The weekend was chock full of excitement for local Little League teams competing in their respective sectional tournaments.

For the District 16 champion Peabody West 10-year All-Stars, the drama carried over to Monday night in the Section 4 championship game at Tapley Field, where they squared off against District 13 champion Andover. 

Unfortunately for West, its dream of playing for a state championship was derailed with an 11-6 loss. Instead, it will be Andover advancing to the semifinals of the state tournament this weekend at Deb Samson Park in Sharon.

West’s Jake Gallagher led the offense with two hits, one run, and an RBI. Aidan Sencabaugh (1-for-3, R), Anthony Zanella (1-for-2, 2 R), Rocco Rizzo (1-for-3, RBI), Ray Stanziani (1-for-1, RBI) and Spencer McElhiney (1-for-2, R) also collected hits.

West finished 3-0 in pool play. It opened with a hard-fought 4-3 win against Hamilton-Wenham Friday night. Sencabaugh struck out seven batters across three innings and led the offense with a pair of hits. Zanella and Chase Kachinski mopped up in relief.

West followed with a 10-4 win Saturday over Andover. Kachinski and Colton Segee combined for the victory, holding Andover to just seven hits in six innings. The game was up for grabs late with West holding a slim 4-2 lead in the top of the fifth inning. With two outs, Zanella put the game out of reach with a monster grand slam over the left-field fence.

Sunday, West came from behind and made it three consecutive wins with a 10-6 triumph over District 15 champion Danvers National. Trailing 6-3 in the top of the sixth, West rallied with seven runs to steal it.

During the 11-year-old Section 4 tournament, at Salem’s Forest River Park, Lynnfield finished 2-1 and came up two runs short of advancing to the championship game. It opened with a 16-4 rout over Peabody West Friday night, then dropped its next game 10-6 to District 16 champion Danvers American.  Lynnfield kept its hopes alive with a 9-3 win over District 13’s Reading — only to be eliminated by the runs-allowed tiebreaker.

“Three teams were tied at 2-1 and we just needed Peabody to score a few runs in their game against Danvers American, but they got shut out,” said manager Casey Paton. “Such a bummer.”

The Peabody 11s also came up short at Forest River Park, finishing 0-3 in pool play.

The District 16 champion Lynnfield 12-year-old All-Star team opens the Section 4 tournament Wednesday against District 13 champion Stoneham at Andover’s Deyermond Field (5 p.m.). The teams also met in last year’s Section 4 tournament.

Lynnfield manager Chris Cavallo said it will all come down to pitching.

“The two teams are familiar with each other. They are a good team and have a few very good pitchers,” Cavallo said. “With the sectional being a modified double elimination over three days, pitching will be a key. We’ll need to be our very best on defense as well.”

Lynnfield entered the district tournament having won district titles as 11-year-olds in 2025 and 10-year-olds in 2024. The team raced through the tournament with a 5-0 record, outscoring opponents 45-3 en route to the title.