents and other family members who not only transported the players to and from practices and games all summer, and then showed out in force from New Hampshire’s seacoast to the North Shore of Massachusetts to support the team, said Luce.
“The team was on the field practicing or playing a game the past 36 of 46 days, which shows their dedication and is a great reason they had so much success this summer,” he said. “They were not only on the field, they worked incredibly hard. We have a great group of game and practices coaches that allow us to get great training reps in and give each player the feedback they need to improve.”
Luce specifically called out coaches Kingsley and Brown for being difference makers in the players’ development and team’s success.
“We’ve had these kids for the past four years and the growth we’ve seen is really special,” he said. “A lot of these kids will continue playing fall ball starting in September, travel ball which will run fall to spring and some do private lessons to keep improving, so it’s going to be another fun year next year watching all these kids develop into even better Little League baseball players.”
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Box scores from NMHLL’s two regional games: