Story posted Friday, July 3, 2009
Central, Devon-Higgins On Road To Williamsport
By DWIGHT ESAU Journal Sports
Like the Cubs, the Central and Devon Higgins Little Leagues in the Des Plaines-Rosemont area keep dreaming of championships. For the leagues, the dream focuses on the official Williamsport Little League national tournament.
Every year, the two local leagues choose their best 11-12 year old players to play in the District 10 tournament, the first level on the long road to national glory at Williamsport in August.
Back in the late '90s, a Central all-star team won the district tournament one year and advanced to a sectional.
District 10 includes, in addition to Central and Devon-Higgins in Des Plaines, nine other teams from Forest Park, Melrose Park, River Forest, Broadview, Hillside, Norridge, Bellwood, and the Garfield Park and Shabbona Park areas of far northwest Chicago.
Central's 11-12 team, which will be managed by Mark Fowler, plays its first game at 8 p.m. Monday, July 6, at Melrose Park's field. The double-elimination tourney continues to July 14.
Central players are Connor Abramson, Bryan Allen, Joseph Bernick, Danny Brennan, Sam Cirone, Brandon Clark, Daniel Estrada, Bobby Feldkamp, Mikey Fowler, Tony Soto, Brandon Starbeck, and Galo Trujillo.
Central's second game will be either July 7 (with a first-round win) or July 8, with a loss.
Chris Peterson manages Devon Higgins team. Its first game is at 6 p.m. July 7 against either Hillside or Broadview.
Devon Higgins players are Stevie Gulo, Nick and Luke Peterson, Anthony Raimondi, Jordan Campbell, Nikolao Cuku, Chris and Brandon Lopez, Justin McCown, Anthony Grigsby, Brian Benischek, Alex Podmokly, J.R. Cruz, and Dan Pranarne.
Both Central and Devon Higgins also have entered teams in the state 9-10 year old little league tournament that begins in District 10 next week.
Ten teams are entered. The other eight are Melrose Park, Shabbona Park, Bellwood, River Forest, Norridge, Forest Park, Hillside, and Broadview.
Terry Outlaw manages Central's team. Its opening game is against Melrose Park at River Forest at 7 p.m. on July 11.
Central players are Steffan Argus, Joey Bellizzi, Ryan Benson, Stephen Cutro, Danny Fowler, Terry Hadfield, Timmy Henry, Sam Kindle, Annie Lipinski, Eric Outlaw, Devin Peters, and Alex Zimmerman.
Devon Higgins' first game is at 4 p.m. on July 11 against Broadview.
D-H players are Alex Podgor, Jonathan Ildefonso, Azu Whigham, Alex Almarez, Tommy McDonald, Tommy Whalen, Michael Soria, Josh Jaglarski, Vianca Agruirre, Nestor Cabrela, Zach Giovanni, and Peter Aponte.
Coaches are Al and Eileen Podgor, and Angel Ildefonso.
A Devon Higgins 13-14 year old team will participate in another District 10 tournament starting on July 11. The team is managed by Chris McQuiggan and plays its first game at noon July 11 against Melrose Park at Berkeley.
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