Avon will have to beat Burlington twice for D6 baseball title

Avon’s Little League baseball All-Star team is hoping to win its third District 6 Major Division (ages 11-12) championship this weekend but they will have to beat Burlington twice to do it.

Avon (5-2) earned a spot in the D6 championship game for the 10th straight year Friday night with a 9-2 decision over the Simsbury Americans.

Burlington (6-1) handed Avon its first loss of the tournament on Thursday night with a 6-5 decision. But Avon remained alive with its win over SImsbury on Friday.

Avon will need to beat Burlington in Saturday’s championship game at 1 p.m. in Thomaston and win again on Sunday at 1 p.m., also in Thomaston. Avon has won six D6 titles in the last nine years.

Avon won its first-ever Section II title a year ago with a home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to beat Guilford and earn a berth in the state finals against the Fairfield Americans. Fairfield swept two games from Avon (13-2) to win its second straight state title.

Burlington was in the finals last year and lost to Avon, 16-2. Burlington’s most recent D6 championship came in 2009 when they beat Avon, 7-5.

Simsbury Americans and Terryville each went 4-0 in the round robin portion of the Major Division tournament (ages 11-12) while Avon, Burlington and Granby each went 3-1 to earn a spot in the double elimination portion of the D6 tournament.

The winner of the District 6 tournament earns a berth in the six-team Section II tournament, a double-elimination event being held in Harwinton beginning next Wednesday, July 17, each evening at 5:30 p.m.

Champions from District 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 will also be participating. The Section II champion faces off against the Section I champion in a best-of-3 series to determine the state championship.

JUNIOR BASEBALL: Canton beat East Granby, 2-1 in a best-of-3 series to win the District 6 title in Junior Baseball (ages 13-14). Canton won game 3, 15-1. Canton took the opener, 11-1 before East Granby prevailed in game 2, 5-4. Both teams had additional players from Granby on their respective squads.

District 6 Major Division baseball
Double elimination

Sunday, July 7
Burlington 12, Granby 11
Monday, July 8
Avon 5, Simsbury Americans 3

Tuesday, July 9
Burlington 12, Terryville 1
Simsbury American 6, Granby 1
Thursday, July 11
Burlington 6, Avon 5
Simsbury American 7, Terryville 6
Friday, July 12
Avon 9, Simsbury Americans 2

Saturday, July 13
Championship: Burlington vs. Avon, 1 p.m. at Thomaston
Sunday, July 14
Championship: Burlington vs. Avon, if necessary, 1 p.m. at Thomaston