The 10-11-year-old All-Stars, representing King Philip Little League of Bristol, ventured to Beverley, Mass., to represent Rhode Island in the Eastern Regionals tournament of state champions. They advanced after winning Rhode Island’s Distict 2 title and then sweeping through the state finals with victories over Lincoln, Cranston West and Coventry.

The tournament consisted of teams from all along the East Coast, with 10 teams in all participating. The Bristol squad opened up play against a team out of Fruitland, Md., known for its offensive prowess. Ethan Santerre got the start on the hill against Maryland. Santerre performed well, going the distance pitching 5 innings, allowing 6 hits and 1 walk while striking out 4. He allowed 3 earned runs but fell victim to the long ball twice to Maryland slugger Canaan Mappi.

The Bristol bats were held silent all game, except by a lone single by Maguire Camelo. Maryland won the game by the score of 4-0.

In the second game of the tournament, Bristol faced Peabody, Mass., a league with past success, having reached the Little League World Series a few times in its history. Bristol’s Riley Boughton wouldn’t be denied though. Boughton was dominant in pitching King Philip to a 6-1 victor, going 6 innings while striking out 12 and allowing only 5 hits/0 walks.

Meanwhile, the Bristol bats came alive in this one. Lucas Andreozzi led the charge with 3 hits, while Logan Dubois and Ethan Santerre each had 2 hits. Jonathan Kay, Brian Abbruzzi and Quinn Frawley had 1 hit each.

Frawley had a huge pinch-hit single to score Andreozzi in the fourth inning to put Bristol up 1-0, while Abbruzzi had a line shot double to left centerfield to score 2 more and give a little breathing room to go up 6-0 in the fifth inning. 

In the third game of the week, York, Maine, was the opponent. Abbruzzi would get his first start of the All-Star season and he was more than up to the task. He was in command from the first pitch of the game, pitching a masterpiece, going 6 innings, allowing 1 run on 6 hits and 1 walk. Pitching to contact, he made numerous plays in the field himself, along with some fine defensive plays from Kay, Santerre, Frawley, Dubois and Jacob Ferreira. 

The offense broke out in the second inning, scoring 8 times. Carson Jerome, Santerre, Kay, Dubois and Ferreira all had run-scoring singles in the inning. In the game, Bristol had 12 hits. Andreozzi had 3, Dubois and Abbruzzi each had 2, while Kay, Santerre, Ferreira, Jerome and Frawley also chipped in with a hit.

With King Philip now sitting with 2 wins and 1 loss, they faced undefeated  East Pennsborro, Pa., for a chance to go the the championship game against New York. Unfortunately, this would be the end of the road for King Philip, as they lost in a hard fought battle.

The game was tied 0-0 going into the bottom of the fifth, before the Pennsylvania team scored 4 to eventually win 4-0. Santerre pitched a great game against the eventual Eastern Region champions. He left with 2 outs in the bottom of fifth, allowing 6 hits and the 4 runs. But in the end, the Bristol offense couldn’t muster up any rally, as they had 3 hits in the game, with Santerre, Kay and Ferreira each collecting hits.