WILLIAMSPORT, HERE THEY COME: Middleboro advances to LLWS for the first time since 1994

BRISTOL, Conn. – When the summer first began, qualifying for the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, seemed like a longshot goal for the Middleboro Little League's U12 All-Stars.

That's what the team's players used to be called in mid-July, anyway. Playing the best they ever have before, the collective group likely prefers 'Team New England' at this point.

That title is a lot more fitting now, as Middleboro defeated Bangor (Maine) East, 10-1, on Thursday to capture the New England Regionals championship and a prestigious spot in the Little League World Series for the first time since 1994.

“I told the coaches in the dugout – this whole thing feels like a dream," manager Chad Gillpatrick said. "I kind of had to shake myself and pinch myself to make sure it's not. We're still alive."

Middleboro becomes the first team from Massachusetts to advance to the Little League World Series in 13 years (the last was Peabody Western in 2009) and its first game is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 17, against Tennessee at 3 p.m. on ESPN.

“It’s amazing," said pitcher Jacob Landers. "It’s just awesome to go to Williamsport after so long.”

The home run ball launched off Jayden Murphy's bat in the fifth inning will likely meet the team there before the buses depart early Friday morning. The two-run shot was rocketed, only staying in sight for a brief moment before escaping into the trees behind the left-field fence.

It handed Middleboro a convincing 7-1 lead and there's a chance it's still soaring. That was Murphy's second longball of the regionals tournament.

“I feel like that just set it off that we were going to close it (out), that we were going to be good the rest of the way,” Murphy said.

Murphy struck out nine batters in four innings on the mound, allowing one hit, one earned run and three walks. He exited in the fifth, and was replaced by the right-hander Landers, who closed out the win with five strikeouts in two innings – the game-ending one came without a swing on a pitch placed on the outside part of the plate.

And it was time to party after that one landed in Gavin Gillpatrick's catchers glove.

“I’m very proud of everybody. It was a team effort, for sure," Chad Gillpatrick said. "We got a ton of baserunners out there and timely hitting was the key. It was awesome.”

Like Middleboro's last win – a turnaround 11-0 final over Concord, New Hampshire, to rebound from the team's previous 10-4 loss to Bangor East on Monday – the lineup produced in impressive fashion with 18 total baserunners (eight hits, 10 walks).

All 12 of the team's players found their way to the basepaths. Long, patient at-bats forced the pitch count of Bangor East ace Jacoby Harvey to climb to 53 after the second inning. (Pitchers are limited to 85 pitches per game, although they can finish an at-bat if they exceed that number.)

“We had a talk with the coaches and we kind of got some (scouting-report) things from the other games," said Chad Gillpatrick. "We told the kids, be aggressive but make the pitcher work. I think he was up to the threshold almost by the end of the third, early fourth inning.”

It was at that point the Middleboro lineup flexed its muscles: walks from Joe Monteforte, Cayden Ellis and Nathan Mello set the table for Landers, the nine-spot hitter, to rope a line-drive triple that toed the right-field line and barely stayed fair before rolling into the corner. It cleared the bases and delivered Middleboro breathing room in the third inning with a 4-0 lead.

Ellis, who started in center field, finished 2-for-3 with an RBI base hit in the fourth.

“I was just really excited at the end," Ellis said. "We’ve been battling throughout this entire year and what really helped us was the timing today.”

Left fielder Aaron Davis put the finishing touches on the win by belting a base hit up the middle to plate Gavin Gillpatrick and Ayden Morris in the fifth.

The following batter, Sean Miller, then reached on a fielder's choice, advanced to second base on an error, raced to third on a wild pitch and proudly slid home safely after a second consecutive errant offering.

Adding to their defensive contributions, second baseman Mike Marzelli scored Middleboro's first run in the opening frame, Luke Bolduc drew a five-pitch walk in the second inning and outfielder Reece Trottier singled in the fifth.

Suffering just two losses total throughout the district, sectional, state and regional tournaments, the run this 2022 group is on will be enshrined as one of, if not the, best in the Middleboro Little League program's proud history.

And it's not over quite yet.

“These guys have the drive, the commitment, the attitude, the effort and they just play as a team," Chad Gillpatrick said. "It’s been our motto all summer and I’m proud of each and every one of these guys.”

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Middleboro Little League is headed to Williamsport