Phillies win Little League championship
Published on July 7th, 1999
STONEHAM, MA - On Saturday, June 26 at an oven-like Beacon Field the Stoneham Little League Major League Phillies defeated the always tough Reds 13-4 behind the strong pitching performance of Chris Chirichiello to win the Little League Town Championship.
Chris allowed only four hits and struck out 12 Reds in the complete game victory. The Reds coached by Craig Celli were the Cinderella team of this year's playoffs having knocked off the second seeded Tigers and the third seeded Orioles in earlier playoff action behind the strong pitching of Kevin McCarthy and Michael Muolo. The Phillies had defeated the Angels and Cardinals in earlier playoff action with James Langille and Bobby Mercer pitching strong games.
In the championship game on Saturday the Reds came out strong and had a 4-1 lead in the third inning. The top rated Phillies came back however with three runs in the third, four runs in the fourth, and five runs in the fifth inning for the 13-4 final. Offensive stars for the Phillies were James Langille (3 hits, 3 RBI), Aaron Feinberg (3 hits, 7 RBI), Bobby Mercer (2 hits, 3 RBI), Billy Leavitt (1 hit, 3 runs scored), Chris Chirichiello (1 hit, 4 runs scored), and Bobby Costa (1 hit, 1 run scored). Playing strong in the field and making all the plays they had to make all year were Mike Costa, Steven Carozza, Matt Donovan, Sal Accardi, Mike Vasilchuk and Scotty Rago.
Winning the town championship was the final chapter of a great story for the Phillies in 1999. The Phillies finished the season with a record of 26 wins and only 1 loss playing against the toughest competition all year. Their only loss came against the defending champions, the Tigers, who played the Phillies tough all year. For the Phillies it was a total team effort all year and with promising newcomers Matt Donovan, Scott Rago, Mike Vasilchuk and Sal Accardi coming back along with this year's second year players, the team has a bright future.
The teach was coached by Tony Chirichiello, Mike Fein-berg and Bill Leavitt. New England Industrial truck was the sponsor of this year's town champs.
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