Diamondbacks Repeat as UCLL Major League Champions

The Diamondbacks have won the Union City Little League major boys championship for the second straight year.

The team had a fantastic season, using good pitching, stellar defense and timely hitting throughout to garner wins. At the end of the year, the Diamondbacks were tied with the Pirates, forcing a one-game playoff for first place in the regular season.

Pitcher Brian Andrade shutdown the Pirates with a four-hit, six-strikeout performance, and the Diamondbacks won 9-2 last week. Jay Mezzo, Elliott Via, Jonathan Vincent, Nick Perugini, Ryan Shemanski, Cody Tribble, Charley Marenghi and Nick Tarmey all had hits for the Diamondbacks.                                                   

In the postseason tournament, the Diamondbacks played a wild game with the Cardinals, winning that game 11-10 after scoring five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Fin Galvin and Ross Via had two hits apiece for the Diamondbacks. Justin Papp made two nice catches in center field. Ryan McCarthy pitched well for the Cardinals. And Jordan Anderson hit the ball hard for the Cardinals.                                                                                                                                        

The second game of the tournament pitted the Diamondbacks against the p
Pirates again. This game was closely contested with pitching dominating all six innings. Nate Shulick struck out eight Diamondbacks and limited them to six, which is usually good enough to win a game. But again, Brian Andrade was at his best on the mound for the Diamondbacks. He limited the Pirates to just one hit, a two-out first inning double by Matt Pimpanelli. The Diamondbacks won 3-0.

The Pirates beat the Marlins in the loser's bracket to again play the Diamondbacks in the championship. The Diamondbacks started strong with five runs in the first inning on hits by Mezzo, Elliott and Ross Via, and Cody Tribble, plus a walk by Nick Perugini. Andrade got the big hit, a bases clearing triple. That was all Elliott Via needed for run support. He pitched into the sixth inning allowing only two hits. Fin Galvin came in the game in relief to secure the 5-1 victory.

The above information was provided by Gordy and Lisa Levesque.