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Toward the past | 1998 | Toward the present |
| Pool 'A' Participants Connecticut State Champions Delaware State Champions District of Columbia Champions Maine State Champions Maryland State Champions Massachusetts State Champions | City Simsbury Georgetown Washington D.C. Augusta Hughesville Newton | League National LL Georgetown LL Capitol City LL Augusta West LL Hughesville LL Newton North LL |
| Pool 'B' Participants New Hampshire State Champions New Jersey State Champions New York State Champions Pennsylvania State Champions Rhode Island State Champions Vermont State Champions | City Goffstown Toms River Staten Island Latrobe Cranston Brattleboro | League Goffstown LL Toms River East Amer. LL South Shore American LL Latrobe LL Western LL Brattleboro LL |
NOTE: For 1998, the East Region Tournament was organized into two separate six-team draws. After round-robin pool competition, the top two teams in each pool advanced to single-elimination semifinal and championship round games.
Click here to view State Tournament results for East Region Tournament participants.
Day 1 (Tuesday, August 11):
East Region Tournament Semifinals
Toms River East American (NJ) 1, Simsbury National (CT) 0
Toms River East American (NJ) 2, Georgetown (DE) 0 (TITLE)
Arriving fashionably late was not advisable for fans of the Toms River East American Little League team at the East Region Tournament.
Receiving all of its offense from game-opening home runs in both the semifinal and championship rounds, Toms River relied on stellar pitching from Casey Gaynor and Scott Fisher to shut out Simsbury National (CT) and Georgetown (DE) in the elimination rounds to win the East Region Tournament in Bristol, Connecticut. Gaynor fired a three-hitter in the semifinals, and Fisher capped the tournament with a no-hitter against Georgetown in the championship game. The two wins started a seven game winning streak that culminated in a World Series championship for the Garden State club.
Toms River actually finished second in its pool during round-robin preliminary round competition at Bristol. The New Jersey champions opened the tournament with a 1-0 loss to perennial New York powerhouse Staten Island South Shore American, and later dropped a 5-2 decision against Brattleboro (VT). Toms River finished pool competition with a 3-2 record, which tied the District 18 champions for second place in the pool behind Staten Island's 4-1 mark.
In the other pool, Simsbury National won its first four games to clinch a semifinal berth, and Georgetown claimed the second berth by defeating Newton North (MA) in the final game of pool competition. Delaware's semifinal round berth was fueled by an eight inning, 1-0 victory over Hughesville (MD) on the opening day of the tournament. Hughesville, which defeated 1997 East Region runner-up St. Mary's American in the finals of the Maryland District 7 tournament, finished one game behind Georgetown in the final standings, and held the tiebreaking edge by allowed the fewest runs of any team in the pool.
In the first semifinal round matchup, Toms River East American faced Simsbury National. TREA's Todd Frazier led off the game by driving a Josh Sohn fastball over the right centerfield fence to give Toms River an early 1-0 lead, and Gaynor made the run hold up by firing a three-hit shutout to give Toms River a 1-0 victory. Sohn was brilliant in defeat after the home run, as he struck out 13 and allowed no hits out of the infield the rest of the way.
The second semifinal was postponed by a day because of rain, and when it was played, Georgetown used Jared Lineweaver's daring steal of home plate with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth inning to squeak past Staten Island 3-2 in eight innings and advance to the championship game.
Georgetown's game-winning rally started when Staten Island ace Matt Castellano (16 strikeouts in the losing effort) issued a pair of walks to open the eighth inning. Two outs later, Castellano intentionally walked Donald Lewis to bring up cleanup hitter Justin West. Lineweaver, who broke for the plate at the suggestion of third base coach Bill West (the Georgetown manager), was initially called out, but the home plate umpire reversed his call when he saw that the Staten Island catcher had not held the ball. Georgetown's first two runs both scored on errors, while Staten Island's came courtesy of Marty Costello's two-run homer to center in the third inning.
Toms River faced Georgetown in the championship game, and the New Jersey team used the same homer-and-strong pitching formula to win the title game. Frazier and Fisher opened the game with back-to-back home runs, and neither Georgetown nor Toms River hit safely for the remainder of the game, as the left-handed Fisher threw the only no-hitter in the tournament.
Toms River won the East Region for the second time in four years. Both Frazier and Gaynor had brothers on the 1995 Toms River East American squad that compiled a 1-2 record at the World Series.
East Region Tournament Results:
Goffstown (NH) 5, Brattleboro (VT) 0
Georgetown (DE) 1, Hughesville (MD) 0 (8 innings)
Staten Island South Shore American (NY) 1, Toms River East American (NJ) 0
Simsbury National (CT) 3, Washington D.C. Capitol City (DC) 0
Day 2 (Wednesday, August 12):
Augusta West (ME) 4, Newton North (MA) 1
Staten Island South Shore American (NY) 6, Cranston Western (RI) 2
Simsbury National (CT) 12, Georgetown (DE) 7
Toms River East American (NJ) 5, Latrobe (PA) 0
Day 3 (Thursday, August 13):
Cranston Western (RI) 8, Brattleboro (VT) 7
Latrobe (PA) 9, Goffstown (NH) 3
Newton North (MA) 5, Washington D.C. Capitol City (DC) 1
Augusta West (ME) 8, Hughesville (MD) 1
Day 4 (Friday, August 14):
Latrobe (PA) 8, Brattleboro (VT) 2
Hughesville (MD) 4, Washington D.C. Capitol City (DC) 1
Georgetown (DE) 11, Augusta West (ME) 1
Simsbury National (CT) 5, Newton North (MA) 2
Goffstown (NH) 3, Staten Island South Shore American (NY) 2
Day 5 (Saturday, August 15):
Hughesville (MD) 1, Newton North (MA) 0
Simsbury National (CT) 11, Augusta West (ME) 8
Toms River East American (NJ) 11, Goffstown (NH) 4
Cranston Western (RI) 3, Latrobe (PA) 2
Day 6 (Sunday, August 16):
Georgetown (DE) 6, Washington D.C. Capitol City (DC) 0
Toms River East American (NJ) 7, Cranston Western (RI) 1
Hughesville (MD) 5, Simsbury National (CT) 0
Staten Island South Shore American (NY) 12, Brattleboro (VT) 2
Day 7 (Monday, August 17):
Cranston Western (RI) 7, Goffstown (NH) 6
Brattleboro (VT) 5, Toms River East American (NJ) 2
Staten Island South Shore American (NY) 3, Latrobe (PA) 1
Augusta West (ME) 3, Washington D.C. Capitol City (DC) 1
Georgetown (DE) 10, Newton North (MA) 3
Final Pool 'A' Standings
W
LRuns
Allowed
Simsbury National (CT) 4 1 22
Georgetown (DE) 4 1 16
Augusta West (ME) 3 2 25
Hughesville (MD) 3 2 10
Newton North (MA) 1 4 21
Washington D.C. Capitol City (DC) 0 5 21
Final Pool 'B' Standings
W
LRuns
Allowed
Staten Island South Shore American (NY) 4 1 8
Toms River East American (NJ) 3 2 11
Cranston Western (RI) 3 2 28
Latrobe (PA) 2 3 16
Goffstown (NH) 2 3 29
Brattleboro (VT) 1 4 35
The top two teams in each pool advanced to semifinal round competition. Toms River East American advanced as the runner-up in pool 'B' based on their head-to-head victory over Cranston Western.
Tiebreaking criteria are (1) head-to-head competiton result and (2) fewest runs allowed per defensive inning played.
Georgetown (DE) 3, Staten Island South Shore American (NY) 2 (8 innings)
East Region Tournament Championship Game
Summary:
Linescores:
Semifinal Round 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 R H E Toms River East American 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 - - Simsbury National 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 - Semifinal Round SI South Shore American 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 7 2 Georgetown 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 3 4 1 Championship Game Toms River East American 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 Georgetown 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
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Last revision: 06/17/2002