By Ken Jackson
Sports Writer

For the first time in recent memory — and some local coaches have a lot of memory — a Majors team from Kissimmee Little League will be competing at the state tournament beginning today in Bonita Springs.

A berth in the regional tournament in South Carolina is on the line, the only remaining step before the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.

The KLL American League team outscored its three opponents 28-5 last weekend to claim the Section 5 title at the St. Cloud Little League complex.

Manager Julio Figueroa said that one of his coaches, Ron Legendre, said he’d been coaching over 20 years it’s never happened at the Majors  level.

“He said that a Juniors team made it about 15 years ago, but he doesn’t remember a (Kissimmee) Majors team ever making it to state,” Figueroa said. “When the kids found out, they got even more excited.”

After being rained out Friday, Kissimmee defeated East Orange, 10-1, on Saturday, Oviedo, 9-4, on Sunday, and dominated Windermere, 9-0, in Monday’s championship game. Pedro Figueroa and Paul McCrimon combined on the mound for the shutout.

Figueroa said that Adams Torres, Jorge Ramirez and Darren Freidman also have been exceptional on the mound through the District 3 and regional tournaments. Kissimmee American defeated St. Cloud National, 6-1, in the District 3 final last week, with Torres pitching.

“The pitching has been really good too, as well as our defense,” Figueroa said. “And everyone is swinging the bats well, too. We feel good about this weekend if we can keep this up.”

He said that the team’s togetherness is its biggest strength.

“I’ve had this group together for a while coming up and in travel ball. They just really work well together,” he said. “And all of these kids are 11 (years old), so the exciting thing is we’ll be able to take another crack at it next year.”

Figueroa said the team would likely play its first game at 7 p.m. tonight. The state tournament goes through Sunday.

The team includes Torres, Figueroa, Ramirez, McCrimon, Friedman, Mark Anthony Perez, Trevor Moore, Isaax Tayes, Anthony Legendre, David Roman and Jose Perez.

Legendre and Robert Holborn are the assistant coaches.