St. James/Smithtown advances to regional tournament of Little League World Series
St. James/Smithtown is on to the Little League World Series Metro Region Tournament.
Behind a six-run fourth inning and a masterful performance by Jeremy Katz, St. James/Smithtown defeated South Shore (Staten Island), 7-2, in the state final on Friday morning at Great Kills Little League on Staten Island.
Katz struck out seven, allowed one earned run in 5 2⁄3 innings and went 2-for-2 with two home runs. His solo shot to center in the bottom of the second cut South Shore’s lead to 2-1 and his two-run blast to left-centerfield in the fourth made it 7-2.
After South Shore scored a run on a one-out error in the second, Katz retired 10 consecutive batters.
“I was definitely nervous because it’s the biggest game of your career,” he said. “After that home run in the second inning, I felt like I was rolling. I felt like it was my game and that it was our team’s game.”
Katz was removed with two outs in the sixth after reaching his pitch count and Ryan Delgado picked up a strikeout to end the game.
St. James/Smithtown strung together five straight hits in the fourth. With one out and the bases loaded, Dominic Ciminello punched a curveball to shallow center to drive in JT Borowski and Chase Saxon, and Kevin Moran scored on a throwing error for a 4-2 lead. Delgado followed with a single to drive in Ciminello before Katz hit his second home run.
“We had some really tough at-bats,” manager Scott Santelli said. “Ciminello and Moran fouled off some really good curveballs. Once we got some guys on base, we feel good with our big hammers in Delgado and Jeremy to do their job to get those guys in.”
Katz won the Home Run Derby during the tournament’s skills competition on Tuesday, but Santelli said the slugger had been struggling in previous games. Santelli bumped Katz down from third in the lineup to fifth for the championship game.
“I was just hoping it would put a little less pressure on him,” Santelli said. “Maybe get him fired up a little bit, get him mad at me. He came through big-time today.”
“I stepped up my first at-bat and was like, ‘I’m gonna show that I’m gonna be back in the three spot,’ ” Katz said with a smile.
South Shore, which won last year’s state and regional titles, earned an 8-2 win over St. James/ Smithtown when the teams met in pool play on Monday.
The team was given a hero’s welcome at Gaynor Park in St. James after the final. Players and coaches were escorted to the field by police cars and fire trucks as dozens of family and friends waited to greet them.
“This is an amazing community. I was born and raised here and I’ve never left for a reason,” said Brian Erni, president of St. James/Smithtown Little League. “The families are committed and the kids really treat each other like family.”
St. James/Smithtown will represent New York in the Metro Region Tournament in Bristol, Connecticut, beginning on Aug. 2. The tournament will be on ESPN platforms.
“Everybody did their job to get to this level and be on camera,” Katz said. “I think everybody’s gonna be excited for it and just try to show out.”
