The St. Thomas Elrod Hendricks Little League All Stars went across the pond and swept the Virgin Islands Little League titles in both the 9-10 and 11-12 divisions this weekend at the Renholdt Jackson Sports Complex in Estate Whim.
After winning both games on Friday, the St. Thomians convincingly wrapped up the series on Saturday with the Elrod Hendricks East LL 9-10 All-Stars overwhelming their Elmo Plaskett East counterparts, 15-3, and the Elrod Hendricks West LL 11-12 All-Stars beating the Elmo Plaskett West LL 11-12 All-Stars, 10-4.
9-10 division
EHELL, 15, EPELL, 3
The Elrod Hendricks East LL 9-10 All-stars put on a dominating performance in winning the Virgin Islands Little League championship, outscoring the Elmo Plaskett East LL All-Stars 35-3 in the two games played.
The St. Thomas team wrapped up the title by beating the Crucians 15-3 on Saturday without giving up a hit. All three St. Croix runs were unearned, which means they were held hitless in the series since they were also hitless on Friday. On Saturday it was St. Thomas with 15 runs on 10 hits and three errors, while St. Croix finished with three unearned runs. The winning pitcher was Jelvaiso Sacaria, while Augustus Martin got the loss for St. Croix. Top batters for the winners were Sacaria (3 for 4 with an RBI) David Willie (2 for 2 with three RBIs) and Brent Fenton (1 for 2 with two RBIs).
11-12 Division
EHWLL, 10, EPWLL, 4
The Elmo Plaskett West LL 11-12 All-Stars did not get a no-hitter on Saturday, but the victory for the Elrod Hendricks West LL 11-12 All-Stars was never really in doubt.
St. Croix capitalized on some shaky pitching to score three runs in the top of the first inning, but did not get to do much after that. Manager Audi Henneman showcased his pitching depth by throwing a different hurler every inning of the game, and what a show they put on. After getting their final run of the game on a passed ball in the top of the second inning, the local team went scoreless the rest of the way against arguably one of the best pitching lineups ever in V.I. Little League championship baseball.
“I know I had depth at pitching and I wanted everyone to see them” said Henneman. “I also wanted to get as many of these guys as possible in the game to see how they would perform in front of a crowd in a big game situation so I will know something about them when we host the Caribbean tournament in July.”
For the contest St. Thomas finished with 10 runs on 12 hits, while St. Croix plated four runs on two hits. Top batters for the EHWLL were Jeremiah Simmons (3 for 3 with one RBI) and Jashima Henry and Kaleeq Brannigan were both (3 for 3). For the EPWLL, Gyres Gaspard was 1 for 1 with two RBIs, and Demar Brow was 1 for 3.
Some 12 teams from across the region will invade St. Thomas from July 9-17 as the V.I. Champions Elrod Hendricks West Little League squad will play host for the Caribbean 11-12 tournament. The winner of this tournament will move on to represent the Caribbean in the Williamsport, Pa., Little League World Series.
