For the Wellesley South Little Leaguers it was right there for the taking. After trailing 3-1 after 4 innings in tonight’s winner bracket finals against Warwick, Rhode Island South responded with a 5 run top of the 5th inning including a bases clearing double by Chris Kenney and then tacked on a run in the top of the 6th to hold a 7-3 lead just needing three outs to secure a spot in Saturday’s regional championship game. Unfortunately for South however it was not meant to be as Warwick stormed back to pull within one and then with one swing, a grandslam homer snatched that finals spot out of South’s hands. South still has a chance at glory however, as they will now move on to an elimination game Friday at 1 pm against either New Hampshire or Connecticut, the winner of that game will then turn around and meet Rhode Island for the title on Saturday. The game Friday will be broadcast on ESPN.

Tonight was the night they had been waiting a week for as Wellesley South took to Breen Field in Bristol, CT for their first game in the New England Regional Tournament against Bedford, NH in just Wellesley’s second ever appearance in the regionals (2012). Wellesley got going early jumping out to a 2-0 lead before adding 5 runs in the third, 1 in the fourth and two in the fifth, to take home an opening night victory 10-0 in 5 innings. Mark Heinsohn was lights out on the mound as him and a great defensive effort shut down Bedford’s bats and also helping Wellesley post it’s second shutout win in it’s last 4 games. With the win Wellesley South moves onto the winner’s bracket finals where they will take on Warwick, Rhode Island Wednesday at 4 pm. As always that game can be seen on ESPN 3 or Watch ESPN the app.

Wellesley South now knows it’s opponent for tomorrow’s Regional opener in Bristol, Connecticut. Their opponent will be… Bedford, New Hampshire who defeated Fairfield, Connecticut 7-1 this evening. Interestingly enough Wellesley South beat Bedford during their regional appearance in 2012. The game will be played tomorrow at 7 pm at Breen Field (335 Mix St). For those of you who can not make the game it will be broadcast live on both ESPN 3 and the Watch ESPN app. Also a shameless plug, I will be tweeting updates from Bristol so feel free to follow along on Twitter (@rjohn390).

Yesterday I posed the question of what state did Wellesley South defeat in their first game of the 2012 New England Regional Tournament, their first ever appearance at the regional level. The answer is… Maine! Wellesley South knocked off Scarborough, Maine 5-4 in a 7 inning thriller in their first pool play game of the 2012 tournament. Coincidentally enough Scarborough will be participating in this year’s New England Regional with Wellesley South as well. Congratulations to Ryan Lerman who guessed correctly and wins the Dunkin Donuts giftcard!

For the final New England Regional opponent preview we take a look today at Maine State Champion Scarborough, who like Fairfield, CT, and Bedford, NH was also a competitor at the 2012 New England Regional. Scarborough comes in having scored the most runs out of all the regional teams with 153 runs for and 33 against en route to a 12-1 record heading to Bristol. Here’s a a look at how they got here.

District 6 Area Tournament:

Lost to Portland American 5-2

Beat South Portland National 9-5

Beat Standish 11-3

Beat Yarmouth 10-0

Beat Westbrook 12-0

Beat Portland American 6-4

Beat Portland American 14-1

District 6 Finals:

Beat South Portland American 19-0

Beat South Portland American 12-5 (Title)

State Tournament:

Beat Lewiston 6-2

Beat Down East Family YMCA 19-1

Beat Biddeford 19-7

Beat Biddeford 14-0 (Title)

In the second last to last opponent preview of the upcoming New England Regional we take a look today at Brattleboro, Vermont. Brattleboro certainly has swung a hot bat themselves up to this point as they have scored 109 runs, while giving up 64 enroute to a 7-2 record, through Vermont play. Here’s a look at how the Brattleboro boys got to Bristol.

District 2 Tournament

Beat Bennington 5-2

Lost to Bennington 12-8

Beat Bennington 9-2

Lost to Bennington 4-3

Beat Bennington 14-4

Beat Bennington 15-14 (Title)

State Tournament

Beat Connecticut Valley North 22-4

Beat Essex Junction 20-18

Beat Colchester 13-4 (Title)

It’s the first Friday in August and it is beautiful outside, and it is the perfect time for another edition of Raider Friday Trivia! This edition is New England regional themed as we await Wellesley South’s regional opener Monday! Today another one of my Dunkin Donuts giftcards is on the line for one lucky winner who gets the correct answer. Today’s question is who was the first state Wellesley South beat in their first regional appearance back in 2012? Answer tomorrow!

Day 3 of our preview specials leading up to the New England Regional and today we take a took at the Rhode Island Champions from Warwick North Little League. Warwick, like all teams in the regional certainly has offensive capabilities as they have scored 91 runs while giving up 34 enroute to an 8-1 record through the Rhode Island tournament. Here’s a look at how they got to Bristol

District 3 Tournament

Beat Coventry American 11-3

Beat Narragansett 11-1

Beat Westerly 11-1

Beat South Kingstown 8-3

Lost to South Kingstown 9-4

Beat South Kingstown 7-3 (Title)

Rhode Island State Tournament

Beat Middletown 10-4

Beat Cranston Western 22-4

Beat Lincoln 7-6 (Title)

 

As the Wellesley South team prepares for it’s second trip to the New England Regionals in the last 5 years Wellesley Little League is preparing to send them off in style with a send off rally! The rally will take place this Saturday at 9 am at Reidy Field after which the team will depart for Bristol! So to all you Wellesley Little League fans out there come on down Saturday morning to help celebrate this teams tremendous occasion!

As we continue on the road to Bristol we take a look today at the other of Wellesley’s potential game 1 opponents Bedford, New Hampshire. If that name sounds familiar it should as along with Fairfield, Bedford also participated in the 2012 New England Regional with Wellesley South. This year’s version is very strong both offensively and defensively, having scored 110 runs while only giving up 17 enroute to an 8-0 record thus far. Here’s a look at how Bedford got here.

District 1:

Beat Manchester Central 35-0

Beat Windham 16-5

Beat Manchester South 12-1

Beat Manchester West 19-1

 

District 1 Championship Bracket:

Beat Goffstown 10-0

Beat Salem 5-0 (Title)

 

State Tournament:

Beat Lamprey River 5-4

Beat Lamprey River 8-6 (Title)