Bound for Bristol
The Cumberland American all-stars will open their New England Regional play Sunday vs. Goffstown, N.H.
CUMBERLAND — The Cumberland American Major Division all-star team felt a great sense of satisfaction after going undefeated to claim the District 4 title because CALL was handed the most difficult road to the title.
CALL coach Tony Tarara enters New Englands feeling the same way. One season after New England champion Warwick North had a relatively easy path to Williamsport, Penn. for the World Series, Cumberland American will likely face a pair of aces inside of 24 hours just to reach the winners’ bracket final Wednesday night in Brstol.
“I don’t like it, as usual,” Tarara said after Wednesday’s practice at Garvin Field. “We got killed in the districts by having to go through the playin game and then Smithfield and Lincoln just to get to the final. We’ve had the road less desired, so to speak.
“I personally don’t like it, but I’ll feel better if we succeed because we did it the hardest way.”
For the third time in seven seasons, Cumberland American heads down to Bristol, Conn. in search of the New England title and a dream trip to the Little League World Series in Williamsport. The state champions begin regional play Sunday night at 7 against another frequent visitor to Bristol, New Hampshire champion Goffstown.
Goffstown advanced to Bristol for the second time in four seasons by overcoming a one-game deficit to Concord in the state title series. Goffstown earned a 20-2 victory in Game 2 and then earned the state title Tuesday night with a 10-2 win in Pelham.
John LaRose, who is a CALL assistant coach and also the head coach at Johnson & Wales, trekked to the Granite State Tuesday night to watch Aiden O’Connell, Logan Simmons and Cam Hujsak homer in the blowout win.
“They’re a great hitting team,” Tarara said. “We’ve got to do what we’ve done all tournament long. We have to make sure we hit our spots and we have to make sure we play great defense. We’re in the regionals now, so every team is awesome. You can’t underestimate anyone, so we need our pitching and defense to carry us through.”
Goffstown’s potent offense will attempt to hand 11-year-old righthander Jack LaRose his first loss of the summer. LaRose went 3-0 during District 4 play and he also threw a no-hitter in the state tournament opener. Unlike most aces of state champions, LaRose isn’t a fastball-dependent pitcher.
LaRose relies on different arm angles and an array of breaking balls to keep hitters off-balance. LaRose struggled, at times, in Friday night’s state final against Cranston West, but Tarara is confident ahead of Sunday’s contest.
“That’s the one great thing that Jack brings to the table,” Tarara said. “I’m really happy that the other teams don’t know what Jack has – and I’m not going to tell them either. The key for us is the way he pitches gives us a great chance to win every game.”
If Goffstown has an advantage, it’s clearly in the experience department because Goffstown coach Jeff O’Connell was in charge of the 2014 team that lost to Dave Belisle’s Cumberland American squad, 10-0, in a pool play game.
Belisle, in his role as a color analyst for ESPN, conversed with O’Connell at the last two regionals because O’Connell’s younger brother, Todd, won back-to-back state titles at Bedford.
“His son is the best player and he’s a lefty and I hear he’s nasty on the mound,” Belisle said. “They’ve got a good hitting team, as they showed in the state final against Concord. They can hit the ball. Tony’s going against a coach who’s been there before. I remember talking to Coach O’Connell the last two years down there, so he has a lot of experience and he knows what to do. That’s a huge advantage.”
The winner of Sunday night’s game earns a date with Massachusetts state champion Holden Monday at 7 p.m., while the loser will play for its tournament life Tuesday at 7 p.m.
“Ya, we have a plan and all the teams are going at it the same way,” Tarara said. “Massachusetts is a great team, but we’re not looking past New Hampshire because they are a great team, too. Hopefully, everything works out well on Sunday night and then I have my strategy for Massachusetts. I also have a strategy for Tuesday.”
CALL isn’t the only team in Bristol to have won a New England title recently, Connecticut champion Fairfield American is back after winning the 2010 title ( against Cumberland National) and the 2012 title.
Tarara, however, believes the bull’s-eye is firmly on the back of the team with ‘RI’ stitched on their red hats. Rhode Island has won three straight regional titles and appeared in eight of the last nine regional finals.
“They’re coming after us – I can tell you that right now,” Tarara said. “You know. They want to beat Rhode Island. They don’t want to see Rhode Island back (in Williamsport, Penn.) again. Rhode Island has represented the last three and four of the last six, so they want to beat us.”
The first New England game of the day will feature Maine champion South Portland and Vermont champion Essex Junction at 1 p.m. The winner will face Fairfield American Monday at 1 p.m.
“I have a great feeling that this group can do it,” Tarara said. “They have to execute and come to play.”