Fans of Norfolk-based Fleet Park baseball teams will have plenty to cheer this week, with two state champion squads about to compete in multi-state Southeast Region tournaments.
The Fleet Park Junior League team rules the state in age 12-14 baseball, and it won’t have to go too far — about a 3 1/2-hour drive to Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley — for its region playoffs. Those boys left Wednesday and will play their first game Friday.
Fleet Park is in a modified double-elimination tournament with six other state champions, plus homestanding Bridgewater.
The Norfolk squad will open its stay with a 3 p.m. game Friday against Irmo, South Carolina, and will play Saturday at noon or 6 p.m. against Martinsburg, West Virginia, or Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Those teams will square off at 6 p.m. Friday.
The other side of the bracket includes Bridgewater against Bartow County of Cartersville, Georgia, at 9 a.m. Friday and Dilworth of Charlotte, North Carolina, versus Keystone of Tampa, Florida, at noon Friday.
The tournament is scheduled to last through Tuesday, and its champion will gain a trip to the Junior League World Series in Taylor, Michigan, starting Aug. 4.
In the 16-team state tournament, outfielder Gabriel Rapisardi drove in a key run during a 6-5 victory over Huguenot. Jayden Williams escaped a bases-loaded, none-out jam with three consecutive strikeouts.
In the championship game, Elliott Rush needed just 74 pitches to work eight effective innings. Shortstop Trip Mukherjee was critical defensively, and slugger Jonathan Newton often reached base.
Travis Pfitzner, Martin Zarate, Chris Dial and Pravash Mukherjee II comprise the Junior coaching staff.
This is the second time in three years that Fleet Park has made significant strides. Its 2022 Senior League (16-and-under) squad was the overall runner-up in its World Series and won the United States championship.
Meanwhile, this Fleet Park Gold Senior team is in its eight-team region tournament in Safety Harbor, Florida. Aiden Longworth and Paul Green are among the standouts for the Senior squad, which also will play South Carolina champion Irmo. That game will be at 2:15 p.m. Friday.
Tommy Van Hoose, George Nicholls and Manu Molion are coaching the Senior squad.
The pairings for the Senior and Junior events are strikingly similar. Like the Fleet Park Junior team, the Senior squad will play its second game against a state champion from Tennessee (Lexington) or West Virginia (Logan). A victory Friday would put Fleet Park into an 11:45 a.m. contest Saturday, while a loss would mean a 5:30 p.m. start.
The Southeast Senior champ will go to its World Series, which will open July 27 in Easley, South Carolina.
