McIntire All-Stars fall in state championship

FAIRFAX — The McIntire Little League 11-12 All-Stars’ remarkable run to the Virginia state tournament came to an end in the championship game Wednesday night, as the Chantilly American Little League All-Stars cruised to an 11-1 victory.

McIntire, the District 14 champions, let a few early opportunities slip away, and in the end, Aaron Osbourne and Chantilly put on an impressive performance from which the Charlottesville team couldn’t recover.

McIntire coach Eric Tucker was proud of his team’s effort over the last month and a half and said that it takes a special group to transform itself from opponents to teammates and work together to succeed.

“For three or four months, all of these guys are on different teams and they’re adversaries basically,” said Tucker, who noted that the all-stars either practiced or played a game in 43 of the last 46 days. “So immediately, it’s a 180-degree about face change for them to become teammates.”

He said building relationships between the players, coaches and parents was the biggest priority.

McIntire loaded the bases in the top of the first inning, but with two outs, Manning Turkheimer struck out to end the threat. Austin Park pitched a solid couple of innings for the Charlottesville squad despite giving up a two-run shot off of Osbourne’s bat in the bottom of the first.

The Charlottesville team left the bases loaded again in the top of the second, but Osbourne was also a menace on the mound for Chantilly, showing his ability to mix in the knuckleball effectively. As successful a season as McIntire has enjoyed at the plate, Osbourne allowed just two hits, one run and five walks to keep his opponents at bay.

In the bottom of the third, Chantilly’s bats came alive as Osbourne smashed another towering two-run shot to center field. Not to be outdone, Eason Recto followed with a carbon-copy blast on the next pitch. The barrage gave Chantilly a 5-0 lead.

The eventual champions added two more runs in the inning, creating a sense of urgency for McIntire.

Jack Maynard ripped a solo home run to right field to put McIntire on the board in the top of the fourth. However, in the home half of the inning, Chantilly’s Mike Sciorra answered with another long ball. Two batters later, Osbourne knocked his third, two-run homer of the game over the fence for a 10-1 lead, putting the contest out of reach.

Every player in the McIntire dugout had a hand in the team’s success during the run, and Stevie Mangrum set a state tournament record for hitting more home runs than any other player. Jake Allen, Jake Hylton and Maynard also played big parts in the success of the team’s postseason.

“I’m super-proud of them and I’m glad that all our hard work paid off,” Tucker said.

Chantilly will go on to represent the state in regional play with hopes to advance to the Little League World Series at the end of August.