In a career of wins, Joe Vanelli remembers one loss well.
It was the summer of 2011, and he was playing on a good Braintree American All-Star team that battled Andover National to the wire in the Little League state championship game before falling, 7-6.
North Andover went on to the New England Regional in Bristol, Conn., where players got treated like rock stars by ESPN and got to play on TV. The team nearly made it all the way to the Little League World Series, losing to Cumberland, R.I., in the regional final.
The Braintree kids went home, but with motivation.
