AMESBURY — Williamsport All-Stars' fairy tale season came to a close in Beverly Friday night, where, despite a complete game outing from Jack Aponas and a late sixth-inning rally, they were unable to overcome Danvers National, 3-2.
"It was a game going in that we could have won," said Amesbury manager David Dupere. "But their pitcher (Jack Anderson) did a great job. He kept us off balance all night."
The game got close in the bottom of the sixth, when Amesbury had two out and runners on second and third. Anthony Calvani got up and hit a shot to the gap in left field but was robbed of the walk-off moment by a shoe-string catch to end the game.
"He snow-coned it," said Dupere. "Hats off to Danvers National. Their pitching was excellent and they deserved to win. I really thought we could win the game, but hats off to them."
Any heartbreak Friday could be offset with the fact that the was the first team in Amesbury Williamsport history to make it to the final as well as the first to win five games in the tournament, said Dupere.
"We wanted to make it farther than any Amesbury team has done and we did," said Dupere. "These kids are going to be remembering this their whole life. You think back to when you played or when I played and those are the things that you sit around the table and talk about. You never forget your Little League days.
"Our feelings as coaches were that our goal was to get to the championship game," Dupere said, speaking for himself and coaches, Jim O'Leary and Tim Randall. "We had an incredible bunch of over-achieving kids with a lot of heart and determination. Throughout this whole tournament, we would get down in runs and this team never quit. We would always find a way to scrape out the win. It's incredible to see a bunch of 12-year-old kids who have no quit in them. They just keep fighting. They played all the way to the end.
"The support we got from Amesbury was incredible," Dupere continued. "There were hundreds or people from Amesbury, two to three hundred people from Amesbury that traveled to Beverly. Amesbury Little League does a fantastic job to prepare the kids for everything. They stand behind their players and their support makes me proud to be from Amesbury."
Dupere and his staff also coached most of the same players to a 9-year-old district All-Stars title, beating Middleton in the finals in spectacular fashion as Middleton was up, 12-1 in the fifth of six innings. But Amesbury came back and got 12 hits in a row to beat Middleton, 13-12.
"It's sad," Dupere said of the end of his Little League managing career. "Because I love this group of kids. Coach O'Leary and I have been coaching together about six or seven years. But it's going to be fun to see these kids succeed in the future."
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