Dale City Little League Concludes 45th Season

Editor's note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that league President Don Nelson would be stepping down immediately after the All-Star game, and implied that Vice President Patti Perry had been chosen as the next president. It has since been corrected. We regret the error.

Dale City Little League closed its 45th season Wednesday with a ceremony to congratulate the winners of each division, and pay tribute to the youth and adult volunteers that play a part in the success of the league.

The Giants ended their season as champions of the Majors division, with a record of 14-0, after a 7-3 win over the Nationals. The Giants led 5-1 with one out in the fourth inning when pitcher Dylan Habick loaded the bases, which placed the tying run at the plate, and gave the Nationals enthusiastic visions of a comeback. The next batter then hit a hard line drive to first base that landed in the glove of Dylan Eckley and quieted the Nationals' dreams.

"That was a key moment," said Giants head coach Scott Eckley. "It was the second out of the inning, a big out."

Although Dale City Little League does not officially give trophies for positional accomplishments, Eckley used the phrase "pitcher of the year" to introduce Habick while presenting him a championship trophy.

"When Dylan Habick pitches, he shuts the other team down," said Eckley.

On paper, the Giants' undefeated season suggests domination over the division, but Eckley recalled games when his team almost defeated themselves through complacency.

"Against three of the teams we dominated," recalled Eckley. "The problem is, the games were so easy against those three teams, we weren't ready for the harder teams, [but] the kids are very smart baseball players."

In the AAA division, the Giants defeated the Nationals 10-5 to take home the championship trophy, and in the AA division, the Nationals edged out the Giants 16-15. The Juniors division is decided by standings, and the Rangers won first place with a record of 5-2. The Yankees placed second with a record of 3-3.

Don Nelson, president of DCLL, will be stepping down from his position in September. Nelson said he will miss the rewards of watching the players move up through the divisions, while progressing at the sport and growing into young men. During Nelson's tenure, the league has made progress with the recruitment of volunteers to help organize and execute the various tasks needed to run a successful league, and he feels confident that his successor can continue the efforts and hopefully fill the league's 17-person roster, which currently only has 15 volunteer members.

"We always struggle to have umpires," said Nelson. "[The tasks involved in running a league] are a lot of work, and we could use a little help, here and there, just enough to keep everything going."

In addition to umpires, DCLL needs volunteers for concessions and field maintenance.

The board will vote on the next president at its October meeting. Current Vice President Patti Perry said that if she takes over as president, one area which she plans to improve upon is communication.

"We've had a lot of problems with communication between parents, coaches, everybody," said Perry. "So, we're going to make a lot of changes and try to get it working a little bit better."

To volunteer for Dale City Little League, visit  eTeamz Nation.

Dale City Little League All-Star Teams

Juniors (13-14): Managed by Bruce Matice, Coached by Shannon Shy

Daniel Anders, Benjamin Augello, Collin Cogan, Bryce Crawford, Austin Haskins, Jared Horne, Stephen Johnston, Trent Johnson, Nathan Matice, Aaron Shinn, Andrew Shy, Brandon Wiltshire, Josh Wynne

Majors (11-12): Managed by Scott Eckley, Coached by Melvin Brown

Justin Brown, Blake Coleman, Jaran Davis, Dylan Eckley, Dylan Habick, Matthew Kane, Marty Neal, Brandon Ormsby, Richard Ortiz, Jake Peterson, Jayson Scrubb, Jordan Scrubb

AAA (10-11): Managed by Pete Celio, Coached by Stan Morel and Haas Goodknight

Josh Brown, Matthew Celio, Timothy Clark, Brandon Cleveland, Isaac Dibert, Austin Goodknight, Kevin Johnston, Hayden King, Devin Logsdon, Eric Morel, Graham Perry, Adrian Vera

AA (9-10): Managed by Vern Perry, Coached by Ricky O'Connor and David Ardnt

Riley Arndt, Gavin Bassett, Cameron Davis, Alvaro Espinoza, Jack Grondine, Josh Hampton, Owen Kidd, Logan Kneibert, Nickolas Martin, Cole O'Connor, Michael Perez, Tyler Perry, Max Scott, Kaileb VanderVeen

Adult umpire of the year: Robert Morel

Youth umpire of the year: Paul Lindermuth

Volunteer of the year: JJ Johnston

 Youth volunteer of the year: Kaitlyn Burke