Sports 07-26-2016

Burt and Anderson selected Co-MVPs Of New England Babe Ruth Regionals

By Cary Shuman

Greater Lynn Babe Ruth 15-year-old All-Stars Christian Burt and Dayshon Anderson were presented the Co-Most Valuable Player Award by GLBR President Jim Beliveau during a ceremony at home plate following the championship game of the New England Regionals.

Both players were instrumentals in the Lynn team’s four consecutive victories following a loss to Pittsfield in the first game of the tournament.

Burt deflected chatter about his own individual achievement, preferring to illuminate on his team’s successful journey from the districts to the states to the New Englands.

“We never got too low – that’s what I said from the beginning, ‘we’ve always just stuck with the same mentality as we’re always down one.

“Once we lost that first game – they beat us badly and we wanted to make sure it didn’t happen again,” said Burt. “The competition in this tournament was great. My teammates are great kids and this is one of the highlights of our careers, one of many I hope. We had such great support from our parents and Leon [Elwell] is like a second father to all of us.”

Burt said that manager Elwell never looked past the game at hand and everyone adhered to that philosophy.

“He told us to live for the moment and play each game as it comes,” said Burt. “But I’m kind of a foreseer, I pictured us winning the World Series.”

Among those congratulating Burt was his cousin, Katie Burt, a former Babe Ruth All-Star and the nation’s No. 1 collegiate women’s hockey goaltender. Katie, who came within one game of leading Boston College to a national championship this season, said she was proud of her cousin and wished the team well in the World Series in North Dakota.

Dayshon Anderson made his family proud with an excellent performance throughout the Regionals.

“I’m honored to be one of the MVPs,” said Anderson. “I just went out there and brought 100 percent in to every game. I try all the time.”

A former Lynn Home Run Derby champion as a Lynn Shore Little Leaguer, Anderson has displayed a potent bat and fine glove for the GLBR All-Stars.

Anderson felt the team could win a New England title two years ago when he was a member of the 13-year-old All-Star team.

“We came up short our first two years but this year we really played well and our coaches did a great job getting us ready,” said Anderson. “Leon is an awesome manager. He made me a very good player as we moved on. All our coaches gave us confidence and really inspired us.”

Anderson thanked his personal rooting section, including his father, Mark Anderson, his mother, Tawnya Smith, and the Hill family. He is the nephew of former Major League pitcher Ken Hill.

“I hear he [Hill] was pretty good,” said Anderson.

A sophomore third baseman at Lynn Classical, Anderson is looking forward to playing in the World Series in faraway North Dakota.

“It’s been an unbelievable summer,” said Anderson. “It was great to play in front of the home crowd at Fraser but playing in the World Series should be even more exciting. I can’t wait.”

 

 

Navigators Notes

By Shanna McCarriston

Playoffs? Playoffs?!

The summer baseball season is drawing to a close, which means only one thing: playoffs season is just around the corner.  The Navigators regular season ends August 6, but as of now the team is in playoff position and looking to extend the season past the early August date.

The Navigators face the Bristol Blues this week and pending how they do they could take Bristol’s spot as the 4th seed.  The Navigators have had recent success against the Blues, defeating them 11-3 on July 24th, so the possibility of earning this 4th seed is not too far out of reach.  The Navs have been flirting with a .500 record and look to use the momentum from their recent victories to advance to the next stage.

This year the playoffs will follow the same structure that was in place in 2014.  It is a three-round format and the finals will feature the two remaining teams in a best of three game series.  The league is split in two divisions, the West and the East, and the team with the best record in each division will receive a first week bye in the playoffs and the number one and number two seeds will go on to play the lowest remaining seeds in the next round. In 2012, the Navigators first year in the FCBL (Future Collegiate Baseball League), the Navigators made the FCBL Championship but were defeated by the Nashua Silver Knights. The team won the 2010 NECBL (New England Collegiate Baseball League) Championship.

With only five home games left there is a limited time to watch the Navigators play live and close to home, so be sure to head down to Fraser Field to catch a game before the season, and the summer, come to a close.

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