Little League State Bracket
Here is the schedule for the double-elimination Ohio Little League 12-year-old baseball tournament at the Fields of Dreams complex, located at 410 McClurg Road in Boardman:
Saturday, July 16
Game 1 — Tallmadge (District 3) vs. Canfield (District 2), field No. 1, noon
Game 2 — Galion (District 7) vs. Guernsey County (District 5), field No. 3, noon
Game 3 — Hamilton West Side (District 9) vs. Washington Court House (District 8), field No. 1, 2 p.m.
Game 4 — New Albany (District 6) vs. Maumee (District 10), field No. 3, 2 p.m.
Sunday, July 17
Game 5 — Game 1 winner vs. Minford (District 11), field No. 1, 2 p.m.
Game 6 — Game 2 winner vs. Tuscarawas County (District 4), field No. 3, 2 p.m.
Game 7 — Game 3 winner vs. Jefferson Area (District 1), field No. 1, 4 p.m.
Game 8 — Game 2 loser vs. Game 4 loser, field No. 3, 4 p.m.
Monday, July 18
Game 9 — Game 3 loser vs. Game 5 loser, field No. 1, 5 p.m.
Game 10 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 6 loser, field No. 3, 5 p.m.
Game 13 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, field No. 1, 7 p.m.
Game 14 — Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner, field No. 2, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, July 19
Game 11 — Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner, field No. 1, 2 p.m.
Game 12 — Game 10 winner vs. Game 7 loser, field No. 1, 4 p.m.
Game 17 — Game 13 winner vs. Game 14 winner, field No. 1, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, July 20
Game 15 — Game 12 winner vs. Game 13 loser, field No. 1, 2 p.m.
Game 16 — Game 11 winner vs. Game 14 loser, field No. 1, 4 p.m.
Thursday, July 21
Game 18 — Game 15 winner vs. Game 16 winner, field No. 1, 5 p.m.
Friday, July 22
Losers’ Bracket Final
Game 19 — Game 18 winner vs. Game 17 loser, field No. 1, 5 p.m.
Saturday, July 23
Championship
Game 20 — Game 17 winner vs. Game 19 winner, field No. 1, noon
Game 21 (if necessary) — Game 20 winner vs. Game 20 loser, field No. 1, 2 p.m.
The name recognition alone will command respect for Hamilton West Side in the Ohio Little League 12-year-old baseball tournament.
Beyond that, this particular team has some things to prove on the field.
“This group hasn’t done anything before, so it’s hard to say we’re the big dog on the block,” Hamilton coach Tim Nichting said. “But I don’t think anybody’s going to lay down for us, so we better come to play.”
West Side will head to suburban Youngstown for the state tournament, opening against Washington Court House in a 2 p.m. contest Saturday at Boardman’s Fields of Dreams complex.
Eleven district champions will compete for the state title and a trip to the Great Lakes Regional in Indianapolis on Aug. 7-13.
Hamilton has captured 15 state 12-year-old championships, including eight of the last 10. The locals came out of the losers’ bracket to beat North Canton twice for the title last summer in Painesville.
“Without a doubt, we’ll be in the thick of things,” Nichting said. “We’ve still got a lot of work to do, but we’re definitely getting better every day. We just need to keep practicing and playing.”
This West Side team wasn’t dominant in the postseason the last two years. As 10-year-olds, the squad failed to make it out of the District 9 event. Last year’s unit produced a 2-2 record at the 11-year-old state tourney, which was won by Dover.
Dover didn’t make it back to the state level this year, with Tuscarawas County taking the District 4 crown. Canfield (District 2) was the 11-year-old runner-up last season and is seeking a 12-year-old title this year.
“It sounds like Canfield would be the team to beat right now,” Nichting said. “And if Tuscarawas beat Dover this year, they can’t be too bad.”
Hamilton has a different look in 2016. Six of its 13 players didn’t participate in last year’s 11-year-old state tourney.
Washington Court House coach Brandon Runk is expecting to face a top-notch opponent Saturday.
“When they said we were playing Hamilton, I thought they were joking,” Runk said. “I’ve watched Hamilton on TV. If you’re a team from Ohio, you know Hamilton’s one of the top teams in not just the state, but the region and the world.”
Still, he likes his team and the opportunity it has earned.
“My kids are 12 years old. I don’t think they know what Hamilton West Side means, and I’m not going to tell them,” Runk said. “All my kids are going to know is they’re going to go play a baseball game. When it’s all said and done, we’ll let them know how special it is to be on that same field with such a great program.
“My boys are just excited to be going. We really don’t set goals because when we set goals in the past, we were just finding a reason to fail. Now we’re just looking to go have a good time.”
WCH went 4-0 in the District 8 tournament, outscoring Eaton (twice), Moraine-West Carrollton and Enon by a combined score of 66-26. Hamilton defeated Loveland (twice), Lebanon and Miami by a 44-3 total in the District 9 tourney.
Asked about Washington Court House allowing 26 district runs, Runk admitted his team’s defense “has been suspect at times.”
Runk coached this squad as 10- and 11-year-olds. Both years, WCH was district runner-up to Eaton.
“We’re a little team, but we’re scrappy,” said Runk, noting that Washington Court House has never finished higher than third in the 12-year-old state tournament. “We’re more of a speed team … small ball I guess you’d say. We’ve hit a few home runs, but not a whole lot.”
First baseman Connor Bucher, shortstop Karson Runk and center fielder Weston Melvin occupy the first three spots in WCH’s batting order. Bucher, the team’s lone left-hander, is the mound ace.
“Connor keeps it down, but he’s more of a power pitcher,” Brandon Runk said.
Will Bucher get the start against West Side? “Quite possibly, at least for the first 35 pitches,” Runk said.
Little League pitch counts give coaches nonstop headaches in a lengthy tournament. Nichting said Micaden Stephens and Maddox Pennington are Hamilton’s top two pitchers, but the veteran coach said he’s uncertain about who he’ll throw against WCH.
The state tournament has a quirky schedule. Whoever emerges from the winners’ bracket will have three days off before the finals.
“The only preaching I’ve done to our kids was when I said jokingly, ‘Man, when you get to regionals and get in that ESPN game, that’s a pretty neat feeling,’ ” Nichting said. “Otherwise, we just need to play. They’re 12-year-old kids. They don’t need the pressure.”
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