Little League ready to go

The road to Williamsport and the Little League World Series starts at the district level and in District 16, that translates into 16 teams battling it out to advance to the next level.Last year, Peabody West emerged from the pack and went on to reach the Massachusetts State Little League Championship before eventually losing to Newton Southeast at Parkway Little League Complex in West Roxbury.The district, in addition to Peabody West, includes Pine Hill, East Lynn, West Lynn, Lynn Shore, Wyoma, Swampscott, Saugus National, Saugus American, Nahant, Peabody White, Peabody Blue, Salem, Revere, Winthrop and Lynnfield.The action starts at 1 p.m. Sunday when Swampscott plays Peabody White at Peabody West and Pine Hill plays Peabody West at Saugus American. The 4 p.m. games feature Saugus National against Salem at Wyoma and East Lynn vs. West Lynn at Peabody?s MacArthur Park.The first round of games wraps up on Monday when Nahant plays Saugus American at Peabody West and Winthrop faces Wyoma at Saugus American. Both games are at 5:45 p.m.The games will run Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week, with nothing scheduled on July 3 or on the Fourth of July. Play will resume Sunday the fifth and continue until Thursday, July 10. If an “if necessary” game is needed, it will be played Friday, July 11.Defending champ Peabody West, under manager Ed Silva, will be the team sporting the bull?s-eye on its back. Peabody only has one player returning from last year?s team and that?s John Mulready. Mulready can get the job done on the mound, behind the plate and in the infield at shortstop or third.?He?s a top of the lineup type of kid,” Silva said.Peabody will carry 13 players, nine of them 12-year-olds. Silva coached this group of 12s as 10-year-olds and 11-year-olds. Both years, they won the district and the sectionals. Silva said that doesn?t mean anything at this point because kids play AAU ball and they go through growth spurts. All it takes is one big 12-year-old to pitch lights-out or put one out of the park to decide a game, Silva said.Silva said hitting is a strong point for the team, as is its camaraderie, because many of the players have been together for so long.The Wyoma Little League All-Star team had a good run last year, making it to the final four before losing to Lynnfield. Manager Rick Anderson, who was coaching the 11-year-old all-stars last year, has one player returning from last year?s team. Bobby Alcock was a starting pitcher, a second baseman and a first baseman.Anderson will have a fairly young team with eight 12s and five 11s. He said four or five of the 12s, including Alcock, are strong pitchers.?We have some speed. We?re probably better base hitters than power hitters. We?re probably not going to light up the fences like some Wyoma teams in the past,” Anderson said.Pine Hill won its first two games last year but dropped the next two, including one to a very tough Lynnfield team that reached the championship game against Peabody West.Manager Pete Dow has a solid group of returning players from that team, including Colin Reddy, Eusabio Quintana, Tim Nerich, Aidan Calnan, Danny Gisonno and Nathanial Pagan.?This year, we have more power in the lineup,” Dow said. “We have decent pitching. We can go probably four or five strong as far as starting pitching. We have a good group of kids. I think we?ll be able to compete.”Lynn Shore Little League is coming off its best all-star performance, having won three games last year before falling to Wyoma. Manager Mark Sullivan will have five returning players to call on — Joe Moreta, Andy Duverge, Julien Silvestre, Max Gieg and Wando Perez.?I think we have a pretty good little pitching staff,” Sullivan said, noting that Gieg and Silvestre both saw some time on the mound last year.Sullivan said some of his players reached the finals against Peabody West when they were 10s and they?re looking to get another crack at the team.West Lynn American Manager Maurice Sequeira is looking to