Undefeated 12-Year-Olds Win Little League District, Move On to Sectionals

At the beginning of the 12-year-olds’ Little League travel-team season, coach Norm Frieze opened up the Spring Rock Park equipment shed, excavated championship banners won by past teams and laid them out before his squad.

“We asked them, ‘do you guys want one of these?’” Frieze said.

Apparently, they did—and they now have their first, after going 4-0 in district competition, first earning a forfeit from McCook-Lyons, then beating Lyons Township and Brookfield teams. Finally, they scored a huge upset win over La Grange, last year’s 11-year-old Illinois state champions, by a score of 8-4.

“We made a pretty big deal out of it, even though it was just districts,” said Connor Pasko, one of the 12 young athletes on the winning squad. “But it felt pretty good.”

Next, the team will face even more difficult challenges in Burbank, where they begin sectionals competition with other district champions on Friday. From there, the road could possibly stretch all the way to the famed Little League World Series in Williamsport—a mecca that the Village’s renowned 2007 team came a single victory away from reaching.

While Frieze points out that his team is not physically large, they are scrappy and have hit consistently. The team has multiple strong pitchers and has also shone defensively, registering not a singe error over three played games.

“We’ve been playing really well,” said Frieze’s son Sam, who pitched in the win over La Grange. “It’s pretty big, for our town. Everyone in our town pretty much plays baseball and knows about our team, so it’s pretty big for us.”

“It was a great feeling,” added left-fielder Matt Phillips, about the victory over La Grange. “I couldn’t believe that we won it, and now we’re still going on.”

Coach Frieze added that the chemistry and independence of his team are also huge factors towards their success. Each player gets a chance to do the pre-game coin toss, and to choose home or away if they win—and, with confidence in their quick-strike bats, the team has frequently chosen to swing first.

“Most guys are expecting us to take home, but we let [the players] choose what they want to choose,” said Frieze.

“They’re all characters. They all gave each other nicknames. They’re a funny bunch of kids.”