From left are (front row) Abe Wingfield, Will Keough, Josh Ayala, Cooper MacKay, Kyle Miller, Kevin Dols, Robbie Engelberg, Jack Kelly, Asst. Coach Pete Mensinger, (second row) Coach Mike Engelberg, William Keough, Gavin Brunsman, Jakob Mensinger, Ryan Osinski, Evan Devereux, and Assistant Coach John Kelly.
The 2017 Alexandria Little League Intermediate 50/70 All-Star Team has punched its tickets to North Carolina and the South East Regional Finals. They are the first team from Alexandria to win a Virginia State Little League Championship in any division, and did so by defeating teams from Fort Hunt, Virginia Beach, Strasburg and Halifax in the finals. After winning the district tournament in June over Arlington, the Alexandria Little League Intermediate, a team of 12-13-year-old boys, went undefeated to win the state tournament, and is representing Virginia in the Southeast Regional Tournament in Kernersville, N.C. July 21-24.
“Intermediate 50/70” refers to the level of play, as the distance of the pitchers’ mound to home plate is 50 feet, and the distance between bases is 70 feet. Intermediate 50/70 is the Little League division between Majors, which plays on a 45/60 field, and Juniors and Seniors, which play on the 60/90 field.
“Competing in baseball at any level is thrilling for the players. As adults and parents, we can take particular pride when players display the sportsmanship and virtues that we hope to see on the field and off. While we are pleased with their victory, we are particularly proud of those players who put forth the extra effort on and off the field to represent our league and city so well.” says Gus Chiarello, president of Alexandria Little League. “This is a great moment for our league and for our community.”
In the Southeast Region Alexandria’s Intermediate 50/70 team will represent Virginia, and will compete against the state champions from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and West Virginia in hopes of moving on to the World Series in Livermore, Calif.