Berlin 11s Do It Again Winning In The Bottom of the Sixth To Win District Title

After the Berlin Little League 11-year old all-stars lost their crossover opener to Southington North, Berlin coach Lenny Tubbs said he was still confident that his team would get back to the finals and he wouldn't be surprised if they won the title.

He was confident but there was no way he would have seen how his team would come from behind two games in a row and win the championship in such a dramatic fashion.

Sunday, Berlin took a 7-2 lead after three innings, 10-6 lead after four innings and 11-8 after five innings. 

But just as they did in Saturday's first game between the two teams, Farmington struck in the top of the sixth inning. Farmington scored four runs to take a 12-11 lead and needed just three outs to claim the district title.

Berlin had one runner on first base with two outs and things looked desperate. Tommy Hyjek hit a double to put Berlin runners on second and third with two outs. Then Tyler Lappe hit a gapper to right-center and scored two runs for the win.

"I'll admit it didn't look good there for a while but I couldn't allow myself to think about us not getting it done because there is not one bit of quit in any of these kids on this team," Tubbs said. "I have said it before that I have coached some great kids, kids who got drafted and played professionally and this group right here is the best group I've ever coached. That is no disrespect to any of the kids I've coached. This group just has no give up."

In the seven-run third inning, the big hits came from Alex Halkias, who had a two-run double and RBI singles from Lappe, Timothy Heinke and Vince Dastoli. 

Kevin Dunn and Dastoli added RBI singles in the fourth as the locals built a 10-6 lead. 

Tyler Lappe pitched into the sixth inning and was relived by Jeff Kuzoian.

With the win, Berlin advances to the State Sectionals at Gehrig Field in Milford. The core of this team won the 9-10 District title last year and advanced to the semifinals before losing to eventual state champion North Stamford. 

"We have three new kids this year but the group is pretty much back from last year," Tubbs said. "We start Thursday night down there but I don't know who else is in yet. I know North Stamford is out already."