Never in its 63-year history has the Port Washington Little League been crowned New York State champs \u2014 until this once-in-a-generation group of boys came around.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been playing great baseball,\u201d third baseman Jack Gomez told The Post before heading to the regional round of the Little League World Series in Bristol, Conn.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been practicing for a while, and I think we\u2019re ready.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now the six-decade-long underdogs are three wins away from the ultimate prize \u2014 their first-ever trip to Williamsport, Pa., later in August.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Port Washington 12U Little League players attend a pep rally as they prepare for the regional finals on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, in Port Washington, NY. Dennis A. Clark for NY Post<\/p>\n
Standing in their way are the best tristate Little Leagues \u2014 Bayonne Central, N.J.; Darien, Conn.; and Lincoln, R.I. \u2014 for the sole spot to represent the Metro Region in the LLWS.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes we mess up, but that\u2019s OK,\u201d center fielder Walter Cassens said. \u201cIf we play our game good, then we could definitely win.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Port Washington\u2019s first epic step in the double-elimination tournament begins against Lincoln at 4 p.m. Saturday on ESPN+.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Few are more thrilled than shortstop Brandon Kien, who on more than one occasion traveled to Bristol to root on New York\u2019s team in the regional round as a fan who loves the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Taking the field himself this weekend will be a surreal experience, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of like a dream come true,\u201d Kien said. \u201cAnd the dorms we\u2019re going to be staying in are sick.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Boys will be boys\u00a0<\/p>\n
Team camaraderie and bunking together at a hotel for the New York State title tourney in West Nyack have been a huge part of the journey, bringing the boys together.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That and left fielder Carlo Cafferata bringing up his PlayStation 5 for the boys.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe played it a lot in the hotel,\u201d he said, adding that taking time for basketball and soccer video games became a good luck charm to beat some of the Empire State\u2019s very best.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Port Washington 12U Little League player Jack Gomez on Thursday, August 6, 2026, in Port Washington, NY. Dennis A. Clark for NY Post<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a lot of fun.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
They plan on keeping the momentum going at the team dorms at the A. Bartlett Giamatti Center in Bristol, this time adding in Wiffle ball and plenty of time for the campus pool on off days.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Smiling and goofing around \u2014 when appropriate \u2014 is a secret to their success, catcher Michael Gabriel said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re probably laughing at least half of the time,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m excited to face new teams that we\u2019ve never played and just have fun while not knowing what\u2019s going to happen.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fans gather at the pep rally for the team. Dennis A. Clark for NY Post<\/p>\n
Long Island\u2019s finest\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just fun and games, though, as the pals from Port Wash know when it\u2019s time to lock in and be laser-focused for the task at hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re persistent. They work hard in big spots. They come up big for each other,\u201d assistant coach Anthony Theoharis said. \u201cI think that\u2019s a testament to all the hard work and practice that they\u2019ve put in. We\u2019ve been hitting and fielding for months, and it\u2019s paid off.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Theoharis added that the team is an even mix of 11- and 12-year-olds, but not having the extra year means very little to the talent and work ethic of the younger guys.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re studs, and the way they all play together as a team is just a lot of fun to coach and watch.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Port Washington 12U Little League Coach Anthony Theoharis has a \u201cno electronics\u201d rule in place on game days. Dennis A. Clark for NY Post<\/p>\n
The coaching staff also wants the group to attack the moment and leave it all out on the field.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPlaying not scared to fail, I think, is something we try to impose on them,\u201d said Theoharis, who added that the parents are even more stoked than the kids to see the games televised.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The moment is doubly exciting for the assistant coach, as he has two boys, third baseman Drew and left fielder Luca, on the dream team.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just feels good. It\u2019s once in a lifetime,\u201d Luca said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Drew, first baseman Max Dempsey and right fielder Ethan Spitalnik all agree.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably just getting to spend time with the team and playing on the big stage is what I\u2019m most looking forward to,\u201d second baseman Jackson Gorynski said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019re very confident,\u201d added right fielder Mikey Catuogno. \u201cI think we can make it to Williamsport.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Never in its 63-year history has the Port Washington Little League been crowned New York State champs \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":315800,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[113697,119113,776,9,11,10,49,51,50,319],"class_list":["post-315799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-little-league","tag-little-league-world-series","tag-long-island","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/315800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}