VIENNA, VA — A Vienna Little League made the town proud as they went undefeated to win a southeast regional tournament, bringing the championship banner home to Vienna. This was the third time a Vienna Little League team won a southeast regional tournament, with the other times being in 1972 and 2022.
The Vienna American 8-10 All Star team went 18-0 in the Southeast Region Tournament of State Champions in Wilson, North Carolina. They secured the championship with a 14-1 win over a team from Smyrna, Georgia in the final last Wednesday.
“The Little League Tournament structure is the best in youth sports, and to win the entire SE Region is the ultimate accomplishment for an 8-10 YO player in our area,” Coach Andy Dinn told Patch. “We went as far as we could go.”
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Members of the American League’s 8-10 All Star team are Thomas Bacher, Mo Franklin, Spencer Franklin, Wyatt Kaufman, Aaron Kressin, Jack Lancman, Vincent Mallare, Tripp Mathias, Graham McDermott, Adam Raines, Grant Rubin and Eli Schlichter.
The All Star team roster was named at the start of June, and the team went on to win the District 4 championship. The team then swept the Virginia state championship in Abingdon, Virginia. To win the regional tournament, Vienna American was facing teams from Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, Tennessee and Virginia.
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Dinn said the all star team outscored opponents 221-15 throughout the tournament. With 10 pitchers, the team had an Earned Run Average of 1.06. Overall, the team’s batting average was .431.
“I’ve heard a lot of superlatives about this team, and the stats back it up,” said Dinn. “We never trailed at any point in any game throughout the summer.”
Dinn doesn’t have children on this particular team and didn’t coach most of the players before.
“But it immediately became clear we had something special on our hands,” said Dinn. So the entire coaching staff — including Jeff Benjamin and John Norman — went all-in to maximize the great potential of this group, and I am proud to say that we delivered.”
Vienna Little League, which dates back to 1952, has numerous teams for baseball players aged 4 to 13 and is based at George C. Yeonas Park. Dinn noted Vienna Little League seen success in the postseason, but this team was the third in 73 years to win the southeast regional tournament. The last time was the Vienna American 11 All Stars winning the tournament in 2022. Now their younger peers are champions as well.
“This team goes on the Mount Rushmore of Vienna Little League,” said Dinn.
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