A summer to remember and to build on for the future: After winning the district title, Everett Little League Williamsport stars come up short in state sectionals

By Joe McConnell

When Everett Little League Williamsport manager Joe Young and his assistants Brian Savi, also the 2023 league president, and Marc Freni brought together their all-stars for the first day of practice in late June, they knew they already had two solid pitchers – Nick Young and Luke Wood – which is a pretty good place to start in this granddaddy of all youth baseball tournaments. They also knew the defense was another strength of the squad. But what they needed to find out was how to get enough offense to win those close games. What followed was all of those things coming together to secure the program’s first District 12 title since 2014, when they upset tournament favorite Melrose, 2-1 on July 13.

The momentum was on Everett’s side after fighting its way out of the losers’ bracket with three straight wins over Dorchester (4-3), Malden (7-6) and Charlestown (4-2). They opened up the districts with a 7-0 win over Malden, before dropping a 5-3 decision to Charlestown, setting the stage for that improbable run out of the losers’ bracket, never an easy task for any club.

But these Everett kids did it, reinforcing their manager’s mantra that anything is possible.

“We had a group of kids this summer who believed and listened to their coaches,” Young added. “We told them if they put in the hard work, they can win this thing.”

These Everett Little League stars didn’t let their coaches down after bringing home the District 12 banner after topping Melrose in a classic. They were now in the Sweet 16, an enviable position that hundreds of teams in the state strive for every summer. This part of the tournament is divided into four sections, and the Everett boys were in Section 3 against the likes of Canton (District 11), Parkway (District 10A) and Wellesley (District 10B). Parkway, located in West Roxbury, was the host team. Unfortunately, the local nine didn’t fare that well, losing to Parkway (12-2, 5 innings), Wellesley (4-0) and Canton (12-2). Canton ended up defeating Parkway, 12-7 in the championship game to move on to the state finals in Oxford this weekend.

“For our kids, it was an amazing experience,” said the Everett manager. “They were able to play on an amazing field in West Roxbury against some great competition, and they played their hearts out. We made sure every player was able to get into these tournament games.

“There are currently 170 kids in the league, and our goal is to get more involved to keep the interest in baseball growing in the city,” added Young. “For me coaching these kids the last four years in tournaments has been a special time for me. They have improved so much in the last four years, and with coaches Freni and Savi also pushing them we showed them that they can win the district title. It has been a blast coaching with these two guys. It had become just a part of our everyday lives. These kids certainly made this the best summer of our coaching lives.”

Young admits Everett has always been a football town, but this summer might have evened the playing field in terms of future participation.

The three state sectional games didn’t show how close they could have been, according to Young. “In the opener against Parkway, we gave them seven outs in the first two innings, and as a result they scored 10 runs,” he added.

Against Wellesley, Everett loaded the bases with no outs in the first inning, but then couldn’t put the ball in play to get at least a run home during that threat.

Nick Young kept the Wellesley batters off balance, but they got around that by implementing small ball tactics like bunts and scoring runs the hard way.

In the final game against Canton, the eventual sectional champs scored five times in the first inning aided by two Everett errors. Colin Rogers pitched well for two innings, and was credited with three hits. Troy Coke, Nick Savi and Wood also contributed to the offense. Mateus Bueno played good defense throughout the entire tournament.

But Young said to get this far in this prestigious tournament could not have been possible without the support of the parents, volunteers and fans.  It was certainly a July that they won’t forget anytime soon, and hopefully it’s a springboard for more tournament success throughout the foreseeable future.