- April 26, 2024
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WINTER GARDEN — The 12-Year-Old All-Stars from Dr. Phillips Little League broke out the bats early on Monday night and never looked back.
Back-to-back home runs by Titan Kamaka and Michael Furry in the bottom of the first inning got things rolling and a three-run home run by starting pitcher Noah Sullivan in the bottom of the second inning all but cemented things as Dr. Phillips sprinted to a 16-2 win over the Windermere-National All-Stars in four innings in the District 14 Championship Game.
"The offense was key — we scored double-digit runs in almost all our games," Dr. Phillips head coach Dennis Pope said. "All facets of the game, we played really well. Our pitching was stellar, also."
Indeed, Dr. Phillips went 6-0 over the course of the tournament, outscoring opponents 81-14 — an average of 13.5 runs per game.
For Windermere-National, while the final result was disappointing, simply making the championship game was an accomplishment in some ways. The team was considered an underdog to Windermere's American team and lost twice in pool play but found a way to defeat Winter Garden, which it had lost to 8-2 in the tournament's opener, 11-1 in the semifinals on Sunday.
"Kind of our whole point and goal was synergy — that we're better as a team than we are as each individual player," head coach Bob Dickerson said. "That's exactly what we proved ... with how these kids played and how they kept their heads up."
Dr. Phillips will advance to the Section 5 Tournament, which will begin on Friday at St. Cloud Little League. The team includes Max Cutts, Chase Dunlap, Max Fishman, Michael Furry, Cole Hallman, Grant Houde, Nicholas Ierubino, Travis Jordan, Titan Kamaka, Kaden Lucas, Noah Sullivan, Nicholas Walzak and Mason Wilson.
"It's continuous repetition," Pope said of the team's preparation plans for the days leading up to Sectionals. "We'll be practicing this week, tomorrow morning at 10 (a.m.) — they're not going to get much rest."
Contact Steven Ryzewski at [email protected].
