STAMFORD, July 21, 2023 – Neil Sullivan had two hits while teammates Mason Dalene and Tyler Weaver each had a single and two RBI as the Simsbury Little League baseball team beat Stamford National, 8-5, on Friday night in the Final Four of the state U11 (ages 10-11) tournament at Scalzi Park.
Simsbury (10-1) will play South Windsor on Saturday night at 7 p.m. The winner of Saturday night’s game earns a spot in Monday’s state title game. South Windsor scored in the bottom of the sixth inning to beat Madison, 6-5
Stamford scored the first two runs of the ballgame before Simsbury scored the next eight runs to take a commanding 8-2 lead.
Luke Heaton and Gavin Dalene each had doubles for Simsbury while Aaron Espinoza and Gavin Roberts each had singles.
Four pitches took to the hill for Simsbury on Friday night with Sullivan picking up the win. He started the game and pitched 3.1 innings , allowing three hits and fanning two.
Simsbury 8, Stamford 5
At Stamford
Stamford 200 030 — 5-7-0
Simsbury (10-1) 131 30x — 8-10-1
Cody M, Ben R (3), Michael B (4) and unknown; Neil Sullivan, Quinn Leonard (4), Ben Vincent (5), Jackson Kosky (6) and Mason Dalene; WP: Leonard; LP: Cody M; 2B: Dylan R (S), Ben H (S) 2, Luke Hansen (S), Gavin Dalene (S)
Little League U11 state tournament
Final Four
At Stamford (Scalzi Park)
Friday, July 21
Game 1: Simsbury 8, Stamford National 5
Game 2: South Windsor 6, Madison 5
Saturday, July 22
Game 3: Madison vs. Stamford National, 5 p.m.
Game 4: Simsbury vs. South Windsor, 7 p.m.
Sunday, July 23
Game 5: Winner game 3 vs. loser game 4, 7 p.m.
Monday, July 24
Game 6: Final – Winner game 4 vs. winner game 5, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, July 25
Game 7: Final – Winner game 4 vs. winner game 5, 7 p.m., if necessary
Gerry deSimas, Jr., is the editor and founder of The Collinsville Press. He is an award-winning writer and has been covering sports in Connecticut and New England for more than 40 years. He was inducted into the Connecticut Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2025 and the New England High School Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2018.
