PAWTUCKET — With a pair of victories over the weekend, the Rumford Little League Junior Baseball Division All Stars have reached the championship round of the 2016 state tournament.

The locals opened the event Saturday night, July 23, with a 3-0 victory over District 3 champion Wickford at Pine View Little League's Daggett Field.

At the same location Sunday night, July 24, Rumford bettered District 1 champion Elmwood, 7-5.

The locals, winners of the District 2 tournament the previous week, move onto the final round Wednesday evening, July 27, also at Daggett. The Junior Division is for players ages 13-and-14-years of age.

Rumford will play either Elmwood or Wickford for the championship. Wickford stayed alive in the event with 17-12 victory over District 4 champ Gloucester earlier Sunday evening. Either Wickford or Elmwood would have to beat Rumford twice to claim the title in the double-elimination format.

District 2 tourney notes
Rumford captured the District 2 championship Sunday morning, July 17, completing a 9-3 extra inning victory over visiting Barrington at Glenlyon Field in city.
The contest began the previous evening and was tied at three after eight complete when darkness forced its continuation to be delayed until the next day.

When the teams returned, Rumford used a seven-run ninth to grab a firm grip on the contest. Clean-up hitter Jayden Barber, unsuccessful during a similar situation Saturday night in the sixth, helped break the game open for the locals when he ripped a two-run single with the bases loaded and none out. Sam Turner followed with a RBI-single before both Nate Bettencourt and Ronnie Lima added two-run doubles to give Rumford its large cushion.

Barber finished up the game on the mound, relieving Brandon Landry with no outs in the bottom of the ninth. Landry, who along with Sam Stone and Lima threw for Rumford on Saturday, was the winning pitcher. Sam Burdick reached base three times for the locals and scored at the end of each trip. Lima, Stone and Turner contributed two hits apiece. Bettencourt and Adam Gomes each made superb diving catches to save runs while playing center and left field, respectively.

"Both Rumford and Barrington played some great defense," said Rumford manager Steve McDonald. "Runs were hard to come by. It wasn't what I would call a pitchers' duel, but both teams had some timely hitting. Up until the ninth inning it was nip and tuck.

"We were just fortunate to put together a good half inning. I told the kids when we got back Sunday morning that most times when you resume a game a day later it usually ends pretty quick. I said we needed to make things happen right away and fortunately we did."

The championship was the third District 2 banner for Rumford in the last four years and fourth overall in the last seven.

"We've had a pretty good run here recently," Coach McDonald said. "Sometimes you show up and play the games and you're fortunate to score one more run than the opposition."

The locals needed three victories to claim the district title this summer, opening the tournament with a 5-3 win over Tiverton then edging Darlington, 10-9, in the winners bracket final.

"I'm happy for these guys. They worked really hard for the past couple of weeks getting prepared," Coach McDonald said. "We had some tough games, but were able to come out on top. Now the kids are really excited about the challenge to push forward at states."

Team roster
The Rumford Junior Division All Stars are Micah Abrams, Jonah Ashley-Friedman, Jayden Barber, Nate Bettencourt, Sam Budnick, Adam Gomes, Brandon Landry, Ronnie Lima, Colby Luiz, Mitchel Noresca, RJ Pina, Sam Stone and Sam Turner. Steve McDonald is the manager. Bob Long, Geoff Turner and Chris Kailher serve as coaches.