Everett Little League Williamsport all-stars drop District 12 opener to South Boston

By Joe McConnell

Everett Little League Williamsport Tournament all-star manager Marc Harr probably knew his squad’s District 12 opener against South Boston at Sacramone Park Saturday morning (June 29) would be a difficult, uphill battle after losing the coin flip to determine the home team. Despite playing in familiar surroundings, they were in the visitors’ dugout, and had to bat first.

Initially, it worked out favorably for Everett. They scored the first run of the game in the top half of the opening stanza, when Dimitri Kotsiopoulos led off with a walk, before stealing second and third. He then scooted home on a passed ball.

But after that, it was all South Boston, who defeated Dorchester in its first-round game, while Everett received a bye. The Southie kids scored three times in the home half of the first to take the lead for good. They went on to score 13 more times in the next three frames to invoke the mercy rule in the fourth with a decisive 16-1 triumph.

“Our pitching was not good; the fielding was sluggish and the bats were lacking. It was nothing I would have expected from them,” said Harr. “Everything was just off for us in this game.”

But fortunately, the Williamsport Tournament is double elimination. They were scheduled to face host Melrose on Monday night (July 1) after press deadline. Melrose lost to Somerville in eight innings by the slimmest of margins, 1-0.

Harr had praise for the shamrocks. “They were swinging the bats, making contact constantly to put the ball over the infield,” the Everett manager said. “But we also (aided) them along with a bunch of passed balls, which certainly didn’t help our cause.”

It all came down to Monday’s game at Melrose. A win by Everett would have kept the locals alive in this granddaddy of all youth baseball tournaments, while a loss would have sent them home early to virtually begin their summer vacations, or in some cases continue playing the summer game in independent tournaments.

The 2024 Everett Little League Williamsport all-stars are as follows: Cristian Miranda, Jason Oliviera, Dimitri Kotsiopoulos, Aidan Kane, Daniel Harr, Shane Gaskill, Joseph Reyes, Elias Elmouttaki, Allie Grant, Natalia Negron, Davin Graham, Denzel Reyes and Archer Polson.