Cranston East Little League defeated Cranston West 7-2 last Wednesday night during the District 1 11U Championship at Speck Field.

East starting pitcher Eli Ozbek tossed a complete-game and struck out 11 hitters. On offense, Ozbek recorded a solo home run and a walk.

“He is an amazing player,” East head coach Andy Barron said. “I’ve been with him since T-ball. He plays on my AAU team and I brought him with me.”

“He just constantly works hard and you couldn’t ask for a better kid,” Barron said. “He shows up, he’s quiet, he doesn’t say anything, but is so consistent with what he does. Two games in this tournament, he pitched a complete game. Two games. So, you can’t get better than that.”

East catcher Denny Mahoney registered two singles, a double, and a run batted in, while Hunter Stys added a single, a double, and two RBI.

Damien Minyetti started on the bump for West and pitched four innings and struck out four.

Nick Tocco topped the West bats with two singles and a run scored.

Barron played for East as a kid, so he knows the history behind the league.

“I grew up in this league, and first of all, I want to say Cranston West is a phenomenal program,” Barron said. “Kudos to them. They make you play hard. They play the game the right way. That’s a great program that we just played.”

“As far as I go, I grew up here,” Barron said. “I won a lot of championships here as a kid. But it’s been a long time for this league and I’m so proud of all these kids. So proud. And I’m so proud to come back into this league and do it.”

East moved on to play in the state tournament at Darlington Field in Pawtucket on July 18th and 19th.

And Barron had his team right back at practice on Thursday to prepare for that challenge.

“We’re going to really need to play our ‘A’ game,” Barron said. “Rest up. I want to go easy on their arms, but no days off. We’ll be right back on the field tomorrow practicing. But I think we’ve got a good shot.”

If East win states, then they will move on to the regional tournament where the top four teams will face- off.