Photo courtesy of Bryan Pugner
The Berlin Little League All-Stars 11-12 team defeats Chesapeake City Little League in Hagerstown on Saturday, July 27, to claim the state championship title. The squad will now compete in Bristol, Connecticut, during the regional tournament.

By Morgan Pilz, Staff Writer

(Aug. 2, 2018) The 11-12 Berlin Little League All-Star team won the state championship last week and is now in the hunt for a regional title.

The squad captured the state championship on Saturday, July 28, in Hagerstown, shutting out Chesapeake City Little League, 6-0.

“It’s a huge accomplishment for these guys,” Head Coach Cameron McDonough said. “Berlin has only won this division one other time at the state level. They’re only the second group of boys from Berlin to be able to go to Bristol, Connecticut, for the Eastern Region.

“Little League promotes this age group more than others, so this one is easily the toughest division in Little League to win because you have more participation at this level,” he continued.

The Berlin team claimed its first victory in the state tournament, defeating South Maryland Little League in Hagerstown on Saturday, July 21, 12-1. Then on Tuesday, July 24, the squad edged out Concocheague Little League, 3-2.

Berlin battled Chesapeake City in Hagerstown on Thursday, July 26, and came out on top, 11-1. The win sent the boys to the state finals on Saturday where they topped Chesapeake City again, this time 6-0.

The team will host a fundraiser party this Friday at the Northern Worcester Athletic Complex, 9906 Buckingham Lane, off Route 113 in Berlin, at 5 p.m.

“We’re going to have a sendoff party for the boys at the baseball field on Friday night at 5 p.m.,” McDonough said. “It’s a fundraising event to cap off the week. We’re going to have a whiffle ball tournament, food and drinks for sale and a little ceremony at the end to wish the boys well.”

The whiffle ball tournament costs $100 for a four-person team. There will also be a 50/50 raffle and items for auction. All the proceeds from the night go directly to the families to offset the costs of travel, hotels and other expenses.

“[The cost is] easily over $1,000 [per player] once you get all the gas, tolls, lodging and food for the whole week,” McDonough said. “We’ve already reached out to a lot of local businesses. Lot of businesses have been very generous and private donors have already been coming forward. It’s been really good how much support there is for these kids in the local community.”

The team has also created a GoFundMe page at https://www.gofundme.com/berlin-ll-1112-all-stars-to-states. As of earlier this week, the page has raised over $1,500.

The team will face Delaware during its first game in the regional tournament in Bristol, Connecticut, on Sunday, Aug. 5, at 4 p.m.