FAIRFIELD – For Elicit Brewing General Manager Mary O’Berry, the past week has been party central as the Manchester-based brewery/restaurant has hosted three Fairfield National Little League World Series parties.
On Monday night nearly 500 fans, friends, and families of the 3-0 Little League baseball team led by pitcher Luca Pelligrini cheered on the team as they advanced to the U.S. national championship semifinal game vs. Summerlin South Little League from Nevada by defeating Sioux Falls, South Dakota (Midwest), 13-1.
The next game is scheduled for 3 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 19. And there will be a fourth watch party at Elicit, according to O’Berry.
“It’s by far our busiest one,” O’Berry said about the third watch party Monday night. “We are so excited for Wednesday.”
For Elicit, which has been at the 111 Black Rock Turnpike location since February 2024, Monday’s game drew the biggest crowd since the UConn men’s basketball championship game in April of that year, according to O’Berry.
“We fit 200 just in the beer garden and another 200-300 in here [the main bar],” she said about the crowd Monday night. Monday’s party was sponsored by Fairfield University, a supporter of Fairfield National Little League.
The party was a family affair as parents and children alike watched the game on all different sized TVs situated throughout the bar/restaurant. As a lot of the kids enjoyed video games and skeeball, the adults partook in the many different home-brewed ales, lager, cider, and all things beer along with dinner.
A lot of the conversation centered on the play of Manager Brian Palazzolo’s squad and the experience some have had playing with or coaching the players.
“We went to the game on Wednesday,” said Dana Baer, whose family grabbed one of the exclusive nooks to watch the game. “That’s where we got the [merch]. It’s worth the trip. It was a great stadium.”
She told the Fairfield County Business Journal about her family’s journey on Aug. 12 when Fairfield defeated Texas, 1-0. Her husband coaches the 6-year-olds Double A.
Another fan at Monday’s party with a personal interest in the game was Chris Pannozzo.
“These kids are like 44-1 over the last three years in the 11 and 12’s,” he said of the Fairfield National team. “The atmosphere here is great. It doesn’t matter National or American. If they win tonight, it should be very interesting.”
Pannozzo, who had coached many of the players on the Fairfield team prior to this tournament run, went to Friday night’s 5-1 win over Honolulu. “It was a tremendous experience for the kids,” he said. “The atmosphere was great. It’s something they will always remember for the rest of their lives.”
As for Monday’s game, Midwest took an early 1-0 lead. But Fairfield overpowered the South Dakota team with 10 runs in the top of the sixth inning after taking a 3-1 lead into the frame.
In the top of the fourth inning, Fairfield tied the score on a triple by Tommy D’Amura that drove in Logan Gryga for the team’s first run.
Jimmy Taxiltaridis then drove in D’Amura with a double for Fairfield to take a 2-1 lead.
Colin Curley hit a double in the fifth, which scored Ben Herbst, for Fairfield to increase the lead. D’Amura drove in two more runs in the sixth to give Fairfield a 5-1.
Jimmy Taxiltaridis also drove in another run in the sixth to push the score to 6-1.
There have been 21 Connecticut teams that have gone to the Little League World Series. Four have won the title, including the 1951 team from Stamford and Trumbull National in 1989. Fairfield is hoping to be the next.
