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Little League fireworks will continue, well past the Fourth, as three more district 27 All-Star tournaments are set to kick-off in Naples, Monday, July 7.

Max Hasse Community Park, host of the 9- and 10-year-old baseball All-Star tournament set to conclude July 7, will be home for the 10- and 11-year-olds that same night. Three baseball teams, Greater Naples, Gulf Coast and Golden Gate National, will each play each other once, with the best record advancing to Sectionals.

The 11- and 12-year-old baseball division boasts a field of four teams including Golden Gate American, Greater Naples, North Naples and tournament host, Golden Gate National. They will begin tournament play at Golden Gate Community Park Monday night with a championship scheduled for July 10, at 7 p.m.

Naples Softball and Golden Gate Softball will each send one team to the 11- and 12-year-old tournament which will be played July 7-8, at Cambier Park.

The big fields at Golden Gate Community Park will be home to the Junior All-Stars of District 27. Leagues represented include Golden Gate National, Golden Gate American and Greater Naples. The team with the best record at the tournament conclusion, July 9, advances to Sectionals.

10-11'S

GOLDEN GATE NATIONALS

With nine returning players, the Golden Gate National 10- and 11- year-olds are hoping their All-Star experience can erase bad memories from a year ago.

As 9- and 10-year-olds, these same National players won a district title before one bad inning knocked them out of the sectional tournament. Now a year older and wiser, manager Dave Bullock’s players have turned last year’s loss into inspiration.

“They’re really focused and really motivated,” Golden Gate National league president Tony Scott said. “For them, not going to the state tournament will be a big disappointment. They want that sectional (championship) flag bad.”

Scott called this year’s team extremely well-rounded. Guided by six pitchers, Bullock’s squad plays solid defense on top of good hitting and base-running, Scott added.

GREATER NAPLES

It seems each All-Star manager has his own theory on what it takes to win a district championship. Count Jimmy Nocera in that group.

“It’s all about pitching when it gets to this point,” said Nocera, coach of the Greater Naples 10-11s. “Pitching is everything.”

If that’s the case, Nocera’s squad is looking pretty good. The Greater Naples team has four or five pitchers on its roster that were starters during the league’s regular season. The team is hoping that depth will get it past the district semifinals, where its season has ended the previous two summers.

Nocera’s team figures to have an advantage when it comes to chemistry, as well. The coach estimated 90 percent of his players have been on the same All-Star team for three years.

GULF COAST LITTLE LEAGUE

The Gulf Coast Little League’s struggle to find players has affected its All-Star teams this summer. As fewer kids play in the league, there is a smaller pool of All-Star talent from which to chose.

But, that won’t stop Geff Smith and his 10- and 11-year-old team from competing. Smith has compiled a roster of 10 players, nine of whom are 11 years old, despite having to pick from just three regular season teams.

“We’ve got to start taking small strides to make our league competitive again,” Smith said. “A lot of leagues wouldn’t have put a team together just because of sheer (lack of) numbers.”

Smith, in his first year with Gulf Coast after moving from Sarasota, thinks his team can surprise some people. He said most important thing about this summer, though, is that the kids have fun.

11-12'S

GREATER NAPLES

If past results are any indication, Tony Repicky’s team should have a pretty successful summer.

The manager of North Naples 11- and 12-year-old All-Stars has 13 players on his roster, the majority of whom played together two years ago on the league’s 9-10 team. That team won a district championship on its way to a berth in the state tournament.

After losing to Golden Gate National in last year’s district finals with a few of those players, this year’s North Naples team is looking forward to another deep tournament run. Repicky knows it won’t be easy.

“Every team is competition,” said Repicky, who has coached little league for 12 years and managed four All-Star teams. “We’ve got to be consistent. We have to give 100 percent effort in practice and bring 100 percent effort into games.”

Bryan Smith’s team has the experience to make a run at a district title in his first year managing an All-Star team. You won’t hear his players talking about a championship, though.

Nine of the 10 players on the Greater Naples 11- and 12-year-old team have previous All-Star experience. Seven of them won a district championship on the league’s 10-11 team last summer, while the other two played in the 11-12 final before losing to North Naples.

Despite the championship experience, Smith’s team is all-business.

“I haven’t heard them say a word about winning the district or that they’re expected or entitled to win,” Smith said. “This bunch of kids just has a great work ethic and a wonderful attitude.”

GOLDEN GATE AMERICAN

As in years past, this year’s Golden Gate American 11-12s are deep with pitching and solid on defense.

But if the team hopes to get past the district semifinals where its summer ended last season, manager Jason Pratt said his players need to step up the offense.

“Hitting is what we’re focusing on,” said Pratt, in his third year coaching All-Stars for the league. “What our league has always lacked is an aggressive offense. We’ve got to score runs.”

Pratt thinks this team could do it. With about half his players being returning All-Stars, Pratt described the squad as balanced and said his players have speed, finesse and power.

GOLDEN GATE NATIONAL

The National all-star team has six players back from last year’s team and five newcomers. Because they have less experience than other district teams, manager Mark Miles thinks his players might be overlooked.

Just they way they want it.

Despite having few returning players last year, the same Golden Gate National players made it to the 10-11 tournament championship round. Miles thinks his group can have similar success this summer.

“We’re going to surprise some people,” said Miles, in his second season coaching his son Blake’s all-star team. “We’re in the same situation as last year – we’re under the radar.”

Miles said this year’s roster includes no standouts or superstars, just 11 solid all-around players.

GOLDEN GATE SOFTBALL

Don Retallick has a pretty well-rounded team coming into the All-Star tournament this season.

One of the things that makes him confident this year, besides the two players returning from last season’s team, is a big group of players coming from last year’s district All-Star tournament 9-10-year-old winning team.

Moreover, he has had this group playing in as many games leading up to the tournament as possible, and he feels the results speak for themselves.

“We go to as many travel games as we can fit in our schedule and we’re doing the same things we did last year,” he said. “We’re just having fun and keeping our focus; this is a group of girls that has played for a lot of years now.”

NAPLES SOFTBALL

Tom Connors might not have as much experience on his team as the Golden Gate team has, but he is sure that when the two get to play each other it will be a close match.

“I think the girls are young, but they get along well,” he said. “They are still learning a little bit, but they focus on what we tell them and they work hard.”

Conners does have one thing going for him – the strength of the team appears to be its offense, and with a little help from the girls in the pitching circle, Naples has the tools to make a run.

“I don’t want expectations to be really high. We are going to face a very good Golden Gate team,” he said. “But the more games we get under our belt the better we are going to be.”

GREATER NAPLES

Heading into this year’s junior All-Star tournament, Nappy Fernandez has the best of both worlds on his team. Greater Naples only had two teams this season, but according to him the combination is showing plenty of promise.

“We have some strong pitching with some hard throwers; we have some strong kids that can hit, too, with a lot of heart,” he said. “Versatility is definitely our strong point; you aren’t allowed to pitch then catch, so you have to be versatile in what you do.”

That versatility comes primarily in the form players Alex Valencour, pitcher and catcher; Brendan Long, pitcher, catcher and infielder; Chris Schaedel, shortstop, pitcher; and Nathan Jones, catcher, shortstop.

Golden Gate National is more than happy with the changes to this years junior all-star tournament following the creation of District 27 and breaking off from District 18.

For one the field of teams is smaller going from six last year to three this time around. Also those three teams will battle it out on National’s homefield at Golden Gate Community Park.

“Our boys should be much more comfortable playing on our field,” said National manager Tony Scott. “They know what to expect with the different scenarios and where the ground balls are going to bounce.”

Scott says that the advantage will give them a better chance to move onto the sectional tournament hosted by last years junior district champ, San Carlos Little League.

Scott likes the way his crew matches up with that of Greater Naples and will be looking to pitchers Andrew Hill, Chris Robinson and Diego Barbra to help carry the team.

“We are a well-rounded team and have a solid defense with good hitting that can put the ball in play,” Scott added. “They have a tendency to be slow starting but they finish strong. Our focus needs to be on every pitch, from the first to the last.”

GOLDEN GATE AMERICAN

When Pete Stelzer isn’t re-working practice schedules around summer thunderstorms, he’s re-working the concept of “team” with his Golden Gate American juniors.

His team, comprised of three regular season squads, has had to deal with a couple of factors besides nature when meshing them together.

“It’s an interesting thing because they were opponents all season and there was some trash talk in the regular season,” he said. “They’re a good group of boys though and we practice pretty much every day.”

What Stelzer is really hoping for is that his group plays to its potential in the areas it is strong and gets by where it may be a bit short.

“I would say that we have a pretty good fielding team, but we might be a little shallow in pitching compared to the other teams we’ll be playing,” he said.