Sports

Little League Honors Season Accomplishments

Players honored for skill, sportsmanship and more.

The Canton Little League Majors Division held an awards ceremony Saturday to recognize skill and sportsmanship this season.

Among those honored were the Red Sox team for coming in on top during the regular season and tournament. 

The Mets were honored for taking second place in the regular season. 

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In addition, two players from each team were honored for sportsmanship. They were: 

  • Ben Robinson and Brendan Shepard of the Braves 
  • Bradley Connoly and Aiden McCue of the Angels
  • Dan Hollis and Max Sparks of the Mets
  • Trey Van de Bogart and Jordan Small of the Dodgers
  • Peter Myers and Joseph Bowman of the Red Sox 
  • Katahdin Whitney and Connor O’Brien of the Giants

Also announced were the four winners of the Willem van Gemeren Memorial Scholarship, named after Niels Willem van Gemeren II, a pitcher and shortstop with the Angels who died with his father in a plane crash in August of 2005. (See related story

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The players were asked to write an essay about what baseball means to them and how they would represent Willem and Canton Little League. Four winners were awarded with a week at the RBI Baseball Academy’s Jason Varitek and Dustin Pedroia summer baseball camp in Massachusetts. 

Scholarship winners were Connor O’Brien, Tiegan Aitken, Nate Olmstead and Ethan Porter. 

"It is amazing and I feel so lucky that Connor has the opportunity to attend the camp in Willem's honor,” his mother Kim O’Brien said. "He is so passionate about baseball.”

The van Gemeren and Smith families in Canton have carried on the scholarship tradition for six years and have also paid for the lights for the night tournament, said Wendy van de Bogart, vice president of Little League. 

“Their generosity is a testament to Willem and to Canton,” she said. “Know that you are in receipt of an amazing gift.” 

In addition, Wendy van de Bogart, who will be stepping down after nine years with Little League, was honored for service, starting as a coordinator for the clinic division. 

“Wendy’s dedication to to the league is something that helps you all,” umpire in chief Bob Barnes said at the event. 


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