East Lyme keeps rolling to District 10 Little League baseball title

East Lyme — Normally, the words “District 10 champs” convey all the requisite information about the quality of a local Little League team’s summer to date.

But this? This is different.

East Lyme not only won the title Wednesday night, but continued to cut a swath through everything in its way. The 9-0 win over Waterford in the championship game (ages 10-12) followed previous tournament wins of 26-0, 18-0, 20-0, 13-0, 10-0 and 9-3.

“This means everything to us,” East Lyme coach Lorenzo Biscotto said. “The work the kids have put in since the team was picked … It’s been every single day. They know they have a mission to be the best. They’re very connected.”

The connectivity gave East Lyme an early 8-0 lead in the second inning Wednesday night. That was more than enough for winning pitcher Alex Biscotto, who struck out 11 and allowed one hit in 5.2 innings. Biscotto succumbed to the pitch count one out short of a complete game.

“The thing I’m the proudest of is that Alex has stayed very humble, never calling attention to himself,” Lorenzo Biscotto (also Alex’s dad) said. “I don’t think he realizes sometimes how effective he’s been. The work he’s put in, I’d say he’s become one of the best pitchers in the state.”

Consecutive hits from Biscotto, Blake Gianakos and Jonathan Menchaca gave East Lyme a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Six more came in the second, thanks to eight straight runners reaching base: Blake Morrison, Ben Lubeski, Elliot Regan, Owen Ament, Brady Donovan, Kashton Kaczor, Brayden Santos and Biscotto.

“Even then, I don’t think I ever relaxed,” Biscotto said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s 20-0. It’s baseball. Our goal for the kids is to have them get one percent better each day.”

Waterford’s Preston Colucci broke up Biscotto’s no-hit bid with a one-out single in the fifth. Teammates Leo Browne and Trevor Jenkins combined to pitch 4.2 innings of relief, allowing one unearned run.

East Lyme, the state’s defending 12U champ, is off to the state sectional tournament late next week in Newington.

“The scores of the games really don’t matter to us,” Biscotto said. “We just want the kids to stay ready and be ready for the next moment. Sometimes,. Games can change on one play and we have to be ready.”

m.dimauro@theday.com