Orioles win town tite

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The Johnston Little League Orioles won the Major Division Town Championship on Aug. 2nd, thanks to a full team effort that results in a 15-9 win over the Cardinals.

The Orioles entered the playoffs as the No. 2 seed (behind the Cardinals) and took the first game versus the No. 3-seeded Yankees by a score of 7-2.

Advancing to the next round, the Orioles played the Cardinals with the winner advancing to the championship round. The Cardinals easily defeated the Orioles 12-2 in a five-inning route by the 10-run mercy rule. However, it was this game that proved to be the pivotal turning point that would eventually fuel the Orioles to the championship game.

Without feeling sorry for themselves and knowing their full potential as a team had yet been played, the Orioles moved onto the losers bracket to face the A's.

Behind some strong pitching from 12-year old Preston Marchessault and solid hitting up and down the lineup, the Orioles took the game with a 9-2 victory. That win set up a rematch against the Cardinals on Wednesday, July 31. The Orioles needed to defeat the No. 1 seeded Cardinals two times to take home the trophy and champion honors. The Cardinals needed just the one victory.

Both teams played like champions. Solid pitching from the Cards’ Nick Testa and the O's Dean Paris. Dean and his battery-mate, Max Mousseau, were in-synch all night giving the Orioles the fighting chance to stay alive in the playoffs for another night. The game was back and forth for all six innings.

Eventually, the Cardinals took a two-run lead in the bottom of the fifth. However, the mighty O's battled back with one out in the top of the sixth to tie the game.

With two outs and two strikes on Antonio Morales, he ripped a two-run single that proved to be the game winner. Antonio then took to the hill at the bottom of the sixth to close out the game. The O's victory set up the final game of the season versus the Cardinals.

In front of a large crowd at Kennedy Field at Johnston Memorial Park the O's and Cards squared off one final time for the 2019 season. The Cards started 12-year-old Matt Clements and the Orioles went with their 11-year old, Anthony Vendetti.

The Cards struck first with two runs on the top half of the first inning, but the O's struck back in the bottom half of the first with five runs of their own. The game ended up as a slug fest as both teams had some great at bats to drive the score to a total of 24 runs.

However, after strong defensive plays that included fantastic plays by the Orioles Matt Jones, Tyler Holton, and Christian Ferranti, solid hitting - including key hits by Jayden Calcagno and Fabian Aleman, and excellent base running - the 2019 Orioles took the victory and the 2019 Johnston Little League Championship title by a score of 15-9.

The 2019 champion Orioles included: 12-year olds Preston Marchessault, Dean Paris, Matt Jones, Tyler Holton, Ryan Carvhalo; 11 year olds Max Mousseau, Anthony Vendetti, Christian Ferranti, Jayden Calcagno; 10 year old Antonio Morales; 9 year old Fabian Aleman. The Orioles coaching staff: Manager, Mike Mousseau; Coaches, Bob Civetti and Raph Diaz. Sponsors were Dino Lisi of Lisi Construction and the Johnston Lions Club.

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