The North Shore Little League Minors All-Star team are the district and sectional champions. Those are massive accomplishments in themselves, but with this team, things run so much deeper than that.
The coaching staff of Mike Wolters, James Martin and Brian Reitan led this team of 9- and 10- year olds, with one 8-year-old player on the team, to new heights this year and right into a state championship game, but their journey to get there is one for the books.
At the end of May, twelve kids, where only five of them even knew one another, had to trust three coaches, and each other in a very short time frame to accomplish their goals, and they did it. In speaking with the coaches they all brought up the word "believe" over and over. There had to be a belief in the process, a belief in each other and they had to believe that this would elevate them to win game after game. Believing in themselves and gelling as a team is hard enough, but to do that in such a short time period shows a true leap of faith and speaks to the character of the players and the coaching staff.
Coach James Martin said that "game by game they grew closer to each other and you could see how they began to believe in themselves with every game."
That belief allowed them to win the District Championship with a win over Moriches Bay Little League. Throughout the tournament, every game was a tough, hard-fought battle, which brought them even closer. They upended Moriches 7-5 for the right to be called District Champions.
After another set of nail-biting and character-building wins, they then took on a very good Half Hollow Hills team in mid-July. That Half Hollow team had already beaten North Shore in the early bracket. That didn't stop this team from that word again, believing. Not only did they have to beat Half Hollow Hills, but they had to beat them twice in two days to claim the Sectional Championship. Facing their #1 ace pitcher, they grinded out a 5-4 win to hoist the title.
While Austin Young was brilliant in every start he made and Coach Wolters called his performances throughout the tournament "phenomenal," each coach recognized this was a full team effort. Coach Brian Reitan said, "Every single one of these boys had a huge hand in this win." That sentiment was echoed by Coach Wolters who proudly exclaimed, "All of them had their hand in something that got us to the state tournament, everyone contributed in a big way."
This was a team composed mainly of 10-year-old players but three players were 9 years old and one was just 8. The coaching staff made it a point to say how impressed they were that the younger players stepped up and were not overshadowed. "They held their own with the older kids," said Coach Martin.
In the end, the gutty, gritty close game team lost a tough one. They dropped a heartbreaker in the state championships 2-1 in extra innings upstate near Binghamton.
Coach Mike Wolters won't allow that to define the season though. This team can forever hold their heads high and say they were Sectional Champions, District Champions and were one of eight teams to play for the State Championship. Wolters said, "the loss hurts but you can look back and say we were one of 8 teams and hope they can appreciate it and won't happen too many times in your life." He went on to say, "They can look back at what was accomplished and know how proud they made the coaches and parents. There are not enough words to describe how proud we all are of them."
Their names are now etched in the record books. Austin Young, Bruce Lennihan, Daniel McKiernan, Enzo Morbillo, Giovanni Zieman, Jake McCarron, Jayce Martin, Mike Montpetit, Nick Orsino, Robert Stroh, Tyler Wolters, and Zack Reitan are champions forever.
The North Shore Little League, who were very supportive and generous to the team, are very proud of this collection of players and that they can bring those championships home. North Shore has now produced three teams that went on to represent them in the State Championships.