Little League Majors Enjoy Drama Filled Play-Offs

The mighty Athletics saved their best baseball for the play-offs. After finishing the regular season below .500, the A’s homered their way through the round robin —finishing as the number one seed and advancing to the league championship series vs. defending champs, the Nahant Orioles.

Along the way, the A’s broke the single season record for most home runs by a team (16) and most home runs ever by a 10-year-old (Jonathan Oriakhi - 6).

The match-up between the Orioles and Athletics was perhaps the most exciting series in history. Game 1 began with the O’s jumping out to a commanding 8-1 lead after three innings.

However, in one of the greatest comebacks this season, the A’s rallied with a string of hits from Dom Codispoti (2 for 3), Sean Lahrizi (4 for 4), Dylan January, Ben Conner, and Max Pegnato, and two game-changing home runs from rookie slugger Jonathan Oriakhi.

The final run, scored in the bottom of the sixth, featured a walk-off bunt by Cam Thompson that scored Sean Lahrizi from 2nd base and an A’s 9-8 win over the O’s in a dramatic finish! With both teams’ aces on the mound in game 2, everyone knew that runs would be harder to come by.

A’s hurler, Ben Conner, was fantastic all year and hoped to remind the O’s why he was so successful with his commanding presence and tailing fast ball. While Oriole’s pitcher Joe Marini was looking to mix his big fastball with his vicious curve. However, A’s star short-stop Sean Lahrizi had a different game plan, launching the first pitch of the game over the left field fence to put the A’s up 1-0.

The Orioles then scattered a series of clutch hits to take a 3-1 lead into the 5th inning. However, the A’s would not go quietly, tying the game in the top of the 6 and sending game 2 into extra innings. This time it would be the O’s who dug deep to pull out the victory on a bases loaded sacrifice fly by Mike O'Malley to win the game 4-3 in the bottom of the 8th inning. 

The final game was a hard fought battle with great defense by both teams. A's outfielder's Ethan Friedman, Cam Thompson, and Max Pegnato all made game-saving catches while A's pitchers Trevor "Wild Thing" McFarlane and Cam Thompson pitched courageously out of several jams and helped keep their team in the game.

The O’s got off to a quick start scoring one run in the top of the first, but left the bases loaded. The A’s answered with 2 runs in the bottom of the first to take a 2-1 lead with a single from Sean Lahrizi and nifty base-running by Cam Thompson and Dom Codispoti to score on a Dylan January sacrifice.

The O’s exploded for 4 runs in the fifth to take a 6-4 lead with a series of walks and a triple by Connor Caccivio. But the A's answered in the bottom of the fifth with Eli Biletch and Max Pegnato stealing their way home to tie the game 6-6 heading into the sixth inning.

Once again, the Orioles took the lead (8-6) thanks to clutch hits by Mike O'Malley and Connor Tidd. With the game and the series on the line, the first two A’s batters were quickly retired and the Nahant fans were cautiously counting their second consecutive championship. But the never say die A’s would not succumb. 

Ben Conner walked, Thompson singled, and Codispoti followed with a hit up the middle scoring Conner from 2nd to cut the lead to 8-7. Dylan January then walked to load the bases and extend the two-out rally.

With fans on edge, and roaring cheers from the A's dugout (led by utility player and slugger Callan Carr who could not play in the series due to a broken thumb courtesy of a McFarlane fastball while catching), Eli Biletch drew a hard fought walk (off a 3-2 count) to score the tying run. Max Pegnato then stepped up to the plate and with a 2-1 count, a wild pitch scored Dom Codispoti from 3rd and the A’s "stole" the game.

Fans, players, and coaches stormed the field to celebrate an incredible series and unbelievable A’s victory. 

A’s Roster: Mike Pegnato (manager), Mike Cassidy (coach), Bob Biletch (coach), Chris Carr (coach), Sean Lahrizi, Dom Codispoti, Cam Thompson, Ben Conner, Trevor McFarlane, Ethan Friedman, Callan Carr, Jonathan Oriakhi, Dylan January, Eli Biletch, and Max Pegnato.  

Championship notes: Legendary Orioles manager, Joe Marini, coached his last major league game after leading several Nahant Orioles teams to the championship over his last 12 yrs as manager. (Good luck Joe!) A’s manager, Mike Pegnato, added to his streak of coaching in 5 consecutive championship games, with A’s coaches Mike Cassidy and Bob Biletch sharing the last 3 with Pegnato. A's coach Chris Carr finally got his championship before moving on to the big diamond next year.