By Mike Ramczyk
Sports Editor
Some teams win district titles in normal fashion.
The Burlington Little League 12U All-Stars squad isn’t just some team.
With a third straight District 6 Saturday, the local boys will try to win their third straight state championship.
In four victories, Burlington outscored its opponents, 61-4, in the four-game tournament, which was played at Lakeland fields in Brighton, just east of Burlington.
Burlington notched victories of 26-1, 12-0 and 16-1 en route to the championship.
Saturday’s 26-1 victory over Kenosha National was an epic offensive onslaught.
Burlington racked up 29 hits and scored 19 runs in the first three innings. The team got home runs from Dalton Damon, Christian Brenner, Collin DeGroot, Tyler Swanson and Tyler Dussing.
Swanson finished with four RBIs.
So why did the team so easily dismantle its foes?
“The biggest reason we won the District 6 tournament is we were patient at the plate swinging at good pitches,” coach Dale DeGroot said. “We outscored our opponents 61-4 while playing great defense, turning a total of three double plays.”
In a July 9 victory over Kenosha, Trent Turzenski homered and shut things down on the mound in a 12-0 victory.
Turzenski allowed only one hit, walked one and struck out eight in 3 1/3 innings of work.
Brenner added a three-run home run. Luke Walesa added another round-tripper.
In a 7-3 victory over Kenosha American July 8, Burlington overcame a 3-2 deficit with five runs in the fourth.
Collin DeGroot had two RBIs at the plate and allowed no earned runs in 2 1/3 innings on the mound.
Walesa’s two-run single put Burlington in the lead for good.
The tournament began with a 16-1 victory over South Milwaukee July 7.
Once again, the bats were alive, as Burlington tallied six runs in the first inning and 10 in the second.
Collin DeGroot, Damon, Josh Edmundson, Jake Skrundz and Tucker Strommen all went yard, and Burlington totaled seven home runs, all in one inning, in the contest.
Skyler Danielson added an RBI single.
Burlington now travels to Wausau for the state tournament Saturday. The team will look for its third straight state championship.
In recent years, the Burlington Little League has become a powerhouse. There have been three teams in the last four years, 2010, 2011 and 2013, that have won state and advanced to Indianapolis, which is the step before the Little League World Series.
Coach Dale DeGroot chalks up the success to a dedicated town of baseball players.
“I believe our program in Burlington is successful because a good majority of our players are playing baseball almost all year long, starting with our regular season, continuing with the fall ball program and picking up camps in the winter,” he said. “Also, the use of our Rollie Bauman batting pavilion has helped. Another advantage we have is our Burlington Titan program, which allows our players to compete at higher levels of baseball.”
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