Burlington American Little League halts 53-year state championship drought in thriller

ST. JOHNSBURY — History wasn't on Burlington American's side. It had been 20 years since its last appearance in the Vermont Little League 10-to-12-year-old state baseball tournament. And more than five decades since winning it all in 1971.

"There was nobody on this team that was born in 1971, coaches included," Burlington American manager Justin Heilenbach said.

But this summer belongs to the all-stars from the Queen City.

Two weeks after capturing its first District I crown since 2004, Burlington American dusted a 53-year state championship drought Saturday by upending Essex Town 9-7 in a thrilling, back-and-forth state final at Legion Field that required extra innings to determine a winner.

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Jimmy Agnew's sharp single to centerfield in the top of the seventh inning plated the go-ahead runs before 10-year-old Illo Heilenbach completed four innings of relief work, with a swinging strikeout for the game's final out to seize Burlington American's title from the loser's bracket. Burlington American had lost to Essex Town 12-4 in the tournament opener last weekend and had to win two straight games, including Wednesday's 1-0 squeaker over host St. Johnsbury, to reach Saturday's state final.

"We’ve always had something special going because we’ve been playing for four years and some of them even longer. We’ve always believed in their ability to win tight games," said Justin Heilenbach, who has two sons, Illo and Finch, on the team. "We are defensive-minded team and we think defense wins championships and it happened today."

Burlington American, which has gone 11-2 during all-star play this summer, advances to the New England Region Tournament in Bristol, Connecticut, where it will face Massachusetts on Aug. 3. The 10 a.m. contest will be televised on ESPN+.

Saturday's championship started in similar fashion to Burlington American's first loss to Essex Town: The District I squad raced out to a big lead. After scoring the game's first run on a wild pitch in the first inning, Burlington American took advantage of back-to-back walks to start the third to ignite a four-run frame.

WIth the bases loaded, Finch Heilenbach delivered an RBI single, Owen O'Sullivan followed with a sacrifice fly to bring home another run and Emery Nichols knocked in a pair of runners with a line drive hit to right for the 5-0 edge.

But just like the teams' previous matchup, Essex Town stormed back. In the home half of the third, left-handed hitter David Bent launched a soaring, three-run homer to center to cut the deficit to 5-3. Essex Town added a fourth run on an error.

In the fourth, Essex Town went ahead: Brady Salvatori had an RBI single to center and Will Hadaway walked with the bases loaded for a 6-5 advantage.

"It was almost identical" of the first game, coach Heilenbach said. "They had a blow out inning against us and that didn’t happen today," he added.

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Burlington American rallied in the fifth on John Loescher's two-out double down the right field line. Burlington American then went ahead in the sixth inning on a passed ball before Essex Town forced extra innings when Hadaway walked again with the bases loaded (and down to his final strike).

"At that point, there’s not much to say with the game still going on. But I think it energized them a little bit," coach Heilenbach said. "They were still pretty up even though (Essex) just tied the game. We responded well to it."

In the top of the seventh, Parker Hagan walked with one out and Loescher singled with two outs. Agnew stepped into the batter's box and, after taking a strike, drilled the next pitch to center field to score a pair of runs.

"My coaches were telling me to just breathe. I was thinking back to batting practice, just make contact and something good will happen," Agnew said. "It’s awesome. We were talking about it before the tournament, how long it’s been and wanting to bring home the banner."

In Essex Town's last at-bat, Illo Heilenbach, with a crafty curveball, worked around a two-out single to get the strikeout to wrap Burlington American's championship. Heilenbach (4IP, 3H, 1R, 0ER, 4K) was down to his final batter due the 75-pitch limit for 10 year olds.

Agnew paced Burlington American at the plate with a 3-for-4 effort. Loescher and Emery Nichols also had two hits.

"We made some history today," coach Heilenbach said.

Essex Town, the District III champion, finishes this summer at 7-2. Essex had previously won the 8-10-year-old state championship in each of the past two years. Winston Smith went 3-for-4 at the plate.

Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @aabrami5.