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Miami Little League teams in state tournaments

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By Kersta Carlson, Contributing Writer 1:41 PM Thursday, July 23, 2009

In just four short games, Miami Little League Juniors All Star team is District 9 Champions, giving them a shot at a state title.

The team is comprised of 13 and 14-year-old boys.

The team is coached by Scott Lee and managed by Tom Poetter.

The game Friday, July 17, was no close match, with Miami Little League Juniors beating Warren County All-Stars, 16-2.

Miami gave up only 6 runs in the entire tournament, but scored 76.

“Warren County played a good game,” Poetter said.

“They put up a good fight for all seven innings. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy but we did have a really good tournament.”

“It was a really strong showing for our hitting and pitching,” Poetter said.

The Junior All-Stars advance to the state tournament in Maumee beginning Saturday, July 25. They will face the defending state champions from Maumee in the opening round.

According to Poetter, the tournament is made up of eight teams from eight out of 10 districts. The tournament is double elimination.

“We hope to be playing into the week,” Poetter said. “Last year’s Juniors team went to state and lost in the first two and we’d like to do better than that. That was a strong team that suffered two early defeats.”

“The bounces didn’t go their way,” Poetter said. “In the upcoming tournament, one team has to play well. We hope that’s us.”

In practice this week, the team focused on forgetting about the District win and focusing on State.

“We tell the team that you cannot win this tournament on talent alone,” Poetter said. “You have to win it on effort, concentration and focus. You have to believe in your teammates and what you’re out there doing. You have to move past feeling like you’re in charge of things and winning the tournament and take each inning and each out one-by-one.”

As for the boys’ chances this weekend, Poetter is optimistic.

“We have strong enough pitching to win games at the state level,” he said.

“I think we’re carrying six to eight boys on the roster who can pitch in those games, which is a bit different than we have had in years past. These boys have developed over the years in this league and they have a good chance to compete at State.”

In addition to the Juniors team, the Seniors team, ages 15 and 16, are playing in the state tournament in Painesville.

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