All-Stars Preview: Winter Garden Little League Juniors

The roster for the Winter Garden Little League Juniors All-Stars Team breaks right down the middle so far as having seven 13-year-olds and seven 14-year-olds.

Together, this mix of rookies and veterans to the regulation size field will look to bring home a district title this weekend at Dr. Phillips Little League.

Manager Rob Benne, who is coaching the team along with Mike Lowe and Pete Quartaro, says performing on the mound will be key for his ballclub.

“”We’ll definitely rely on pitching to get us through,” Benne said, noting he has six or seven players at his disposal to pitch this weekend. “We’ve got a good balance — we’ve got two guys that can really throw hard and we’ve got four or five guys that have got good curveballs, can mix it up and change the speeds.”

So far as offense is concerned, Benne also believes his team can and will manufacture some runs the old-fashioned way.

“We’re very aggressive on the base paths,” Benne said. “We’ve got a lot of speed. We’re going to put the ball in play and then beat them with our speed.”

Winter Garden will face the host team, Dr. Phillips, July 1 at noon, with opponents in games the following two days to be determined by wins and losses.