Coginchaug Beats Haddam 10-0 to Win District 9 Championship

In the end, only the rain could stop Coginchaug.

On Saturday afternoon, the 12-year-old Little League All-Star team from Durham and Middlefield defeated Haddam 10-0 to win the District 9 championship at Robert J. Duvall Field in Haddam.

It was the second year-in-a-row the team was crowned District 9 champs — 10 of the team's 13 players made it to the state championship game a year ago as 11-year-olds.

"This actually feels better than last year," manager Ken Vallone said after the win. "Last year was the first time we've done it but there was a lot of pressure on these kids this year and they came through. They just played their hearts out."

After beating Haddam 10-2 on Friday, the second game of the best-of-three series was hardly never in doubt, except for a 45-minute rain delay that forced fans to open their umbrellas in the top of the fifth inning.

Coginchaug catcher Ryan Genest's lead-off home run — his second home run of the series — gave his team an early lead. Justin Rulnick and AJ Kleczkowski each drove in runs before the inning was over to lift Coginchaug to a 3-0 lead.

Coginchaug ace John John Jose was coming off a nearly perfect performance against Cromwell in the semifinal game and got the first two Haddam batters to ground out. 

Haddam's Owen Marica seemed to get the best of a Jose' fastball until Kleczkowski chased down the ball a few feet short of the fence to make the catch as teammate T.J. Vallone avoided a collision.

Genest led off the second inning with a double to left center and was knocked in on Cole Niedmann's sacrifice fly to make it 4-0 Coginchaug.

After giving up back-to-back singles to start the bottom of the second inning, Jose struck out Kyle Jenkins and got Toby Callendar looking on a 3-2 pitch. Coginchaug first baseman Griffin Saks took care of a ground ball for the inning's third out.

With the score 6-0 in the fifth inning, Neidmann hit a 2-run blast over the fence to give Coginchaug an 8-0 lead. The baseball was hit so hard it was recovered in centerfield on the lower field.

"My dad yelled something out. He said, 'Just like wiffle ball.' So the kid threw me a nice hanging curve and I swung," Niedmann said.

Coginchaug pushed the lead to 10-0 before the skies opened up and both teams were sent to their dugouts.

After about an hour delay and needing just three outs for a mercy-rule win, Jose struck out the first two Haddam batters he faced in the bottom half of the fifth inning and Vallone caught a deep fly ball to centerfield to end the game.

Jose, who said afterwards that he pitched "pretty good," struck out nine Haddam batters while giving up just three hits.

"It feels great. We're the only Coginchaug team to win back-to-back titles," he said.

Coginchaug outscored its opponents 83-10 in eight tournament games. 

The team has advanced to the state sectional tournament where it will have a first round bye before playing the winner of Wethersfield vs. District 10 winner (Game 3 between North Stonington-Pawcatuck and Waterford South was delayed due to rain on Sunday afternoon) on Thursday, July 18 at 5:30 p.m. at Harwinton Field.