Litchfield Arsenal 12U

Historically speaking the Litchfield Arsenal teams have a rough time at Cooperstown Dreams Park; however, our teams compete in many of the games. It's tough to compete against some programs which can draw 1000's of players to tryouts and can play 80-100 games all year long. We're lucky to have 30 players at our tryouts and we play 30-45 games. For an interesting view of records kept by Dreams Park visit:

http://www.cooperstowndreamspark.com/CDPrecords12YR.htm

Even without great success you ask former players what their greatest memory was and most will say the Dreams Park Tourney. Where else can you meet 100's of players from all over the country, play 7-12 games in 5 days, and whether you win or lose still have fun.

The first team to go to Dreams park went in the Summer of 2003. The team was very fortunate to go as they took the spot of a Saugus, MA Little League team that ended up going to the LL World Series instead. Contacted on a Monday in August we were given 2 days to get our players and funds together. After making initial contacts we could only get commitments from 6 players. This is where the Dreams Park staff stepped in and found 5 players willing to stay a second week. So now all we had to do was pay for our trip, get some time off work, and find a house for our "fans" to stay. Again, help from Dreams Park and understanding bosses got us on our way.

That 2003 team finished 25th out of 64 during round robin play. They won two playoff games including a victory over the 8th seeded team. This meant they were one of the final 16 teams. This was a tremendous accomplishment since they hadn't played all season together! It was instinct and the ability to bond that made it all happen. The team lost in their final game, but had some lifelong memories and friendships with players from the Syracuse, NY area. The team photo:

http://www.cooperstowndreamspark.com/CDP2003Teams/20030895.jpg

The following are links to the Dreams Park website for the week the team went and a cut-n-paste of their record:

http://www.cooperstowndreamspark.com/2003WeeklyResults/CDP2003WK10/CDP2003WK10.html

25

Litchfield Arsenal (NH)

5

2

5.29

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The 2004 team was the first that actually knew it was going to end its season at Dreams Park. The team was entirely made up of Litchfield players and included a number of younger players and didn't fare that well. The team finished 69th out of 80 teams that entered (the first week Dreams Park had 80 teams). The team lost it's first round playoff game, but still the players had a lot of fun. The team photo:

http://www.cooperstowndreamspark.com/2004_Teams/20040819.jpg

The following are links to the Dreams Park website for the week the team went and a cut-n-paste of their record:

http://www.cooperstowndreamspark.com/2004WeeklyResults/CDP2004WK5/CDP2004WK5.html

69

Litchfield Arsenal (NH)

1

6

9.86

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The 2005 team was the first that did not include all Litchfield players and did not have a Litchfield based coach. The coaches and majority of the team were based in Hudson, NH. The team was more experienced and skilled that the previous year and finished 57th out of 80 teams. The team won their first playoff game, but lost to the 37th seed in their next game. The team photo:

http://www.cooperstowndreamspark.com/CDP2005Teams/20050965.jpg

The following are links to the Dreams Park website for the week the team went and a cut-n-paste of their record:

http://www.cooperstowndreamspark.com/2005WeeklyResults/CDP2005WK7/CDP2005WK7.html

57

Litchfield Arsenal (NH)

2

5

6.71

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The 2006 team was the first to not have players just from Litchfield and Hudson. The team played a very tough NE AAU season schedule to help them prepare for the competitiveness of the Dreams Park tourney. The ended up finishing 77th out of 96 teams and went 1-1 in the playoffs dropping a very hard fought 4-2 game to the 40th seed. The team photo:

http://www.cooperstowndreamspark.com/CDP2006Teams/20060974.jpg

The following are links to the Dreams Park website for the week the team went and a cut-n-paste of their record:

http://www.cooperstowndreamspark.com/2006WeeklyResults/CDP2006WK7/CDP2006WK7.html

77

Litchfield Arsenal (NH)

2

5

10.86

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The 2007 team drew more talented players out of town and finished extremely well during the NE AAU regular season and playoffs - ending as a top 16 team in NE. The coaches went to Dreams Park with the goal to make sure each player got to play significant innings. The team drew probably the toughest pool play opponents that prior teams having to face off against 3 of the top 21st ranking teams during the 7 game pool play. The team finished 76th out of 97 teams. The playoffs started out well winning 9-0 against a team from Canada, but lost their next game 5-2 against the 42nd ranked team that made several outstanding plays to snuff out Arsenal rallies. The Dreams Park team phote is here:

http://www.cooperstowndreamspark.com/CDP2007Teams/20071044.jpg

The following are links to the Dreams Park website for the week the team went and a cut-n-paste of their record:

http://www.cooperstowndreamspark.com/2007WeeklyResults/CDP2007WK8/CDP2007WK8.html

76

Litchfield Arsenal (NH)

2

5

9.86

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The 2008 team was comprised of only players from Litchfield. As a U-11's the team recorded an 11-3 regular season followed by a 4th place finish in the NE AAU playoffs. Determined to build upon their success, the team worked hard over the winter. In order to get game experience, they entered the indoor league at the Hampshire Dome and won the championship. The NE AAU regular season was filled with ups and downs as the competition was much better than during the U-11 season. As many close games as the team won as 11's, they lost as 12's. In the end, they finished at 11-11 which (barely) qualified them for the playoffs. The playoffs were a disaster due to miscommunication and mismanagment by the NE AAU and other clubs. Determined to not let that bring them down, the team readied for the trip to Cooperstown Dreams Park.

At Dreams Park, the team finished 75th out of 98 teams. We had a player qualify for the "second round" of the Golden Arm competition. The team started out great in pool play, but in the end ran out of enough good pitching in order to compete. In Game 1, an 8-7 win over St.Louis Shock (#51) the team won the game in the bottom of 6th after an errant throw on a grounder to 2B allowed 2 runs to sore. Game 2 was a very tough 3-2 loss to Brighton Bulldogs (#15)... There were many missed opportunities to win the game, but the team just couldn't push across the runs. In Game 3 a 7-6 win over the Minooka Indians (#67) was yet another come from behind win. In Game 4, the pitching deserted the team and they were soundly thrashed 14-0 by the solid Naples Mustangs (#9)... On Day 3, with the pitching corps thin, the bats came alive - unfortunately the other teams hit too! Game 5 was an 18-14 loss to the PTB Longhorns (#46) while Game 6 was a 19-12 loss to Westfield Blue Devils (#50). In Game 7, we spotted the Halfmoon Mariners (#35) an 8 run lead, but fought back to 8-6... In the playoff round, we easily won our first game 13-2 over the Burnsville Thunder (#76). In CDP, winning means another game right after... In the second game the team lost 8-2 to the Fraser Baseball Club (#44). This was a 3-1 deficit going to the top of the 5th with again many missed opportunities to score. In the end we lost, but we forced the other team to use up a number of their pitchers which in the end knocked them out of the playoffs quickly too.

The following week lists the results:

http://www.cooperstowndreamspark.com/2008WeeklyResults/CDP2008WK4/CDP2008WK4.html

 

Eventually the team photo will be placed on a link from here:

http://www.cooperstowndreamspark.com/AYBHOF08.html#June%2028,%202008

 

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The 2009 team is being formed now.