By Anthony Bosco
The Bayside Little League captured its third District 26 baseball championship last week, winning the 9- and 10-year-old Minor Division crown with a 5-0 defeat of Forest Hills on July 18 at Sy Speiler field in Oakland Gardens.
Bayside had already won the 11- and 12-year-old Division and 13- and 14-year-old Junior Division crowns, but the Minor Division team — the last to win a District 26 title — may have been the most dominant of the bunch.
The team, which relied on outstanding pitching and defense throughout its championship run, allowed only one unearned run in four games. The pitching staff was anchored by stars Carl Sternick, Joey Marden and Jorge Ynoa.
The win over Forest Hills moved Bayside into the sectionals as the District 26 representatives, where the team will play Friday at 5:30 p.m. at Sy Speiler Field against District 20.
The 11- and 12-year-old team, which overcame a forfeit loss in its opening game of the District 26 tournament, was eliminated by District 24 in the opening round of the sectionals. The 13- and 13-year-old team, however, won its first post-district game Saturday night.
Elmjack won both the 15- and 16-year-old Senior and 17- and 18-year-old Big League District 26 titles.
Most of the teams that played in the District 26 tournaments are now playing in the six annual summer tournaments hosted by the district.
In the 7- and 8-year-old Seplowe Tournament, Forest Hills, Elmjack, Bayside and DAC have teams, while in the 9- and 10-year-old Rosenbluth Tournament, 14 teams will compete for the title, including three from Bayside, two each from Glen Oaks, College Point and DAC and one from Forest Hills, Dwarf Giraffe, Elmjack, MidQueens-Fresh Meadows and Little Neck/Douglaston.
The 11- and 12-year-old Gorman Tournament includes two teams each from Bayside, College Point and Glen Oaks and one apiece from Forest Hills, Little Neck/Douglaston, Jamaica Estates/Holliswood and Elmjack.
In the 13- and 14-year-old Schechtman Tournament, Bayside has two teams, while Forest Hills, College Point, Glen Oaks, Elmjack, Far Rockaway, Little Neck/Douglaston and DAC have one each with the Decon’s Angels and Whitestone Renegades also joining the fray.
The 15- and-16-year-old Casey houses two teams from Bayside and one from Forest Hills, Elmjack and Mitchell Linden, while in the 17-and -18-year-old Goldfinger Tournament, the Whitestone Renegades will compete against Elmjack, the Forest Hills Bombers and an all-star team from District 26.
In District 27 action, Ozone-Howard picked up two more banners, as the league’s 9- and 10-year-old and 13- and 14-year-old softball teams both beat representatives from Ridgewood-Glendale-Middle Village-Maspeth in the championship games. That makes five District 27 titles for Ozone-Howard.
The 9- and 10-year-old baseball title went to Rockaway, which scored a 13-3 win over Briarwood-Jamaica Friday night. The team will play District 22 in the first round of the sectionals Saturday.
In the sectionals, the Minor Division champs from Ozone-Howard topped both District 33 and District 21 to advance to the semifinals, which were to be held Tuesday evening.
The Junior Division team from Ozone-Howard was eliminated from the sectionals by Kingsbridge in the first round, while the Briarwood-Jamaica team in the Senior Division fell to District 22, also in the first round.
The Major Division softball team from Ozone-Howard was eliminated by Staten Island, while the Minor Division team, also from Ozone-Howard, will start its sectional run on July 30.
Reach Sports Editor Anthony Bosco by e-mail at TimesLedgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 130.
