With regular season play completed, the Falls Church Kiwanis Little League has begun all-star competition. As part of Little League’s District 4 in Virginia, Falls Church competes with teams from the surrounding communities of Alexandria, Arlington, Great Falls, Mason District, McLean, Reston and Vienna. The league fields three teams – 9/10-year-olds, 10/11-year-olds, and 11/12-year-olds. After competition on the district level, the winning team at each level moves on to a state tournament. In 2005 and 2006, the Falls Church 11/12 team won at the district level and played in the state tournament. Complete schedules for this year are available at www.va4.org.

2008 Falls Church Kiwanis Little League All-Star Teams

11/12: Ethan Anderson, William Bernicke, Conor Boyle, Lucas Cherry, JP DeFranco, Maggie Goldsmith, Alex Handley, Jesse Jones, Brennan Jones, Vincent Kanyan, Matthew Ledder, Richard Marsh, Vijay Menon and Tyler Waters, with Manager Mike Goldsmith.

10/11: Daniel Butler, Wesley Coupard, Evan Davis, Daniel Donovan, Jackson Dubro, Patrick Evans, Nate Jones, Ryan Leonard, Christopher Meador, Daniel Schlitt, Sam Selby, Nate Thatcher, Ben Torpey and Evan Tracy, with Manager Rich Butler.

9/10: Noah Anderson, Thomas Beddow, Charlie Bernicke, Marsden Davis, Jake Deeley, Robert Guenther, Jamie Handley, Casey Lauer, Jimmy Major, Kiran Menon, Johnny Peterson, Josh Rankin and Nathaniel Scheinman, with Manager Dave Guenther.

Friday, June 27

9/10 Team, Falls Church 13 – Arlington National 5: In a late game due to a rain delay, Falls Church Red dominated Arlington National, winning 13-5. Arlington jumped out for three runs in the first inning, with Falls Church getting on the board in the second inning, on runs by Robert Guenther and Charlie Bernicke. Relief pitcher Johnny Peterson, who turned in a very strong performance for Falls Church, got two strikeouts in the bottom of the second, with Robert Guenther snagging a grounder for an out at second base. In the third inning, an RBI-single by Jake Deeley put Falls Church ahead by one run, with Casey Lauer adding another run. Peterson continued his strong work, stopping a grounder for an out and striking out two more batters. The Falls Church offense exploded for eight runs in the fourth, starting with a line and RBI smash to left field by Marsden Davis, followed by RBI singles from Kiran Menon, Noah Anderson and Josh Rankin. In spite of their best efforts, Arlington could not rally, and Falls Church held out for a solid 13-5 sin.

Saturday, June 28

9/10 Team, Vienna Colonial 19 – Falls Church 2: The Falls Church offense started strong in the first inning against Vienna Colonial, with Robert Guenther singling to right and Charlie Bernicke beating out an infield hit. Marsden Davis blasted an RBI-double, and Jamie Handley walked with the bases loaded to force another run. Kiran Menon sparked the defense with a nice catch on a line drive to short, and Johnny Peterson made a superb throw on a grounder to third to nail the Colonials’ runner. But in spite of the best efforts of the Falls Church nine, the Vienna bats could not be contained on this night, and the Colonials caught fire, racing to an impressive 19-2 win.

11/12 Team, Vienna Colonial 7 – Falls Church 6: A dramatic two-out, last-inning rally, sparked by a two-run blast deep over the left-center field fence by Falls Church slugger Lucas Cherry, fell just short, as the powerful Vienna Nationals, who added four home runs of their own, held on for a one-run win over a never-say-die Falls Church squad in a game played on Eagle Field at Westgate Park. In earlier action, Cherry ripped a single to right, bringing home Falls Church speedsters Richard Marsh and Matthew “Pee Wee” Ledder in a cloud of dust. Alex Handley, Jesse Jones and Richard Marsh handled the pitching duties for Falls Church against the powerful Vienna team. The determined comeback by the resilient Falls Church squad was seen by many as a harbinger of a successful tournament for the Mike Goldsmith-led team. Vijay Menon added a key hit for Falls Church.

The 10/11 team begins play on Sunday, July 6 at 2:30 p.m. on Pyron Field at Westgate Park.