LITTLE BIG LEAGU
Massapequa boys on brink of reaching Williamsport
Massapequa has already made history, and its sights are set on more.
The players from the Massapequa Coast Little League captured the New York state title last weekend, the first state championship in the league’s 72year history. Now, Massapequa is set to begin play Saturday in the Metro Regionals in Bristol, Conn., one last obstacle as they try to make a magical run to Williamsport, Pa., for the Little League World Series.
“There’s nothing more exciting than the idea of an 11- or 12-yearold fulfilling his or her little league baseball dream of getting to the Little League World Series,” Roland Clark, the team’s coach, told The Post on Thursday.
Added Alex Pagano, a pitcher and first baseman who leads the team in home runs: “It’s definitely really exciting. Making it to Williamsport, it would be huge because we would be the first Massapequa team to do it.”
The boys certainly have a legitimate shot at realizing that dream. Stiff competition awaits in the regional — representatives from New Jersey, Connecticut and Rhode Island are also vying for the coveted spot in Williamsport. In the double-elimination tournament, Massapequa will open against Toms River (N.J.) East, a perennial little league powerhouse.
Massapequa wouldn’t have it any other way.
“At the end of the day, we are the New York state champions and the teams that we’re going to be facing in the regionals are state champions as well,” Clark said. “It’s a champions tournament and anything can happen. The competition is going to be fierce. We’ll just try to keep a positive attitude and never quit our philosophy that the game isn’t over until the final out.
“That’s worked pretty well for us so far.”
Indeed it has, though the caveat is that Massapequa has rarely needed to clench and sweat all the way to the final out. In the state championship, its two single-elimination contests proved rather stress-free.
In the semifinal game against East Greenbush Castleton, Massapequa romped to a 10-0 mercyrule victory. Then, in the finals against West Nyack Nanuet — which had previously beaten Massapequa in pool play — Massapequa exacted revenge via another mercy-rule win, 15-5.
So far in the tournament, Massapequa is 12-2.
“It kinda sent the message that Massapequa would be a team to not forget about,” Clark said of his team’s triumphs.
Massapequa has parlayed that message into stellar on-field play.
Not only did Massapequa hit the most home runs of any team in the state championship, but also it allowed the fewest runs.
“The great thing about my team, from the first guy to the 11th guy, is that everyone contributes,” Clark said. “Everyone has something special to offer. We don’t rely on one player. I think that’s what made the state tournament and this ride so far very special.”
Clark has experienced all of this before — the hoopla and fanfare from the Massapequa community, not to mention the mounting attention and the allure of realized dreams.
Massapequa boasts two Little Leagues, the other being the Massapequa International Little League. While Massapequa Coast had never sent a team to regionals until this year, Massapequa International has, most recently in 1989. Clark played for the 1989 squad.
Thirty-three years later, he is at the helm for another magical run. Coming full circle, he said, is a “special moment.”
Yet he insists that the spotlight is rightfully on the kids. They weren’t the favorites to reach this point. That label was bestowed on South Shore Staten Island or Webster.
“It wasn’t an expectation,” Clark said. “This is a difficult tournament.”
Added Pagano: “We expected to make it far, but not this far.”
But with a trip to Williamsport looming, there’s only one New York team left standing, just one making a definitive statement: None other than the boys from Massapequa.
“They might not be enjoying their normal summer of going to the beach or being able to hang out with their friends everyday,” Clark said with a laugh. “But I think they’re very happy with the trade-off.”
If the Mets’ win Thursday was a message to Atlanta, their loss Friday was the Braves receiving that message and throwing it in the trash.
A day after the Mets held on in a victory dripping with emotion thanks to closer Edwin Diaz, the Braves’ young stars responded by putting on a show in a contest that started as a beatdown and ended with Atlanta escaping with a 9-6 win.
The Braves jumped all over Taijuan Walker early, scoring eight runs before the Mets could record a fourth out, and their defense consistently frustrated the home batters — and the Citi Field fans, who were relentless, particularly in jeering the Atlanta outfield.
Ronald Acuña Jr., the Braves’ 24-year-old star, tied his career high with four hits, including a second-inning single off Walker, after which he stole second and scored on another single.
But it was his robbery of Pete Alonso that was most impressive.
In the bottom of the first, with the Braves already up 4-0, the Mets slugger tried to slice the gap in half. With a runner on, Alonso launched a shot to right field that should have at least gone for extra bases and might have cleared the fence — but Acuña timed his leap perfectly. The right fielder caught the ball with his glove above the wall, and he brought it back and pounded his chest upon landing and running toward his dugout.
There was some extra celebrating from an Atlanta outfield that went back and forth with the 40,305 fans in their ears.
“I heard in left [field], they were saying, ‘[Eddie] Rosario, you suck,’ ” center fielder Michael Harris II said after a big game of his own. “I saw [Rosario] point to his ring finger.”
The Braves, of course, are the reigning World Series champions, and Acuña said he quieted the crowd the same way.
Harris, the 21-year-old who is having a remarkable rookie season, used his arm and bat to silence the fans. He led off the top of the second inning with a solo home run before the Mets tested how strong an arm he has.
In the bottom of the second, Brandon Nimmo hit a bases-loaded single to center, and Mets third-base coach Joey Cora gave the green light to Luis Guillorme, who was trying to score from second base.
Harris threw a one-hop dart, and Guillorme never had a chance.