District 16 Little League all-stars ready to roll

The road to Williamsport begins this weekend at Little League baseball fields throughout District 16.Although it’s a long way from district play to Volunteer Stadium, home of the Little League World Series, it’s a road a couple of local teams have traveled in the past decade, giving hope to all those players who are chomping at the bit to get this tournament going.The first round of games will begin for some teams on Sunday and others on Monday and Tuesday. This will be the second year for the expanded district. Last year, Peabody West, Peabody National, Peabody American and two Salem teams joined the fray for a total of 17. This year, the two Salem leagues have been merged into one, bringing the total to 16.Peabody West was dominant in District 15 and nothing changed when it moved to District 16 last year. With a trip to the Little League World Series in 2009 still fresh in its mind, Peabody won the championship game against Wyoma on a walk-off 2-run home run, giving the team its sixth District title overall.Manager Frank Benea isn’t sure what to expect from this year’s team.”It’s a different kind of team,” he said. “They’re all very good ballplayers. I’m just not sure if we’ve got the big horses like in past years.”Benea is expecting the district to be very competitive again this year.”I think it’s a tough district with a lot of good teams,” he said. “I think we’ll have our work cut out.”Swampscott manager Rob Hopkins comes into the tournament with a team that won the district’s 11-year-old tournament last year. Hopkins had a son on last year’s 12-year-old all-star team. That group won its first two games and lost the second two.Hopkins said the approach for this year’s team is a three-pronged one – play flawless defense, have pitching with pinpoint accuracy and throw in some timely hitting. Hopkins said his team is disciplined at the plate and has quite a bit of speed, which should put some pressure on the other team’s defense.East Lynn manager James Mitchell said last year’s team reached the final four. He has two players returning from that team, Alex Rodriguez and Billy Allen, both catchers. Allen can also pitch and play third.”I think the Little League tournament is the greatest tournament in sports,” Mitchell said. “It’s an honor for these kids to make it and it’s an honor for me to coach it.”Lynnfield manager Kevin Canty, coming off his first season as the Bishop Fenwick baseball coach, is ready to get going.”We look pretty good,” he said. “We had two kids who most likely would have been on the team (who aren’t). One has an elbow issue and the other’s been sick for a month and couldn’t get in the required number of regular season games.”Last year, Lynnfield lost to East Lynn in the losers’ bracket final.The other District 16 managers are Paul Hartford, Lynn Shore; Joe Marini, Nahant; Adam Buckley, Peabody American; Michael DeMayo, Peabody National; Pete Dawson, Pine Hill; Rich Damiano, Revere; Sean O’Keefe, Salem; Brian Pettenati, Saugus American; David Ricciardelli, Saugus National; Sean Leydon, West Lynn American; Steve Calla, Winthrop, and Leon Elwell, Wyoma.Sunday’s games include Saugus National vs. Peabody American at Pine Hill (1); East Lynn vs. Revere at Saugus American (3); Swampscott vs. Lynnfield at Peabody National (3); and Salem vs. Nahant at Wyoma (5).On Monday it will be Lynn Shore vs. West Lynn American at Nahant (5:45) and Winthrop vs. Pine Hill at Revere. On Tuesday, Peabody National plays Peabody West at East Lynn (5:45); and Wyoma vs. Saugus American at Swampscott (5:45).Joyce Erekson can be reached at [email protected].