2024 PA Little League States

[Tom McAndrew]

start on July 24.

The Sectional competition was supposed to wrap up on July 18th. Alas, storms on July 17th caused some games to be postponed, others to be halted, etc.

The teams competing will be:

Section 1 Champ: St. Mary's. They lost to Butler Twp in Section 1 play to drop into the loser's bracket. They then won the loser's championship, and beat Butler Twp twice to win the Section 1 title
Section 2 Champ: West Point. There are only 3 teams in Section 2 (all the other Sections have 4 District winners). West Point won all their games to get to the title, and then defeated Somerset Area in the championship game
Section 3 Champ: Tri-Town (Lycoming County). They won the Championship bracket. However, they lost game 1 of the championship to Blue Mountain, which forced a 2nd game (the team that comes from the loser's bracket has to beat the team from the Championship bracket twice to win the Section).
Section 4 Champ: Northern Lebanon (Fredericksburg). They won the Championship bracket, and then defeated State College, which had won the loser's bracket, to take the Section.
Section 5 Champ: Black Mountain National (Dallas). Hats off to Black Mountain National. They lost to Abington in the Championship bracket, so then had to win the loser's bracket. After doing that, they defeated Abington twice to win the Section.
Section 6 Champ: Council Rock Newtown. They won the Championship bracket, and then defeated Franklin Township to win the Section.
Section 7 Champ: Greencastle. They won the Championship bracket. They then lost to East Side (West Chester), the winner of the loser's bracket, in the 1st championship game. Then they defeated East Side to take the Section.
Section 8 Champ: Coventry (Pottstown). Then won the Championship bracket. They then defeated Aston-Middletown to win the Section.

Best of luck to the 8 aforementioned Section champs, as they compete for the PA State title. The competition will be held Newville Little League, in Newville, PA. All 8 Section winners will have a game on July 24th. If the schedule holds, the championship game will be played on July 29, with a 2nd championship game on July 30th if the winner of the loser's bracket forces it. The winner of the PA State title will then go on to compete in the Mid-Atlantic Region tournament, for the right to compete at Williamsport in the LLWS. Only time will tell if any of them can do as well as Media did in 2023

 

[MtNittany]

Tri-Town is very local. Much more local than even Keystone. It would be like Newberry LL getting to the LLWS back in the 70's. Would be great to see them keep advancing.

 

[BW Lion]

Tri-Town is very local. Much more local than even Keystone. It would be like Newberry LL getting to the LLWS back in the 70's. Would be great to see them keep advancing.

From where do they draw their players? Aren't LL rosters limited by residential zip codes?

 

[AK]

From where do they draw their players? Aren't LL rosters limited by residential zip codes?

From best I can tell, they are from Montgomery, Muncy, and hugesville. 10 years ago they wouldn’t have let them combine. It is now pretty common for little Leagues to combine. Lack of kids playing and what I call the Keystone effect…. Long story, About 10 years ago little League changed the boundaries rules.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Day 1 results:

Tri-Town defeated West Point, 4-3
Back Mountain National defeated Coventry, 8-0
Northern Lebanon defeated St. Mary's, 3-0
Council Rock Newtown defeated Greencastle, 9-4

Day 2 games:

Winner's bracket:
Tri-Town will face Back Mountain National
Northern Lebanon will face Council Rock Newtown

Loser's bracket:
West Point will face Coventry
St. Mary's will face Greencastle

 

[MtNittany]

Day 1 results:

Tri-Town defeated West Point, 4-3
Back Mountain National defeated Coventry, 8-0
Northern Lebanon defeated St. Mary's, 3-0
Council Rock Newtown defeated Greencastle, 9-4

Day 2 games:

Winner's bracket:
Tri-Town will face Back Mountain National
Northern Lebanon will face Council Rock Newtown

Loser's bracket:
West Point will face Coventry
St. Mary's will face Greencastle

Tri Town lost to Back Mountain. To the loser's bracket.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Day 2 Results:

Winner's bracket:
Back Mountain National defeated Tri-Town, 4-1
Council Rock Newtown defeated Northern Lebanon, 10-5 (5 innings)

Loser's bracket:
West Point defeated Coventry, 2-1
Greencastle defeated St. Mary's, 2-1

Day 3 games:

Consolation Game:
Coventry vs. St. Mary's

Elimination bracket, Quarters:
West Point vs. Northern Lebanon
Greencastle vs Tri-Town

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Day 3 Results:

Consolation Game:
Coventry over St. Mary's, 9-4

Elimination bracket, Quarters:
Northern Lebanon over West Point, 10-5
Greencastle over Tri-Town, 2-0

Day 4 Games:

Winner's Bracket Final:
Back Mountain National vs. Council Rock Newtown

Loser's Bracket Semis:
Northern Lebanon vs. Greencastle

 

[Relayer]

Let's go CR-Newtown! They won today 9-6 over Black Mountain and into the finals. I went back and saw that CRN was only seeded 5th at sectionals. They must be on some kind of roll.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Day 4 Results:

Winner's Bracket Final:
Council Rock Newtown over Back Mountain National, 9-6

Loser's Bracket Semis:
Greencastle over Northern Lebanon, 4-3


Day 5 Games:

Loser's Bracket Final:

Back Mountain National vs. Greencastle


I should note: the players call it the Loser's Bracket, and I follow their lead. It's actually called the Elimination Bracket by Little League.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Let's go CR-Newtown! They won today 9-6 over Black Mountain and into the finals. I went back and saw that CRN was only seeded 5th at sectionals. They must be on some kind of roll.

That would be impossible. In all but one of the Sections in PA, there are 4 District winners in the sectional competition. In that other section (Section 2), there are only 3 District winners in the sectional competition. When there are only 4 teams in the competition, it's kind of hard to be seeded 5th.

Plus, they don't seed teams in Sections in LL.

 

[Relayer]

That would be impossible. In all but one of the Sections in PA, there are 4 District winners in the sectional competition. In that other section (Section 2), there are only 3 District winners in the sectional competition. When there are only 4 teams in the competition, it's kind of hard to be seeded 5th.

Plus, they don't seed teams in Sections in LL.

Ok Tom, thanks for the correction, I misinterpreted those brackets. I played in the '75 tournament for CRN. We got to the District final and lost a 7-6 heartbreaker to Pennsbury National.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Day 5 Results:

Loser's Bracket Final:
Back Mountain National over Greencastle, 8-2


Day 6 Schedule:

Championship Series:
Game 1: Council Rock Newtown vs. Back Mountain National
- if Council Rock wins, they are the PA State Champion
- if Back Mountain wins, they force Game 2:
Game 2: (only if necessary), Council Rock Newtown vs. Back Mountain National

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Day 6 Results:

Championship Game:
Council Rock Newtown over Back Mountain National, 3-2

As CR Newtown had come out of the winner's bracket, all they had to do was beat Back Mountain National once (out of a potential two games), to be the PA State Champion. They won the 1st game, and thus there was no 2nd game.

Congratulations to Council Rock Newtown. Best of luck to them in the Mid-Atlantic Region tournament. Competition in the Regionals starts on August 4th. The other contestants in the Mid-Atlantic Region, who will be fighting to go to Williamsport in the LLWS are:

Delaware State Champs: MOT LL (Middletown, DE)
District of Columbia Champs: Capitol Hill LL
Maryland State Champs: West Salisbury LL

 

[Relayer]

Council Rock Newtown opened up the Mid-Atlantic Regional with a 13-1 win over a team from DC. They will play Maryland next.

2024 LLB Mid-Atlantic Region Tournament

www.littleleague.org

 

[Tom McAndrew]

So to pick up the coverage in the Mid-Atlantic Region:

Day 1 (8/4)

Opening Round:
West Salisbury (MD) over M-O-T (DE), 5-3
Council Rock Newtown (PA) over Capitol Hill (D.C.), 13-1

Day 2 (8/5)

Elimination Bracket Semi:
Capitol Hill (D.C.) over M-O-T (DE), 1-0

Day 3 (8/6) schedule

Winner's Bracket Final:
Council Rock Newtown (PA) vs. West Salisbury (MD)

 

[Relayer]

PA is up 6-0 over MD after 3 innings.

 

[Relayer]

PA beats MD 11-1 to advance to the finals. If I read the brackets correctly, PA will play the winner of DC and Maryland in the championship. If PA loses do they play again, each team would then have 1 loss. If not, that would make this tourament a farce.. PA has won both games by a combined score of 24-2.

 

[MtNittany]

I love the dominance. Bring it to Williamsport (and the fans too). This is the only thing espn does right imo.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

PA beats MD 11-1 to advance to the finals. If I read the brackets correctly, PA will play the winner of DC and Maryland in the championship. If PA loses do they play again, each team would then have 1 loss. If not, that would make this tourament a farce.. PA has won both games by a combined score of 24-2.

the Elimination Bracket final takes place on Thursday (8/8) between West Salisbury (MD) and Capitol Hill (D.C.) The winner of that game will advance to the Championship Game, against Council Rock Newtown (PA), which will take place on Friday (8/9) @ 3 pm EDT.

I'm not a fan of the Region format of LL, in that in Districts, in Sections, and in States, if you come through the Elimination Bracket, you have to beat the winner of the Championship Bracket two times to get the title. In Regions, they change that, and the two bracket winners play one game to determine the Region winner.

 

[Relayer]

the Elimination Bracket final takes place on Thursday (8/8) between West Salisbury (MD) and Capitol Hill (D.C.) The winner of that game will advance to the Championship Game, against Council Rock Newtown (PA), which will take place on Friday (8/9) @ 3 pm EDT.

I'm not a fan of the Region format of LL, in that in Districts, in Sections, and in States, if you come through the Elimination Bracket, you have to beat the winner of the Championship Bracket two times to get the title. In Regions, they change that, and the two bracket winners play one game to determine the Region winner.

Terrible format for sure. The one advantage PA has are the 3 days off, where DC and MD will be throwing their pitchers the day before. Based on the results so far, I would be shocked if PA is not in Williamsport.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Terrible format for sure. The one advantage PA has are the 3 days off, where DC and MD will be throwing their pitchers the day before. Based on the results so far, I would be shocked if PA is not in Williamsport.

I think (don't know for sure) that it's a combination of having to stick to a schedule for the LLWS, and the feeling that the Elimination Bracket winner does has to deplete their pitching just to get to the championship game. As you probably remember from your days in LL, there are pretty stringent rules about pitch counts, days off, etc. regarding pitchers in LL. (And they have been tightened over the years, so they are likely stricter than what was in place when you played.)

CR Newtown (PA) crushed West Salisbury (MD) and crushed Capitol Hill (D.C.) when they played them earlier this week. Past results are never a guarantee of future results,, and there are so many variables in baseball, especially in a one-game, winner-take-all championship. I'd much rather be in CR Newtown's position for the championship game than the position that the MD or the D.C. teams will be in if they advance to that contest.

 

[Woodpecker]

Still, to split with a team 1-1 and have the other advance because you won first is a bitter pill to swallow

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Day 4 (8/8):

Elimination Bracket Final
Capitol Hill (D.C.) over West Salisbury (MD), 6-1

Day 5 (8/9) Schedule:

Championship Game
Council Rock Newtown (PA) vs. Capitol Hill (D.C.)
I see that the game is scheduled for 10 am EDT. I suspect they adjusted the time to try to get the game played, with rain in the forecast for Friday

 

[Relayer]

PA over DC 5-1 and will head to Williamsport. Council Rock Newtown have won 18 straight to reach the LLWS.

Council Rock Newtown heads to Little League World Series in Williamsport with win

Council Rock Newtown takes the Mid-Atlantic Region championship to advance to the Little League World Series in Williamsport

www.phillyburbs.com

 

[Tom McAndrew]

 

[MtNittany]

Great news for the LLWS and Williamsport. I wish espn would cover the opening parade. Oh well.

 

[DaytonRickster]

Congrats young men. I grew up in Lower Bucks County. Give your best effort in Williamsport and enjoy this great opportunity you earned.