(Canastota, NY – June 2013) On Wednesday, June 26 the Canastota Intermediate Baseball All-Star team won the NYS District 9 championship, completing an undefeated run.

“We are very proud of these players,” Mike Hopkins said. “This was a team effort.  All these player on this team contributed at one point or the other.  We will now focus on the Sectional Tournament.”

Hopkins said this team will begin preparing for the NYS Little League Section 2 tournament starting early next week against District 8’s Fulton Little League.

League President Bill Haddad couldn’t be happier for the team. He told the team that they accomplish what no team has done in 44 years, since the 1969 Major Baseball team from Canastota won the District 9 tournament.

Members of the team are Ian Torkelson, Benjamin Marshall, Jacob Barnello, Sam Evans, Darien Fox, Lukas Eddy, Zarin Martin, Sammy DiGeorge, Ethan O’Connell, Douglas Simmons, Toby Winchell,  Zachary Rogers and Nathan Arria.

Helping Hopkins coach the team are Kevin Parkhurst and Zack Hopkins.

The Intermediate (50/70) Baseball Division of baseball utilizes a modified baseball field using a 50-foot pitching distance and 70-foot base paths. This new division was launched in 2013 in Canastota as is structured for league age 11 to 13 year olds.