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Jun 26, 2023

Smithfield's World Series run ends: Little League all

WILLIAMSPORT, Penn. – The ride is sadly over, but oh, what a ride it’s been. The Smithfield Little League’s Major Division all-star baseball team saw one of the greatest runs in the Little League

WILLIAMSPORT, Penn. – The ride is sadly over, but oh, what a ride it’s been.

The Smithfield Little League’s Major Division all-star baseball team saw one of the greatest runs in the Little League World Series by a team from Rhode Island come to an end on Tuesday night in its losers’ bracket showdown against El Segundo, Calif.

The West Regional champions, who came into the tournament as one of the teams to beat, lived up to the hype by scoring early and often and riding the dominant pitching of Louis Lappe to a 9-3 victory before a little over 7,000 fans at Lamade Stadium and a nationally-televised audience on ESPN.

The loss ended a truly memorable run that saw the 12-year-old all-stars not only win the District IV, state, and Metro Regional championships, but also post a 2-2 record at the World Series, as well as grab the attention and support of the entire region along the way.

And here’s another fun fact about Smithfield: Of the dozen Rhode Island teams to ever play in the World Series, only one other team, Cranston Western, was able to bus home with multiple victories, doing so on its way to winning the national title in 1996.

“I think they know full well what they accomplished,” Smithfield manager Eric Gibree said of his players, who he has coached since they were 8 years old. “What these kids just did, coming from where we came from, as small as we are, and to fight the way we fought, it’s special, and I think they understand.”

“What we just did was pretty crazy,” he continued. “And it wasn’t just one kid. Every single kid, top to bottom, played a role in some form or fashion in getting us here, and not just this year, but over the last four years. It’s been special for every kid at a different point in time over the past five years.”

“We accomplished something that not many people have or ever will,” added southpaw ace pitcher and first baseman Connor Curtis, who snagged an autograph from Hall of Fame pitcher Mike Mussina during his time in Williamsport. “For the time that we’ve been here, it’s been a joyride. So much has gone into this – so much work – because the goal was to get here, and here we are.”

“No matter what the scoreboard said at the end of this game, what we did tonight was probably in the top 10 in the biggest moments of my life.”

The team’s four games in the World Series have also provided some big moments for the community. Restaurants and bars throughout town have aired the team’s games on ESPN in front of large, enthusiastic gatherings, and Gibree admitted in his post-game press conference that he’s had a difficult time keeping up with friends and family members back home offering their support to him.

“It’s been crazy,” he said. “I can’t even keep up with the number of text messages and phone calls and Facebook messages, and when I tell you that I have 150 text messages at the end of a game, it’s not an over-exaggeration. But it’s fantastic to see everyone pull together and try to help these kids and their families enjoy the experience as much as they can.”

Smithfield, which ends its sensational summer with a 17-4 record, marched Curtis to the mound on Tuesday night, fresh off his dominant performance six days earlier in his team’s 3-1 win over Henderson, Nev. But he endured a rough top of the first inning that saw El Segundo take advantage of two singles, two wild pitches, two passed balls, and a run-scoring two-out infield error and parlay all that into a 2-0 lead.

Curtis only worked one more inning and allowed two unearned runs that came home on a passed ball and an error. Curtis ended the night with five strikeouts and three hits and no walks allowed.

“Connor wasn’t Connor today,” said Gibree. “He was a little bit off. When you’re off just a tick mechanically when you throw that hard, it can go bad pretty quick. He was able to reign it in in spurts, but what you saw today was not typical Connor. He’s been our horse, but today just wasn’t his day.”

Brayden Castellone then relieved him in the third, but didn’t fare much better, as El Segundo collected three straight one-out hits to help increase its lead to 7-0.

Lappe, meanwhile, exited the game with two outs in the fourth and his team holding a comfortable lead. He struck out nine batters and allowed two walks and a first-inning single to Castellone, but moved to third base after delivering his 65th pitch of the night.

That means that he will be eligible to pitch on Saturday should his team claw its way out of the losers’ bracket and advance to the national championship game.

“(Lappe) was throwing absolute BBs,” Gibree said. “He hit every spot and it was difficult to put the ball in play. Hats off to him. I don’t think our kids were playing tight today. I just think that kid had an unbelievable game and there was nothing we could do about it.”

When Brody Brooks belted a two-run homer to left field in the fifth to increase El Segundo’s lead to 9-0, it appeared that Smithfield was on the verge of getting mercy-ruled, especially after the California team put runners on first and second with two outs.

But Gavin Gibree took the mound and blanked El Segundo with 1 1/3 solid innings of relief, and Smithfield rolled up its sleeves and did everything it could to make the game a bit more interesting in its final swings.

With two outs and runners on first and second, Curtis drove in John Wozniak with a line double to right, and Castellone followed with a two-run triple that he roped over the right fielder’s head to score Connor Queenan and Curtis.

But the next batter was quickly erased, as was Smithfield’s hopes of staying alive in the tournament and playing another night on Little League’s biggest stage.

“There’s no quit, even when we’re down 9-0 in the sixth with two outs,” added the Smithfield manager. “We still played the game, and we still had some fire. It was a candle, but it was still a flame.”

“These kids are resilient, and you saw that at the end,” he continued. “We could have just folded up shop and say, ‘Let’s just go home and get some pizza,’ but we decided to tack on a three-spot and give the fans something to think about on the eight-hour ride home.”

While most of Smithfield’s fans packed their bags and drove back to New England early Wednesday, the team hoped to spend a little extra time that morning to enjoy a few more moments in the complex without the pressures of playing or getting ready for a game. And yes, that meant sledding on the grassy hill behind the outfield fence with a piece of cardboard – coaches included.

“We had a blast,” added the Smithfield manager. “There were tears in the outfield (after Tuesday’s game), but there were also smiles in the outfield. We wanted to come here, we wanted to be competitive, and we wanted to win games, and to finish 2-2? I’ll take that.”

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