Hancock Little League All-Stars produce mixed results
Hancock Little League’s three All-Star teams found the going tough against some of district’s tougher teams. Despite that, two of them earned their way to the knockout round in the District 9 baseball tournament.
The 9-10 All-Stars had the most success, winning two out of three games in the preliminary round before going to Buckingham for the district semifinals.
Again, the squad played tough but suffered a 3-0 loss.
Antonio Santos pitched five scoreless innings, scattering just five hits without issuing a walk with nine strikeouts.
Hancock pitcher Jake Benbenisty hung in there, allowing just two runs, but got his pitch count up over 75 pitches after four innings.
Head coach Chip Busbee left him in, technically violating one of the rules and forcing a delay of more than 30 minutes as they called Williamsport for clarification.
The game continued and a Trey Bode two-run fielder’s choice gave Buckingham needed insurance for the win
Busbee said since Benbenisty had just turned 11, he thought his starter was allowed to throw 85 pitches. According to the rules, he was pitching as a 10-year old, thus making it a violation. Williamsport ruled Busbee would receive a two-game suspension, a decision that turned out to be a moot point since the team dropped to Buckingham.
“I take full responsibility. Kudos to Williamsport for doing its job. I think it was the right decision,” Busbee said. “Buckingham beat us. Give them credit. We played great ball. Unfortunately, we didn’t hit the ball enough.”
The 10-11 All-Stars also advanced through pool play. After losing to Port Charlotte 11-5, Hancock easily beat Cape Coral National 10-2 to advance to the championship round.
Unfortunately, South Fort Myers was waiting, and though they played well for two innings, South figured them out and won going away.
“We had a great bunch of kids who worked hard when we could practice. The weather was hard for us,” coach Kurt Donaldson said.
Brian Murphy shined, hitting a home run against Port Charlotte, and Justin Corbitt dazzled against CCN, pitching five innings.
Jay Rivera, Peyton Bell and Jaden Wise had some key bunts, while Murphy and Josh Fitch had RBI hits.
The 12-year-olds lost to Buckingham and South Fort Myers, each by 10-0 scores.
Sophia Mathewson struggled in both her starts, but was one of the Hancock players to hit the ball well, as did Jason Sams.
“It was what it was. They worked hard and put in a lot of time at practice. We just faced some good pitching. We went up there swinging, but sometimes it doesn’t work out for you,” coach Jason Hause said.