MoCo Little League Team Wins State Championship, Begins Regional Play

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD — Montgomery County Little League's Lower County 11u team is scheduled to play the first of two first-round games in the regional tournament at 7:30 p.m., on Monday, in Beverly, Massachusetts.

The team, which is made up of 11-year-old all-stars from Montgomery County, earned the trip to the Little League Tournament East Region by winning the Maryland state championship in July. Not only does the team represent MCLL, District 2, it also represents the state of Maryland.

"It's a really good team," said Sushil Rane, one of the team's three coaches. "Let's begin where credit's due."

While other teams brought only their 11 best players to the state tournament, the MCLL LoCo 11u team had 14 players on its roster. Fourteen is the maximum number allowed for tournament play, but the rules stipulate that every player on a team must play, which is why some teams opt to bring fewer players.

Having more players available proved to be the deciding factor for the Montgomery County team in the state tournament, especially in the championship game, according to Rane.

"Our bench basically won the game for us," he said. "We were down 5-2, with two outs in the sixth inning — down three runs with one out left. We had a bunch of guys from the bench coming in and giving some really good at bats. That put us over in that game."

Help the Montgomery County Little League's Lower County 11u team compete in the Little League Tournament East Region by donating to its GoFundMe campaign.

Rane also credited the victory to one of the team's pitchers who threw three "lights out" innings.

Even though the Maryland County Little League Board is paying travel expenses for the team's three coaches — Rane, his son Pranav, and Ray Thomas — each of the players' families are responsible for their own travel expenses to the tournament in Massachusetts.

To help defray the cost of competing, a GoFundMe was set up to collect donations. As of 4:15 p.m., on Monday, the GoFundMe campaign had raised just $2,625 toward its $12,000 goal.

"There are some some kids who may be on scholarship and they will get supported by the board," Rane said. "But that GoFundMe page will will basically help with that. The league itself is a Little League-mandated league, so it's a not-for-profit league."

Compared to the state championship, things are a little different for the Montgomery County team. With some families having scheduling conflicts, only 10 players are able to participate.

Follow Montgomery County Little League's LoCo 11u team in tournament play.

Twelve teams from 11 states on the East Coast are competing. Delaware did not send a team, but host Massachusetts is sending two teams, so that the tournament can be broken up into four pools of three teams each. In their pool, the Maryland will play a team from Beverly on Monday. Then, at 7:30 p.m., on Tuesday, they'll play the New Jersey team.

The winners of the four pools will compete in the semifinals on Thursday and the two winning teams will pair off in the championship game on Friday.

"And after that, it's basically everything's over at least from a Little League standpoint," Rane said. "All the games and all the tournaments are over. The regionals are the last tournament for this age group."

Only regional winners in the 12-year-old age group go on to compete in the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.