Houlton 9-10 All-stars end title run; fall, 10-0, to Bangor East in finals

17 years ago

BANGOR, Maine — The Houlton 9-10 All-stars’ magical run ended Saturday with (5-0) Bangor East defeating Houlton 10-0 in four innings to win the District Three Championship. Houlton finished the tournament with a record of 6-2, and provided the parents and fans with a thrilling ride that included playing six games in eight days. During an eight-day tournament run, the “cardiac kids” held off elimination winning five games in a row, including winning three consecutive come-from-behind games to make its way to the championship game.
    On Saturday at Bangor West field, the young Shiretowners were unable to get any offense going against a good defensive team from Bangor. Houlton was able to get runners on base, leaving the bases loaded in the second. Twice in the third and fourth innings, Houlton left two runners stranded on the bases. Each time, the eventual District 3 champs were able to make the plays in the field to end the innings.
Houlton’s offense was led by Parker Brewer, who hit a double. Ryan Dee and Garrett Putnam were each able to add singles for the Shires. The pitchers for Houlton were Dee and Ben Tuttle, who were both instrumental in getting Houlton to the finals.
Bangor East, who got four innings of shutout pitching from starter Ryan Brookings, heads to the state LL championships in Augusta this weekend.
Coach Joe Porter said the entire All-Star experience was extremely rewarding and the tremendous support from parents and the community was appreciated. “Congratulations boys on being District Three Little League Runners-up for 2008. You have given the Town of Houlton, a team that they can be proud of. You not only are great kids on the field, you are great kids off the field! Well done,” he said.
The roster for 9/10 All-Star team includes: Garrett Ring, Putnam, B. Tuttle, Dee, Nick Cowperthwaite,  Brewer, Tyler Brown, Connor Grant, Cameron Graham, Matt Tuttle, Nick Botting, Jacob Brown and Payton Porter.
Coach Porter was assisted this year by Don Dee and Shawn Graham. The team is sponsored by Swallow Electric of Houlton.
Parent Chris Putnam summed it up this way, “The 9- and 10-year-old All-stars took their parents and fans on an incredible rollercoaster ride that will be talked about for a long time. The ‘never-say-die’ attitude that these boys, along with their coached, displayed was very impressive.”