Port Washington Little League baseball team feeling the love from the community after winning state title
Port Washington celebrates winning the Little League baseball state tournament at the West Nyack Little League Complex on Friday. Credit: Kelly Marsh
For the Port Washington 12-and-under Little League baseball team, winning the New York state championship Friday night wasn’t just a victory for 12 players. It was a moment the entire community shared.
“The kids right now are just so happy,” manager Dave Gabriel said. “The amount of outreach that we’ve gotten from back home has been crazy. The town is all rooting for us. Parents, siblings, grandparents, teachers from the kids’ schools, the whole community is coming up. It’s really a great experience for these boys and for all the families.”
Port Washington defeated Mid Island (Staten Island), 11-5, in the championship game at Cesca Field in West Nyack to earn New York’s berth in the Metro Region tournament, which begins Saturday in Bristol, Connecticut. The Metro Region champion will advance to the Little League World Series in Williamsport.
Port Washington seized control early, scoring three runs in the first inning and erupting for seven more in the third to build a 10-0 lead. Drew Theoharis, who was named the tournament’s most outstanding player, had an RBI single in the big inning and Ethan Spitalnik added a two-run double.
“Representing Port Washington and New York is amazing and awesome,” Spitalnik said. “This is a really great team from top to bottom. Me and my teammates are excited to chase a spot in the Little League World Series.”
Gabriel credited his coaching staff — Anthony Theoharis and PJ Gorynski — for making sure the team was prepared.
“The Staten Island team has a lot of great pitching and they give you a few different looks,” he said. “But we really practice all fast pitching and off-speed pitching, so when the kids get to the game, they’ve seen the velocity. The kids were dialed in all week.”
Mid Island scored five runs in the third inning, bringing the score to 10-5. Carlo Cafferata then entered in relief and struck out six in the final three innings.
“Cafferata came in, and we have a lot of confidence in him,” Gabriel said. “He looked great on the mound and he was throwing hard. Whenever you can build a little lead and put a really good pitcher on the mound, we feel pretty good.”
With one championship secured, the focus shifts to preparing for the next stage.
“We’re just going to keep doing what we’ve been doing,” Gabriel said. “Working on pitching and hitting, clean a few things up, get the boys ready and try to stay loose.
“This is about the kids having fun. We want to compete, but we don’t want to change anything that we’re doing because it worked this week.”
Tess Ferguson is a reporter on Newsday's high school sports staff. She joined the team after graduating with a journalism degree from Ithaca College in 2025.
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