2009 Junior Legion State Tournament - Asheboro

Danny Almonte

For those of you that don't know, Danny Almonte was a former Little League pitcher who led his team to 3rd place in the 2001 Little League World Series. It was revealed later that Almonte was actually 2 years too old to play Little League Baseball. Almonte just finished his sophomore year at Western Oklahoma State College, where he is still playing excellent baseball. He batted .472 in 61 games & was 9-0 on the hill with a 3.72 ERA!



Kinston's situation was just a simple mistake, where as Almonte's father lied to Little League officials in the Bronx, New York.

 

Mooresville will represent Area III, Mooresville defeated Mocksville 1 game in the area semis and was ruled a shortened series due to rain This was a bad rulling from the commisioner the games should have been played Mooresville was able to rest pitching and then defeat Rowan in the championship round.

 

Rules

I agree with you WadeDog. The rules need to be changed. Just two examples out of how many players? Kaleb and Carter Capps were born in August of 1990. The will not be able to play next season because they will be 20 in that calendar year. They miss out playing because of this even though they will not be 20 before the season ends. How many more players fall under this catagory? But I guess you have to have some kind of cut off date. Or everybody will be eligble.

 

I agree with the need for a new rule for next year. Several teams in eastern NC had the same understanding that if a rising senior tried out for and was not taken by a senior legion team then they could play junior legion. We saw it as a great opportunity for our tentative varsity squad to get some valuable field time together. However, we did find out about the rule change early and were given the option to quit playing and get our money back or play and forfeit all games. We opted to play and forfeit cause it was what was best for our team and the boys just wanted to play ball.

 

No matter what the rule is, someone will always be left out. I have 4 players on my senior team this year who were born in December of 1990 and therefore ineligible for next year, even though all of them were high school seniors this year. I missed another year of legion ball by 3 days when I played.

 

SOUTH CALDWELL

South Caldwell takes 3 of 5 series from Cherryville. Will be in state tournament.

 

First of all i would like to say what a class act Kinston is by the way that they are handling this tough situation. It took a lot of guts for Coach Wade to come on here and make this very classy post. Kinston was a very good team that was very well coached. I have a lot of respect for Coach Wade and the Kinston program.

 

Nash Central: (17-7)

Eastern Qualifier:

Nash Central- 6
Kinston- 1

Cary Bulls- 15
Nash Central- 0

Nash Central- 6
Beaufort County- 2

West Johnston- 4
Nash Central- 3

 

You guys must have been reading a different rule book than us in the West, I know for sure the last 5 years it hasn't read that way. The way that it was ruled is the way that it has been played for at least 5 years. It always list which year the players must be born in. This year it said 1992. No gray area there.

 

Rocky Mount Junior Legion (23-3)

Rocky Mount is a contender to win the state championship:
Roster:

Thomas Berry
Michael Whitehead
Parker Helms
Jeremy Johnson
Matthew Berry
Benton Moss
Carter Varnell
Spencer Bell
Brandon Amerson
Taylor Cluntz
Collin Watson
Elijah Blount
Jeremy Trevathan

Coached by: Tom & Hank Jones

Team is loaded with good players & has good coaching!
Rocky Mount handed the Cary Bulls their only in-state loss this year (3-1 on June 13th)!