Governor Patrick to Honor Andover National Today

The governor will be meeting with the stars of the Andover Nationals baseball team, who made it to the Little League World Series semi-finals in Connecticut.

Governor Deval Patrick will be meeting with the Andover National youth baseball team today at the State House to recognize their accomplishments in making it to the semi-finals of the Little League World Series. The event, which is open to the public, takes place today, Thursday, Oct. 6, at 9 a.m. at the Governor's Council Chambers at the State House in Boston. Find out more about the National's rise to the top on Andover Patch.

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Nationals Drop Tournament Opener

Andover National let a late lead slip away against Cumberland, RI.

BRISTOL, Conn. – Mistakes haunted Andover National in the opener of the New England Little League tournament. Four pitchers combined to allow just three hits, but four errors, three hit batsmen and a pair of wild pitches proved costly. The miscues enabled Cumberland (R.I.) American to score three unearned runs Saturday en route to a 5-3 victory over Andover at Breen Field. “The scoreboard kind of tells the story,” Andover manager Paul Finn said. “We gave up three hits and lost. That’s pretty unusual. Typically our defense is a strong suit where we’re able to pick up extra outs instead of give extra outs. We’ll come back.” Center stage belonged to Cumberland’s Chris Wright. Wright broke his ankle sliding June 17, missed the districts and …

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Find Andover National Regionals Coverage on Patch

Andover Patch has reporters down in Bristol that will be covering all of the action during the regional tournament. As always, find the latest little league news at andover.patch.com.

The Andover National baseball team is taking part in the opening celebrations down in Bristol, Conn. today and they'll be prepping for their first big game against Rhode Island tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m.  Andover Patch will be covering all of the excitement of the Little League Baseball Regional competition down in Connecticut so make sure to visit back over the weekend. We'll be following the team as far as they can go. And, hopefully, that will be all the way! In the meantime, check out some recent Andover National coverage on Patch. 

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IMAGE GALLERY: Best of Andover National

Check out all of the best shots taken during Andover National's rise to the regionals.

The Andover National players are on their way down to Connecticut to play in the Regional Little League Baseball championship. As they begin the next stage in their journey, take a look at them during their progression through the state tourneys. 

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Everything You Need to Know About the Little League State Finals

Andover National returns to the field tomorrow afternoon in Taunton.

At approximately 6 p.m. on Sunday, July 31, a new Little League state champion will be crowned in Taunton, and if Andover National plays like it has been throughout July, it could very well be them.  The 2011 Massachusetts State Final Four will be hosted by the Taunton Western Little League Complex. The Silver City Series gets underway tomorrow with its opening game, Andover National vs. Wellesley South.    Thursday, July 28 3:30 p.m. - Andover National vs. Wellesley South 5:45 p.m. - The Opening Ceremonies of the Silver City Series will happen right after the game and before Joe Schwartz (Worcester) takes on Braintree American. 7:20 p.m. - Joe Schwartz vs. Braintree American   Friday, July 29 12:00 p.m. - The teams will have a pizza party…

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Nationals Cruised Through Districts

Andover Patch takes a look back at Andover National's run in preparation for the state tournament.

With the state tournament looming, Andover National will be practicing hard this week to show what they are made of. National has already had a few special accomplishments this summer. First it was the District 14 championships at Deyermond Field, which saw the team gel and thrive in some high pressure situations. Then it was the Section 4 tourney which had the team cruising passed opponents over in Tewksbury. With the state tournament beginning on Thursday, let's take a look at how the Nationals have made it this far. We begin with fond memories of the District 14 12's Pool which got underway on July 5.   July 5  National got an incredible pitching performance from Andrew Selima. Nate Abbot socked a solo shot to score the only run of the …

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Andover 12-Year-Olds Head to State Championship

Andover Nationals crush Stoneham to advance to state tournament.

Another day, another “mercy rule” enacted at the bats of the Andover National All-Star 12-year-old squad, which beat Stoneham 13-3 in four innings Saturday, at Poulin Field in Tewksbury. Andover won the Section 4 title Saturday and advances to play in the state tournament in Taunton on Thursday for a trip to the regionals in Bristol, Conn. In 11 games, Andover has scored 150 runs, according to coach Paul Finn, who knew the stat right away. “They are a talented group of players, who have committed themselves,” said Finn, who added that he watched that talented group of players coalesce into a talented team. “It’s the hardest working team I have ever seen. We have had one day off in 30 days.” Andover, the home team, went into its first at …

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Tom DeVeau

10:24 am on Monday, July 25, 2011

I coach in Tewksbury and have had the pleasure of seeing this team play 4-5 times. They are the best 12 year old team I have ever seen. I wish them all the luck in the world and cannot wait to see them in Williamsport. Yes, they are that good. Every single player can pitch, throw hard, field, drive the ball and is heads up. Congrats and good luck!   more ›

Andover Nationals Step Closer to Sectional Title

Andover bats stay hot as team enters the sectional championship tonight.

The Andover National 12-year-olds picked up where they had left off the night before, beating a team and not needing all six innings. Andover beat Peabody West 13-3 in five innings Friday, at Poulin Field in Tewksbury. It was the second time in as many nights the Nationals had ended the game early. It looked as though Andover was going to put West away early leading 3-0 going into the Peabody half of the first. However, Hunter Jaques, with two runners aboard, sent a drive to left field that just missed the outstretched glove of Jack Finn and found a fan’s hands. The umpires talked the play over and decided on a correct homerun call to tie it at 3-3. The Andover bats that managed eight homeruns the night before returned to life in the top …

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IMAGE GALLERY: Andover vs. North Andover in Soucy Tornament

Today Andover took on North Andover in the first game of the tournament honoring Fred Soucy.

Andover youth baseball took on North Andover in the first game of the annual Fred Soucy Little League Tournament. After Alison Soucy, the wife of Fred Soucy, threw the first pitch of the tournament, the game began and the players, mostly nine-years-old, were sliding, hitting and sprinting like pros.

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