Coginchaug Little League All-Stars Pound Portland 17-1

It took just two batters for Coginchaug Little League's 12-year-old All-Star team to put their first run on the board against Portland on Wednesday.

Four innings and 16 runs later, the team walked off the field with a decisive 17-1 mercy-rule win in the opening round of the District 9 Little League tournament.

"We hit the ball good. We pitched very well," said team manager Ken Vallone, who coached all but three of the team's 13 players to the District 9 11/12-year-old championship a year ago.

Coginchaug took a 1-0 lead after Ryan Genest led off the game with a single, reached third base on errors by Portland and was knocked in when T.J. Vallone hit into a fielder's choice.

After two straight two-out singles, A.J. Kleczkowski ripped a hit up the middle to knock in Griffin Saks to give Coginchaug a 3-0 lead. 

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Genest pitched out of trouble in the bottom half of the first inning with some help from his defense. With no-outs and two Portland runners in scoring position, second baseman Cole Niedmann scooped up a line-drive from Nick Hassleman and threw a strike to Saks who tagged Cole Peterson out at home. 

Genest struckout Brendan Hickey to end the inning.

In the top of the second inning, Neidman drove a two-run home run deep to center field to give his team a 5-0 lead. Vallone followed suit in the third inning with a solo home run to left-center to put Coginchaug ahead 8-0.

At that point, Genest had settled in. He struck out five Portland batters while allowing just one run over four innings.

"You've got to play one game at a time. Every at bat. Every inning," coach Vallone said. "My motto is you gotta win every inning. If you win every inning you can't lose the game."

Coginchaug will play next on Sunday in Guilford. Check back with Patch for game details.