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WESTON, Conn. The Weston Little League Super 9s baseball blue team advanced to the championship in a six-game tournament in Monroe in early July before losing to Trumbull, which was quite an accomplishment for a small-town team.
They never played at that level before but they figured it out and got to the final game, playing against championship-caliber teams like Fairfield and Trumbull, said Seve Esposito, who coaches the team that includes his son, Dante.
Esposito is a talented coach who was nominated for the Hilton Honors Outstanding Coach award, sponsored by Hilton Worldwide and Little League Baseball and Softball.
Esposito is one of five finalists, and said the winner will be announced this week. Its cool for our town to get the recognition, and the culture here is changing as far as being more competitive, he said.
Its been only a year since Wilton entered travel teams that play summer baseball games against towns in Fairfield County.
There was a Super 8 team last year and this year we have 7-, 8- and two 9-year-old teams, Esposito said.
The Super 9s blue team has been playing three games a week and had one scheduled Saturday against North Stamford.
When asked about his coaching philosophy, Esposito said, Kids want to be pushed and they respond so well to criticism and praise. If its positive criticism they dont make the same mistake twice and they appreciate positive reinforcement.
Everyone thinks of themselves as one team, not a bunch of individuals. They all have equal playing time and guys earn their status.
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