First Casualty of Pool Play/Single Elimination Goes Down

With an 85-pitch limit on ace Elijah Dunham, Golfmoor, Indiana had to hope and pray they would hang onto a 3-1 lead in the sixth inning. They didn't. Golfmoor suffered its first loss in the entire summer. Undefeated through district, state, and regional play. They were dropped by one run to a team that would've been eliminated in a regular tournament setting. In my world, 2-2 should never advance, and a win over an undefeated team certainly shouldn't knock them out.

We'll see how the Great Lakes final plays out. It's never good for business when the best team doesn't advance.

In the Southeast region, it's Warner Robins playing for a regional title. Their nemesis, Mobile Westside, Alabama won't waiting to greet them. New Tampa, Florida reminded everyone which state owns the Southeast over time. Unfortunately for them, they had to burn their ace to get there. Warner Robins must've been jumping for joy. In a scary moment, Westside's pitcher threw a pitch and fell to the ground in sheer and absolute agony. He was holding his pitching arm. Here's hoping that's not a surgery that the pro-pitch count folks can put in their corner. No matter what, good luck to that young man.

In the Eastern region, my time as an uncle has come to an end. Barre, Vermont dropped its fourth game of the tournament, 12-4 to Cumberland, Rhode Island. The boys showed some heart by battling back and actually scoring some runs. They did it against the Rhode Island ace as well. The 55 runs that Vermont gave up were the most in the history of pool play in Bristol...for about five hours. Northwest Washington, DC lost 17-0 to Keystone, Pennsylvania and added to their own total of runs against. They ended up with an unheard of 63. The good news for DC is that they put the ball in play much more often than typical Washington, DC teams do, and they have eight 11-year olds on the team. They could contend for a semifinal spot next year. One of the team's two best players is Sydney Love-Baker, an 11-year old, and a girl. She is going to be a force in her final season of Little League next season.

In the Northwest, Billings, Montana is as high as the second seed for only the second time in ten years. Despite making the semifinals more often than not, no team from Montana has ever played in the Northwest Region final. A 9-5 winner over Lewiston, Idaho today.. Billings just needs to repeat that feat for the second consecutive day to make history.

In the Mid-Atlantic region, there is some interesting positions that teams are in after tonight's games. Great Kills, New York dropped an important game to Paramus, NJ putting them at 1-3. Undefeated Keystone, Pennsylvania plays 1-2 Conococheague, Maryland this morning in a resumed game from Tuesday. They are scoreless through two innings. If Pennsylvania wins, New York is in as the four seed and will play Pennsylvania in the semifinal. New York's ace will be on the mound. If Pennsylvania loses to Maryland, then NY is out and Maryland is in as the four seed without their number one pitcher (he's not an ace anyway). There's a possibility Pennsylvania could end up facing New Jersey with a loss, but they will also be without their ace. A loss sets Pennsylvania up MUCH better than a win. What do they do?

The next few days are shaping up wonderfully. I can't wait to break down the World Series participants next week. Also, with the east coast bias, I'll be posting all-region teams for the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions.

This blog is updated daily, so remember to always check back. Tell your buddies about it. There is no other Little League blog around. After the series, we'll be holding discussions about potential changes in Little League, youth baseball as a whole, theories, etc.

I'm also brainstorming a book idea that could be interesting. Stay tuned for more on that in a couple weeks.