Hollidaysburg LL coach well aware of Pennsylvania representative
LL World Series
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Pennsylvania is represented in the 2026 Little League World Series in South Williamsport, and Hollidaysburg's Charlie Burger knows the team real well.
East Side of West Chester, one of 10 United States teams and 20 overall, will begin play in the two-week tournament on Friday night after winning the Mid-Atlantic Regional this past Friday in Bristol, Conn.
Before regionals, East Side played the Hollidaysburg 12U team twice during the state tournament in Pittston and won both times.
"I think (East Side) is an all-around solid team,'' Burger said. "They're solid defensively, and they have a good combination of guys hitting for average and guys who can put it over the fence. They're well-balanced, and they have two strong pitchers in Ryan Donnelly and Cole Warner.''
The Hollidaysburg-East Side connection actually goes back two years, when Hollidaysburg's then 10U team won the state championship with East Side among the teams in the tournament. Hollidaysburg went on to win the Mid-Atlantic Regional and the East Regional championships in 2024.
The teams ended up playing three times last year in the 11U state tournament with East Side winning the first meeting, Hollidaysburg winning the second, and East Side knocking out Hollidaysburg in the third game.
All eyes were on the two teams when they met in the first round of this year's state tournament on July 27.
"I think everyone talked about it being the state championship game,'' Burger said. "It was either going to be Hollidaysburg or East Side moving along from states and to Williamsport. And that's exactly what happened.''
Hollidaysburg had East Side on the ropes in that game, winning 1-0 heading to the top of the sixth inning behind pitcher Aiden Anderson's two-hitter.
But East Side was able to get a runner on base, and Darren Molineux drilled a one-out home run to put his team up 2-1. Hollidaysburg put two runners on base in the bottom of the sixth but didn't score.
"That was a very good representation of how fickle baseball can be -- one swing and the tides turned,'' Burger said. "Their No. 8 hitter got a hold of one and put it over the fence. That's a good example of how heartbreaking and exciting baseball can be.''
After losing that game, Hollidaysburg faced the tough task of having to win six straight games. Hollidaysburg was able to win two games but faced East Side again in an elimination game.
East Side ended up knocking out Hollidaysburg, 9-3, on Aug. 1.
"We got out to an early lead,'' Burger said. "The game continued to stay close for four-to-five innings, but we had a few mistakes, and errors will kill you. When you're dealing with 12-year-old athletes, the mental part of the game is the most challenging.''
After beating Hollidaysburg, East Side defeated Newtown and Blue Mountain -- a team it had lost to earlier in the tournament -- twice to win the state championship. Then last week, East Side went 3-0 in the Mid-Atlantic tournament, outscoring its opponents, 21-2, to punch its ticket to Williamsport.
"Win every inning -- that's been our motto ever since we started playing together," East Side manager Bob Hennessey told CBS Philadelphia earlier this week. "We don't want to look ahead too far. We want to take it one game at a time, and I feel like as long as we do that, we'll do pretty well."
Burger said he sent Hennessey a few messages, congratulating him on winning regionals and wishing him good luck in the World Series.
"We've gotten to know them pretty well,'' Burger said. "They're a good group and well-coached. ... California and Hawaii are always really tough, and I know the Southeast team is strong this year. But East Side will hold its own, and I'm certain they'll win at least a few games.''
Burger said he'll be rooting for East Side but is not making any plans with his team to travel to Williamsport and watch the Pennsylvania squad in person.
"I don't know if the boys would be up for that,'' Burger said. "That was their goal, to make it to Williamsport, and it was tough (after getting eliminated) trying to talk to 12-year-olds having tears in their eyes. A lot of the boys are now playing football and moving on. But at the end of the day, they should be proud of what they accomplished, and they all have good things ahead.''