Florida Little League’s historic season ends at state final four

The Florida Little League Majors All-Stars’ postseason run came to an end July 29 with an 11-1 loss to Mid Island in the New York State Little League semifinal. Despite the loss, the team finished as one of the final four teams in the state.

“It is awesome,” said Florida Manager Ray Younghans, who has coached many of the players since they were 9 or younger. “From where we started to get to say we were among the top four teams in the state is an incredible honor.”

Team advanced to the state tournament after District 19 win

After winning the District 19 championship and then the state’s Section 3 title, Florida advanced to the eight-team New York State Tournament in West Nyack on Saturday, July 25. Drawn from a league of roughly 150 total players—from T-ball through the Majors, boys and girls combined—Florida faced programs many times its size.

Florida opened pool play against perennial power Maine-Endwell with Florida catcher Zach Younghans belting a first-inning home run to give his team an early lead. But Maine-Endwell answered with a three-run homer in the bottom half of the inning before pulling away for a 7-1 victory.

Facing elimination 24 hours later against New Hartford, Florida scored four runs in the first inning on its way to an 11-7 victory behind the pitching of CJ Davila and hitting of Gavin Guerra, who had a 3-run homer and drove in four.

Tom McKeon and RJ Kearns combined to shut the door in relief.

“The pitch was a fast ball up in the zone with a 1-2 count,” the centerfielder said of his mid-game home run. “I was looking for a base hit, but I put one up in the air and it just went out. We played our best. Everyone hit and made the plays they needed to. We played some good baseball.”

The New Hartford win set up a Tuesday, July 28, showdown against eventual state champion Port Washington. It would also become a signature moment in Florida’s season.

Trailing by a run midway through the contest, Florida rallied with five runs in the fifth inning to win 7-5 and advance to the state final four. Davila homered to open the scoring and Younghans delivered the go-ahead two-run single during the decisive rally. Guerra picked up the win with McKeon recording the save as the team completed one of the biggest wins in Florida Little League history.

McKeon relishes the role of coming on in relief.

“If it is a close game or we are down a couple of runs and the starting pitcher is in a bad spot, coach puts me in because I throw strikes and use the defense,” said McKeon, who plays first and outfield when not on the mound. “In those situations, a lot of people [in the stands] are screaming and yelling and I silence them in my mind, so the pressure is not really on me anymore. It is just me and the catcher and I throw strikes.”

McKeon, one of several Florida players who says he looks forward to pressure situations, said the mindset starts with the coaches.

“Coach Ray, Justin, Josh and my dad are nice coaches who know how to teach kids what to do in certain situations because they played baseball.”

Underdog journey ends against Mid Island

That team’s underdog journey ended the next day against the Mid Island team from Staten Island.

For the third time in four state tournament games, Younghans sparked the team early with a first-inning home run before Mid Island answered with a six-run second inning on its way to the win.

Mid-Island would go on to lose to Port Washington in the state championship game.

Fans rally behind local team

As the wins piled up this summer, so did the support as fans from Florida followed the team across the Hudson Valley and businesses held watch parties during televised games on YouTube TV during the state tournament. The players and coaches were welcomed as conquering heroes during parades down main street.

“The kids love playing baseball and I don’t think they understand the magnitude of their success yet, but someday they will,” Younghans said. “It was nerve wracking for the parents, but they loved watching their kids play well and have success.”

Danielle Caldwell and Florida Little League President James McAteer contributed to this article.