Florida Little League wins district championships
Florida. This is the first Florida team to win the district.
Florida /
| 23 Jul 2024 | 03:27
Back row, left to right: Coach Matt McKeon, Coach Ray Younghans and Coach Justin Riordan. Front Row, left to right: Vladimir Cisneros, RJ Kearns, Sebastian Clark, Stefan Yurchuk, Austin Caldwell, Zach Younghans, Eriksson Devlin, Rylen Mejia, Tom McKeon, Colin Riordan, CJ Davila, and Joe Riordan. (
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Florida Little League’s Minor League All-Star team made history earlier this month by winning the District 19 championship, making them the first-ever Florida team to win the district.
Playing for the championship in a double elimination tournament that included teams comprised of 8-, 9- and 10-year-olds from Orange, Ulster and Sullivan counties, Florida defeated Minisink Valley 6-0 on Friday, July 12, to capture the district crown. The day before, Minisink Valley beat Florida 5-4 to force the winner-take-all game the next day.
Manager Ray Younghans, himself a member of some pretty good Florida Little League teams when he was a kid, said the key to the team’s success was playing fundamentally sound baseball.
“This is the first district championship Florida has ever won, which is quite an accomplishment for these kids,” he said. “Our strength was our pitching, and we were smart on the basepaths. We preached to the kids about the importance of making the other team earn it and never give outs away.”
Zachary Younghans is the team’s catcher. He said he loves the position because as the only player on the field who can see everything, it allows him to be somewhat of a field general.
He also loves winning championships.
“Defense and pitching were the keys to winning the District 19 championship,” said the 10-year-old Younghans. “As soon as we got the final out, which was a strikeout, everybody started screaming and we huddled up on the field and began hugging each other. It felt really good.”
Austin Caldwell, who pitched and played shortstop, had a blast.
“I am so happy to be a part of Florida’s first championship baseball team,” Caldwell said. “We won because we had a great lineup, great pitching, great defense, great coaches, and great players.”
Mike Perri, the league’s president, had nothing but praise for the players.
“I couldn’t be prouder of those kids,” he said. “They live for the game and are great citizens on and off the field.”
Path to the championship
Florida 18
Chester 0
Florida 7
Middletown 2
Florida 7
Washingtonville 0
Florida 7
Pine Bush 1
Minisink Valley 5
Florida 4
Florida 6
Minisink Valley 0