It was no coincidence that pitcher Bryan Johnson drew the starting assignment for the Atlee All-Stars in the Little League Junior Division District V championship game. On a solid, deep Atlee team, Johnson has been the ace all season. However, the fact that the championship game fell on Johnson’s 15th birthday only added icing to the cake when he delivered a complete game shut-out of Tuckahoe American to help his team claim the District V Juniors title 10-0.

  But the win and championship run were not Johnson’s alone. Atlee delivered an all-around solid performance from the opening pitch of the tournament to virtually breeze to the title.

  “This team is loaded,” said manager Marty Johnson. “A lot of these kids play together on a travel team. They all decided to come back for one more year in Little League and try to get this whole thing. It’s a loaded group so my job’s pretty easy.”

  For Johnson, the talented squad is any coach’s dream. “I could take my lineup and flip-flop it the other way and we’d be just as good,” he said. “We’ve got 12 kids that can really hit.” A solid sign of the team’s depth came in the fact that they won the championship without the services of their best hitter, Ryan Bettinger, who is out for the remainder of the season with an injury.

  It was no slam-bang performance that carried Atlee to the title win but rather a workman like effort that kept chipping away at Tuckahoe’s defense inning by inning.

  Atlee’s Lew Johnson got things going for the All-Stars in the top of the first after being walked. A steal of second then third put Johnson in scoring position and he came home on a sacrifice to center by Brent West.

  In the bottom of the second Atlee showed why its defense has carried it by executing the first of three double plays in the game.

  In the top of the third, the All-Stars added to their lead when Bryan Johnson stole second after being walked.  And it was West once again who picked up the RBI, driving Johnson home on a single to center.

  Tuckahoe threatened in the bottom of the third on back to back singles to center by Scott Lamothe and Dave Dwight. But Atlee’s Connor Overton took a grounder to short and turned it into the second double play of the game by the All-Stars.

  Atlee padded its lead further in the top of the fifth after Lew Johnson singled to right and for the third consecutive time it was West who drove in the run, this time on a sacrifice to right.

  With a 3-0 lead, the All-Stars broke the game open in the top of the sixth by scoring seven runs following a controversial play. With Jake Smith and Thomas Pulisic on base, Atlee’s Jacob Hurd hit a shot to Tuckahoe pitcher Sam Slough. Instead of going to first, Slough threw home in an attempt to keep Smith from scoring. Smith collided with Tuckahoe catcher Sam Cadden and the home plate umpire called the runner out.

  Marty Johnson immediately came onto the field to protest. “The catcher dropped the ball but the umpire was behind him and couldn’t see it,” he said. The call was deferred to the first base official who declared Smith safe.

  Following the play, Pulisic, Hurd, Bryan Johnson, Lew Johnson, Bryant Lowry and West also scored to create the final margin. Then Bryan Johnson closed out game in solid fashion to pick up his birthday win. 

  Marty Johnson said the secret to his team’s success is their chemistry. “The kids love each other,” he said. “If one makes an error you don’t see them yelling, they’re patting each other on the back. This is a great group of kids.”

  The All-Stars advance to the 16 team, double elimination state tournament in Honaker, Va. beginning July 18.