A year ago, many of the players on South Windsor’s U11 Little League baseball team won a state championship and Eastern Regional title at U10 level.
South Windsor remained undefeated this summer and won their first U11 Little League baseball state championship with a 12-2 win over Simsbury in four innings at Scalzi Park in Stamford on Monday night.
South Windsor (10-0) rapped out 12 hits in the victory with three players getting multiple hits. Pitcher Jacob Zande allowed eight hits and struck out four to earn the win on the mound.
Simsbury (11-3) got two hits from Neil Sullivan while Jackson Kosky and Luke Hansen each had doubles.
Simsbury took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Kosky doubled, moved to third base on a ground ball out and scored on Sullivan’s sacrifice fly to center field. South Windsor tied the game in the first inning on a RBI single from Weston Dubois.
Simsbury had the bases loaded in the second inning but Zande got a key strikeout to end the inning and the threat.
South Windsor extended their lead to 3-1 in the second inning. Jayden Matos had a RBI double and another run scored on an error. Thanks to four hits, two errors and two batters hit by a pitch, South Windsor added seven runs in the third inning to take control of the contest.
Simsbury was playing in their first U11 (ages 9-11) state championship game since 2019 when they finished second behind Fairfield National.
LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL
U11 tournament championship
South Windsor 12, Simsbury 2 (4)
At Stamford
Simsbury (11-3) 100 1 — 2-8-4
South Windsor (10-0) 127 2 — 12-12-2
Luke Lefebvre, Ben Vincent (3) and Mason Dalene; Jacob Zande and unknown; WP: Zande; LP: Lefebvre; 2B: Jayden Matos (SW), Jackson Kosky (Sims), Luke Hansen (Sims)
Little League U11 state tournament
Final Four
At Stamford (Scalzi Park)
Friday, July 21
Simsbury 8, Stamford National 5
South Windsor 6, Madison 5
Saturday, July 22
Stamford National 2, Madison 1
South Windsor 3, Simsbury 0
Sunday, July 23
Simsbury 10, Stamford National 7
Monday, July 24
Championship: South Windsor 12, Simsbury 2
Recent U11 state championship finals
2022: Westport 14, Glastonbury 8
2021: Fairfield American 10, Southington North 1
2020: No state tournament, COVID-19 pandemic
2019: Fairfield National 4, Simsbury 1
2018: Westport
2017: Trumbulkl 9-8, Wallingford 5-7 (7)
2016: Stamford National 16, Farmington 1
