VIENNA, VA — It was a sea of red in the Vienna Town Council room as Vienna Little League players from two teams were honored Monday for their tournament success.
Vienna American’s 8-10 All Star team was honored for sweeping the Southeast Region Tournament of State Champions to win the championship. The All Star Majors team, had competed in the southeastern regional tournament of the Little League World Series and just missed advancing to the World Series final.
Nevertheless, the teams’ feats drew widespread support and hometown pride from the Vienna community.
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“I was so impressed with your level of play and the way you all work together as a team,” Mayor Linda Colbert told the teams. “I was most impressed with your sportsmanship. You all made Vienna very proud.”
The Vienna American’s 8-10 All Star team’s 18-0 sweep was dubbed “the perfect summer,” Coach Andy Dinn told Town Council. After winning district and state tournaments, the team won all their games in the Southeast Region Tournament of State Champions in Wilson, North Carolina, including a 14-1 win in the final over the Smyrna, Georgia team.
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“There were a lot of superlatives about this team,” said Dinn. “They never trailed at any point in any inning. The bats were always hot. The pitching was incredible. The defense was always there. So you know we’ve got a lot to look forward to. But we’ve got a lot to be proud of from this past summer.”
Dinn thanked the town for the support along the way. Members of the American League’s 8-10 All Star team are Thomas Bacher, Mo Franklin, Spencer Franklin, Wyatt Kaufman, Aaron Kressin, Jack Lancman, Vincent Mallare, Tripp Mathias, Graham McDermott, Adam Raines, Grant Rubin and Eli Schlichter. The coaches are Dinn as well as Jeff Benjamin and John Norman.
This was the third time a Vienna Little League team won a southeast regional tournament, with the other times being in 1972 and 2022. That team winning in 2022 was the Vienna Little League’s American All Star Majors, which was also being honored Monday night.
Vienna Little League’s American All Star Majors had won its third consecutive state championship to advance to the Southeastern Region Little League Tournament of the World Series. The team won 11-8 over South Carolina’s team and lost 11-1 against Florida’s team Saturday but got another chance with a 5-4 win over West Virginia’s team. The team ultimately was eliminated with a 7-2 loss against Tennessee’s team.
“We admittedly are a little disappointed we didn’t finish the job and get to Williamsport,” said Coach Chris Leggett. “But these guys did an amazing job. No team has gotten that far from Vienna again in 50 years since 1972. In two years, these guys are going to be up here getting to Williamsport [World Series final], and they’re going to finish the job for us.”
Fans of the Big Red Machine watched the team’s progress in the World Series regional tournament with watch parties at the Vienna Inn.
On watching the team’s success, Colbert said, “I hope you all felt your community rallying around you,” said Colbert. “I was watching one of your games at the Vienna Inn, and the place was just going wild. Really everything you did, I wish you could have seen that reaction. People were just so excited and proud of you.”
Members of the All Star Majors team are Ryne Aimone, Charlie Jreige, Brady Kang, Jack Kang, Adam Kressin, Paxton Leon, Case McClure, Carson Park, Brayden Powell, Aiden Raines, Bradley Schroeder and Sean Ying. Leggett is the coach along with Scott Leishear and Steve Tucker.
Leggett said the support of the town made a difference for the players.
“You have never had a group of kids that were so excited and so happy to wear Vienna across their chest and play for their town of Vienna,” said Leggett. “And to do it with such enthusiasm, such sportsmanship and did such a great job for three years representing our town. And I think a big part of why we did as well as we did is because we could feel that support that the mayor was talking about beforehand. We knew everybody was going crazy at the Vienna Inn. And we knew everybody was cheering us on every step of the way.”
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