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Last summer, the Danville Little League 12-year-old all-star team felt like they had the depth and the talent to make it to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Penn.
However, a mere couple of mistakes along the way ended their hopes short of their goal. In the postseason, there is a slim margin of error and the boys from Danville found that out the hard way.
Following Little League, players often go their own way, playing for various travel ball teams.
Not this group.
As the Danville 13-year-old all-star team, the group has earned a spot in the 2025 Intermediate (50/70) Baseball World Series right here in Livermore at Max Baer Park.
The tournament starts this Sunday (July 27), with the championship game set for Aug. 3, which will be broadcast on ESPN.
There are 12 teams, six from the United States and six International teams.
“There is some unfinished business,” Danville manager Shaun Moylan said.
Danville opens the tournament on Sunday night at 7 p.m. against the Southeast representative, Irmo Little League from Irmo, S.C.
And they’ll do so with a team seemingly built for success in these types of tournaments – full of pitching and hitting. Depth in pitching is mandatory to be successful.
“The team is fantastic,” Moylan said. “We’ve got a lot of big kids – four or five of them are over 6 feet tall. We’ve got five aces, and all the kids on the team can pitch.”
The lone concern is coming into the tournament with over a month without a tournament game. To qualify for the World Series, Danville just needed to win the District 57 Tournament and earn the host team spot.
District 57 is no walk in the park and is always in the mix in this event.
In 2022, Danville won the tournament, beating a team from Seoul, South Korea 5-0 in the title game.
There are pros and cons to the break as the boys won the District 57 title back in June.
“We have a lot of kids that play travel ball, so they have been playing. But for the kids on our team that don’t play travel ball, it’s a long time off,” Moylan said. “We have a lot of kids that play football as well, so there’s been a lot of baseball and football practices on the same day.”
And kids from the community have been providing opposition.
“We’ve been scrimmaging against other kids that are either not playing or older kids that played for us in the past,” Moylan said. “It was a lot of fun and great in the community.”
The other teams, in some cases, are still fighting to qualify for the series. The West Region championship game was set for this Thursday night.
“Game experience is invaluable, but it is a grind. And you are traveling a lot,” Moylan said. “I like that we are well-rested.”
Moylan ran through the 12 members of the Danville team.
Alex Wierzbinski: “One of our aces. He’s probably our go to guy. He pitches, plays shortstop – he can play anywhere. He also hits for power.
Charlie McLean: “He’s 6-3, pitches and plays first base. He hits very well. One of our aces.”
Connor Moylan: “Connor is our middle-infield guy. He can play defense, and he hits well.”
CJ McMillan: “He is 6-3 as well, pitches, plays first base, and is a hitting machine. Another ace.” (Note: CJ’s older brother Gavin was a member of the Tri-Valley Babe Ruth team that won their World Series back in 2022.)
Jack Hansen: “We needed a catcher this year, and we moved him there. He’s done a great job learning the position and has been great for us.”
Liam Manter: “He’s one of our aces and has been a big thrower for us. He’s a great leader. Usually, he’s a 3-4 guy but we moved him to leadoff.”
George Krause: “He’s our third-baseman. He’s a power hitter who is unafraid – he’s just impressive to watch. Also, one of our aces.”
Craig Bessiers: “He might be the most improved player I have ever seen. He’s got it going for us with the bat.”
Tyson Macdonald: “He’s younger than the others, and he had a broken thumb. He is back with us now.”
Mason Colliss: “He is new to the team this year. He’s been our Swiss army knife – he does whatever we need.”
Owen Beck: “He was hurt, but he is now back into it. He is an elite athlete.”
Jake Henzi: “He is kind of the heart and soul of our team. He did not get a hit in the district tournament but was second in runs scored. He just gets it done.”
And perhaps the best thing about the tournament – basically it’s a home game.
“It’s probably the neatest thing,” Moylan said. “I expect we’ll have a lot of support. The kids realize it’s different when you are playing for the name on the front of the jersey, not the back.”
Follow the tournament at www.littleleague.org and watch the games streaming on ESPN+.
Editor’s note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for Embarcadero Media Foundation’s East Bay Division. To contact him about his Pleasanton Preps column, email acesmag@aol.com.
