Area 12-year-old Little League teams are gearing up once again to try to do something that has never been done:
Wrest the District 9 championship away from the Hamilton West Side All-Stars when play begins Monday, July 6, at Oxford Community Park.
“Everybody wants to knock them off,” tournament director Gary Antonius said of West Side, which has won every District 9 tournament since its inception.
“I think this year there are a couple of teams who can do it,” Antonius continued. “The Middletown team has been talking themselves up pretty good, and I know Anderson Township is pretty strong. Plus, we’ve got a couple of new teams in it this year with West Chester/Liberty and Mason.”
West Side manager Mark Maus said he hasn’t seen either of the new teams play, but he doesn’t have to in order to know they’re strong.
“Someone told me Mason has 19 teams in their league,” Maus said. “So you’d think with that many kids to chose from they ought to be able to come up with a halfway decent group.”
Maus is making his All-Stars coaching debut, and he said West Side’s title streak is something that’s hard to ignore.
“Yeah, absolutely you think about it in the back of your mind,” he said. “But it’s not something we want the kids to get caught up in.”
West Side will have to win one more game than anyone else if it is going to secure another title. Maus’ team will face Middletown at 6 p.m. Monday, with the winner advancing to the round where all the other teams are starting.
“I don’t really care,” Maus said of the draw. “You have to beat everybody anyway. The only problem is you’re using extra arms and extra innings. But we’ve got three or four pitchers who are really good.”
The winner advances to the state tournament in Cambridge. The state champ will play in the Great Lakes regional in Indianapolis, with the winner there advancing to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.
