South Wall keeps season going
Why Shore Little League families are pausing summer vacation plans
WALL – The two pitchers combined on a no-hitter. The offense did its job, too, with South Wall’s Little League 12 year olds piling up 12 runs by the end of the second inning on Wednesday.
So it’s not surprising families with kids on the team are holding off on summer plans or considering stay-cations.
“Nobody has any (vacation plans) right now,” said South Wall coach Adam Harm after the 12-0 victory over Point Beach in a District 11 game.
South Wall, 2-0 with two more games left in pool play, is angling for a top seed when knockout-round games begin July 3. The eventual district tournament champion goes on to a sectional tournament as the field for potential state Little League championship teams narrows.
“We hope to go as far as we can, whether it’s the championship bracket in District 11 or if we can be lucky enough to go further and move on to sectionals. We’d love to go there again and see some of those teams again, but again, there’s a lot of baseball to be played to get there,” Harm said.
Young arms: Henry Cormey, Braden Maitner unhittable
Summer thoughts notwithstanding, the game was played under drizzle and cool-for-June weather conditions and ended in the fourth inning via Little League’s mercy rule (when a game ends early because one team is up by more than ten runs).
Pitchers Henry Cormey and Braden Maitner combined on the no-hitter. Cormey said he wished the game was longer.
“My arm is feeling very good,” he said. “I’m ready to pitch any other game if I had to.”
In addition to the stellar pitching, the bats were hot, too. Logan Hager was among the hitting stars with a
three-run home run.
What’s next
Confidence radiated from Hagar and his teammates following the big victory. South Wall next will host Neptune Friday at 7 p.m.
Hager said the formula to keep rolling through the tournament is simple: “Stay hyped and just hit,” he said.
Even with the confidence boost, Harm said he preached to his team about not overlooking anyone.
“We take it a game at a time,” Harm said. “We got two wins so far, we got two more to go in pool play and if we’re lucky enough and get to the championship bracket we’ll see how it falls.
“There will be four good teams there and we hope we’re one of them.”