Commack North Little League Team: Thomas Andrews, Christian Baggetta, Brendan Cooke, Nick DeCicco, Dylan Ende, Mike Gallo, Elias Gonzalez, Dean Gregory, Andrew Hancock, Michael Martin, Paul McDonough, Jack Pihlkar and Drew Silverman. The manager is Doug Silverman and the coaches are Mike Ende, Andy Gregory and Bob Pihlkar.
Commack North Little League came up short in their 18-11 loss to Pennsylvania. It wasn’t for the lack of effort on their part. The boys never gave up. The team that “Never said die” played their hardest until the very last out!
“Never say die” may be the Commack North Little League team mantra. After losing their first game in the Intermediate 50/70 Little League World Series competition on Friday to Yonkers, 17-9, the team went on to beat state champion teams from Delaware (14-4); New Hampshire (7-6); and Connecticut( 8-7). In the New Hampshire game, Commack was losing by a run and was down to their last strike with 2 outs and no one on base, when the team rallied, getting an infield hit, a walk and a double to win the game. In the game against Connecticut, Commack was behind 7-0 in the 3rd inning and came back to win 8-7.
After the game against Connecticut, Manager Doug Silverman spoke with two umpires who said this about the Commack team: “That was the best game I have been part of in this tournament. The Commack Boys never say die. It is wonderful to watch” and another said, “Your team has a spirit that none other has in this tournament”.
“I think that these quotes best define our team. They never give up and never lose hope. They keep on fighting when other teams would quit. Our motto all season long has been “13 for 1”, which refers to 13 players playing for one goal and 13 players playing for each other” said Coach Mike Ende.
According to Coach Ende the coaches and players take a lot of pride in the team’s effort and accomplishments.”One of the best things about all of this is that me, our manager, Doug Silverman, and one of our other coaches, Bob Pihlkar, all grew up in Commack and played in Commack North Little League, so there is a tremendous sense of community and history with us and this team.” Coach Ende.
Commack North Little League was selected as a regional host site for the first-ever Intermediate 50/70 Little League World Series; hosting the Eastern Regional Tournament at Cedar Road (which started July 19th and ends July 25th). The new Intermediate 50/70 division was created by Little League International (www.littleleague.org) to bridge the gap for 11-13 year old players who would be moving from the traditional little league field dimensions (46 foot mound, 60 foot bases) to the much larger, full size field (60 foot mound, 90 foot bases).
The tournament consists of 10 teams:
Commack North Little League (representing New York District 34) Hillcrest Lakers (Yonkers, NY - New York state champions) New Hampshire, Maryland, Delaware, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New Jersey.
The 10 teams were divided into 2 - 5-team brackets, and the first round of play consisted of a 4 game round-robin playing all the teams in your bracket. Commack North Little League went 3-1 in this round robin, ending up in a 3-way tie for 1st place in its bracket with Yonkers and Delaware. Commack beat out Delaware due to a tie-breaker procedure, and will now play in the semi-finals.
The winner of this tournament goes on to play in the Little League World Series (Intermediate 50/70 division) in Livermore, CA next week.
Commack will play at the Cedar Road Ball Field Wednesday at 11am. Good luck Commack!