Sports

Little League State Championship Within Reach

The junior level of Upper Moreland Little League will be traveling this week north of Pittsburgh for a chance to compete in the state championship game.

The team that plays together apparently competes for state championships together. 

Take the players who make up the junior level of Upper Moreland Little League for instance. The team will travel north of Pittsburgh Wednesday morning for three days of games as a precursor to Sunday's state championship game.  

"The team has been together since they’ve been 8 years old," Mike Searles, one of the team's coaches, said about the boys, who are now all 14 years old. "We've won district flags twice (as 10 and 11 year olds). That was the farthest they’ve gone."

The team will take on Gettysburg Thursday at 10 a.m., according to Searles. On Friday, Upper Moreland will play North Pocono and Pennridge on Saturday. 

Find out what's happening in Upper Moreland-Willow Grovewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Depending on how we do then, we would play for the actual championship on Sunday," he said. 

The team, which has a 9-1 record in tournament play, won the district 22 flag, as well as the section 8 flag on Saturday to advance to this next round.

Find out what's happening in Upper Moreland-Willow Grovewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"They’re excited. They can’t wait to get there," Searles said. "They really want to make a run for this."

Three of the players have older brothers who last year advanced to regions and won the state championship, Searles said. 

"They saw what it was like and they wanted to do it," Searles said of the team. "The boys have put in a tremendous amount of work this year."

For starters, Searles, who's been coaching little league for 12 years, said the team practices "just about every day" to help "fine tune everything."

Not that the players need much help. Searles said the team has two collective strengths that he sees as beneficial for the coming games. 

"They're very solid defensively and they really don’t get down," Searles said. "If they get behind they fight back really well."

Players are supportive of one another and "don’t get down on each other" even during tough games, he said. 

So far, the little leaguers have had one party–to celebrate winning the section flag–and Searles said more are sure to follow if the team claims the state championship.

Beyond states, little league teams will compete for the Mid-Atlantic Regional and then the Junior Little League World Series over the next few weeks, Searles said. 

"There's not a whole lot of time to sit back and relax," Searles said. "It keeps them fresh."


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here