Simsbury loses to Yalesville but still advances to Section II final

For the third straight year, Simsbury had advanced to the finals of the Section II Major Division baseball tournament.

PLYMOUTH, July 22, 2021 – Despite dropping an 8-5 decision to District 5 champion Yalesville of Wallingford in Thursday’s Section II Little League baseball game at Janser Field, Simsbury advanced to the Friday’s Section II championship game against Shelton.

The winner of Friday night’s game at Janser Field at 7 p.m. advances to the state final four, a four-team double-elimination tournament to determine the state champion for Little League baseball (ages 11-12).

Simsbury, Shelton and Yalesville each went 1-1 in the three-team Section II tournament. Yalesville was the odd team out because of run differential rule. Yalesville lost to Shelton on Tuesday by seven runs, 11-3 while Shelton dropped a one-run decision to Simsbury on Wednesday. Yalesville needed to beat Simsbury by eight runs or more to advance.

Yalesville had an 8-2 lead after four innings but Simsbury scored three times in the fifth inning to close the gap. Yalesville won by three runs but it was enough to advance.

Connor Budzik continued to be red hot in the Section II tournament. He was 3-for-3 with a home run and two RBI on Thursday night. On Wednesday, he was 3-for-3 with a double in the win over Shelton. James Szajna was 2-for-2 against Yalesville for Simsbury (8-3). Cameron DeVita started the game on the mound for Simsbury and pitched three innings to earn the win.

Yalesville’s Cooper Hunter was 3-for-3 with three RBI and a home run for Yalesville.

It is Simsbury’s third straight trip to the Section II championship game in the Major Division (ages 11-12) state tournament. They won the Section II title in 2019 and lost in 2020 in a 3-1 decision in eight innings to Wallingford.

Yalesville 8, Simsbury 5
At Plymouth
Simsbury (8-3)                     200  030  — 5-9-2
Yalesville                                303  200  — 8-9-0
Cameron DeVita, Matthew Watson (4), Kiam Kletter (5), Connor Budzik (6) and Mason Dolch; Yalesville battery unavailable; WP: Cameron DeVita (S); LP: Anthony Malone (Y); 2B: Matthew Crispino (Y), HR: Cooper Hunter (Y), Connor Budzik (S)

Section II
At Plymouth (Terryville)
Tuesday, July 20
Shelton (D3) 11, Yalesville-Wallingford (D5) 3
Wednesday, July 21
Simsbury (D6) 4, Shelton 3
Thursday, July 22
Yalesville 8, Simsbury 5
Friday, July 23
Final: Shelton vs. Simsbury, 7 p.m.

2021 Connecticut Little League baseball tournament results