Windermere Little League Phillies, Nationals snag Top Team titles

Of the four Florida Little League District 14 Top Team tournaments that took place earlier this month, teams from Windermere Little League took home the top spot in two of them.

The Windermere Phillies won the Majors (ages 11-12) division and the Windermere Nationals won the Juniors (ages 13-14) division.

For the Phillies, managed by Ron Berman, the key to sweeping the competition was the ability of his players to take coaching.

“They listen — they were a team that was focused and took advice very well from the coaching staff,” Berman said. “It came through in the tournament. When we asked them to do things, they were attentive in making that happen.”

According to Berman, the Phillies went 11-2-2 in the regular season, before adding another three wins during the Top Team event.

Meanwhile, for the Nationals, manager Bob Cole says the team’s discipline and dedication paid big dividends. Additionally, the ability of teammates to get on base ahead of the team’s two top hitters — Carson Lewis and Gabriel Rivera — was key.

In the championship game, the Nationals defeated another team from Windermere Little League that had previously beat them twice before.

“The kids hung in there,” Cole said. “The kids said ‘that’s not going to happen again.’ They were not going to lose.”

The Nationals went 14-3-1 in the regular season this spring before going 3-0 in the Top Team event.

Contact Steven Ryzewski at [email protected].