Page 12 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, JUly 11, 2025 After starting off the District 16 tournament with a 3-0 record, the Saugus Little League 10-year-old stars drop two to Lynnfield in the final round By Joe McConnell T he 2025 Saugus Little League 10-year-old allstar team finished up the District 16 tournament with a 3-2 record after making it to the championship game, where they lost to Lynnfield, 16-1 on July 3. But that three-inning mercy rule loss came after they dropped a hard-fought 10-7 decision to that same Lynnfield team. It was only the team’s first loss in this double elimination tournament. Their overall performance throughout the districts, however, quite possibly bodes well for the Williamsport Tournament during the next two years, when many of them will be together again to compete in the granddaddy of all youth sports events. The Saugus 10s started off this year’s districts by defeating Salem handily, 11-1. They then thumped East Lynn, 18-1, before shutting out Wyoma, 3-0 to complete pool play with a perfect record. These wins paved the way for the aforementioned games against Lynnfield in the final round. “The boys had a great hitting tournament up until that second loss to Lynnfield,” said head coach Craig Smith. “Lynnfield scored eight runs in the very first inning, and we just couldn’t recover (from that outburst). Lynnfield had to beat us twice, because we were undefeated after pool play, but we just couldn’t finish the job.” The Saugus 10s consisted of The 2025 Saugus Little League 10-year-old all-stars made it all the way to the District 16 championship game, before being eliminated by Lynnfield on July 5. They are, from left, second row, head coach Craig Smith, Xander Martinez, Ryan LaCorcia, Jovan Basta, assistant coach Travis Keohane, Cody Keohane, Riley Renfrew and assistant coach Alex Renfrew. Front row, Grayson Solomon, Tony Smith, Jack Freeling, Jack Brown, Braedon Reynolds and Ben O’Connell. Missing from photo, Shane McBrine. (Courtesy photo) Braden Reynolds, Grayson, Solomon, Jovan Basta, Ben O’Connell, Xander Martinez, Riley Renfrew, Ryan, LaCorcia and Shane McBrine. There were also four nine-year-olds on the team who rounded out the roster, and they included Tony Smith, Cody Keohane, Jack Freeling and Jack Brown. With his new prescription drug order, Trump fixes what Biden broke By Larry Bucshon A mericans have been clamoring for sensible prescription drug reform for years. With the stroke of his pen, President Donald Trump answered that call. His executive order aims to bring down drug prices while “once again putting Americans first.” Luckily, it specifically addresses one of the serious flaws in the Biden administration’s Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program -- an oversight that has discouraged investment in affordable, widely used medications. This reform could deliver major savings to patients -- without undermining the innovation that drives medical breakthroughs. Now it’s up to Congress to finish the job. The reform in question addresses a flaw in the Medicare price-setting scheme put in place by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. That law gave the Secretary of Health and Human Services sweeping new authority to impose price controls on certain drugs covered by Medicare. But it also drew an arbitrary line between different types of medicines by giving biologics, which are made from living organisms, 13 years before price-setting kicks in, while small-molecule drugs, like pills and capsules, get just nine. That four-year gap makes no clinical or economic sense. Many of the most important drugs in history, from aspirin to statins to HIV treatments, are small-molecule medicines. Yet innovators are now steering investment away from them. According to a recent study, investment in small-molecule drugs has already dropped by 68%. And compared to preIRA levels, new small-molecule cancer drug development programs fell over 40% last year. President Trump’s order calls for correcting this imbalance. The Republican-backed EPIC Act offers the clearest solution, aligning the treatment of small-molecule drugs with biologics by extending the price-setting window to 13 years. My hope is that this legislation will pass quickly with bipartisan support. Passing EPIC would protect innovation, preserve patient access, and deliver on the president’s promise to fix what the last administration got wrong. The order also acknowledges the critical role of intellectual property (IP) rights in bringing new drugs to patients -- and promises to optimize those protections in ways that improve access and lower drug costs. Patents and other IP protections play a central role in pushing medical science forward. The previous administration’s efforts to undermine these essential tools posed a direct threat to the foundations of America’s innovation-driven economy. Equally encouraging is the executive order’s treatment of the 340B Prescription Drug Program. The program was originally designed to help safety-net providers offer affordable medications to low-income patients. Yet today, less than 40 percent of hospitals that use the program are in underserved areas. Altogether, this order is a PRESCRIPTION DRUG | SEE PAGE 21
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