Windham Little League's fall ball teams end season with celebratory game

By Matt Pascarella

On a beautiful fall day for baseball both Windham Little League teams, Windham 1 and Windham 2, celebrated the end of a very successful fall ball season by playing against each other at Ciccarone Field at Lowell Farm in Windham on Saturday, Oct. 24. After a big fourth inning, Windham 2 won 9-1.

Windham fifth grader Tyler Hanlon winds up to pitch during
Windham Little League's final game of the fall ball season
against the Windham 2 team at Ciccarone Field at Lowell
Farm in Windham on Saturday, Oct. 24.
PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA 

This was more of a fun game, and it showed through the attitudes and actions of the players on both teams cheering each other on and being nothing but supportive.

“They stuck with the process today and stayed committed and disciplined,” said Windham Little League Windham 2 coach Kevin Rancourt. “All the boys really met the goal for the season; they grew, developed, stayed on track and bonded as a unit. Our mantra for the team this year was good things happen when we swing our bats. They went with that and kept it rolling. We saw contributions from all kids throughout the lineup.”

Windham Little League Windham 1 coach Chris Whitney said when the fall ball season began, he wanted his team to learn how to play baseball correctly and have fun while doing it. The team surpassed his expectations and only had two losses over the course of the season. Whitney said during this game, some of the younger kids who didn’t see a lot of hits during the season, made contact with the ball, and this built their confidence. He said win, lose or draw, what he looks for as a coach is a player who can take a bad situation, learn from it and turn it into a positive later on.

The first inning began for Windham 2 as seventh grader Elijah Sun walked. Seventh grader Peyton Edwards crushed a double and brought Sun in to score.

Both teams had stellar defense as they went two full innings with neither team scoring.

Sun smashed a two-run homerun in the fourth inning. Windham 2 led by four runs. Windham 2 added five more runs in the next two innings.

“Honestly, I didn’t see the ball, I just swung the bat, and everyone was screaming,” said Sun who also won MVP from his coach. “I think we did great; our hitting, our defense and our pitching were all really good. It was a solid all-around team.”

When Sun looks back on the season, he sees that the team has improved. In one of their first games, they lost to Bonny Eagle and then beat them toward the end of the season. Sun also got his first Little League homerun in a game against Gorham earlier in the month.

Also in the fourth inning, Windham 1 fifth grader Maxtyn Spence walked and then stole his way around the bases. When the moment was right, Spence was careful and quickly stole home to put Windham 1 on the scoreboard.

Spence said he was proud he got an out today and scored. Something that stood out to Spence during the season was when he hit an inside-the-park grand slam during a scrimmage earlier in the season. He said he’s proud of how he’s been playing the past three years as well as how well his team played today. 

After two strikeouts in the fifth inning, Windham 1’s defense was on it as they secured the last out with a hit to second baseman and sixth grader Evan Standley who made the throw to first baseman Spence.

Both Standley and Spence repeated this skill to nab the first out of the sixth inning against Windham 2.

Windham 1’s pitchers were fifth graders Garrett Dansereau and Tyler Hanlon, and sixth graders Jaxson Whitney and Grayson Charles got a total of 12 strikeouts over six innings.

The pitchers of Windham 2 were Sun, sixth grader Ethan Clarke and sixth grader Ashton Belanger who struck out 11 batters over six innings. <