The second year of Little League's double elimination brackets is upon us, and yet the two different pods are severely unbalanced. The U.S. pod including the West, Great Lakes, New England, and Mid-Atlantic is significantly stronger than the pod containing Midwest, Northwest, Southeast, and Southwest. Today we'll preview the stronger pod in my opinion.
GREAT LAKES
North Oldham, Kentucky
Overall 2011 Team Record: 13-3
Great Lakes Pool Play History (Since 2002): 9-18, 2002 LLWS Champions
Kentucky Pool Play History: 5-8 (3-0 in 2002)
Team ERA: 1.27
Team Batting Avg: .357 (4 players over .300)
Key Players: Griffin McLarty (Hitting: .647, 1 HR, 8 RBI, Pitching: 14.2 Inn., 30K's, 0 runs), Jacob Bates (.714, 1 HR, 2 3B, 2 2B, 9 RBI)
Projections: Kentucky is led by its 6'0'' right hander, Griffin McLarty. The fireballer dominated on the mound in the Great Lakes regional and was nearly impossible to get out at the plate. Jacob Bates was the star of the offense last week hitting over .700. McLarty will face possibly the deepest offensive lineup in Williamsport with Pennsylvania, and a major home crowd to boot, but good pitching always beats good hitting. The factor in the game and in Kentucky's chances to advance to the US championship is always pitch count for McLarty. The more he's eligible to pitch, the better chances Kentucky has at advancing.
MID-ATLANTIC
Keystone, Pennsylvania
Overall 2011 Team Record: 18-1
Mid-Atlantic Pool Play History: 10-16
Pennsylvania Pool Play Record: 1-2
Team ERA: 1.03
Team Bat Avg: .380 (10 players over .300)
Key Players: Landon Breon (2 HR), Alex Garbrick(.579), Talon Falls (2 HR), Tyler McCloskey(HR, 3 Saves)
Projections: Keystone is a team that looks amazing on paper and in the field. Since I've been attending the Mid-Atlantic regional, Keystone was the most sure-fire champion of all. This week will let us know if that was the result of a weak field or if Keystone is the first team to advance to U.S. championship from the Mid-Atlantic since Danny Almonte's illegal team in 2001. Opening up against a powerful arm from the Great Lakes won't help things, but with the depth of lineup and on the mound, it's very possible that Pennsylvania can advance to at least the pod championship, even if its through the loser's bracket. Expect a major home crowd to boost the boys from Clinton County.
NEW ENGLAND
Cumberland American, Rhode Island
Overall 2011 Team Record: 13-2
New England Pool Play History: 13-14
Rhode Island Pool Play History: 1-2
Team ERA: 4.41
Team Bat Avg: .273 (5 players over .300, 7 players with 1 hit or less)
Key Players: Ryan McCormick (.579, 3 HR), Chris Wright (.389, 3 HR, 11 RBI)
Projections: Cumberland, Rhode Island was the third seed in the New England bracket, and possibly the fourth most talented team. How did a team with an ERA over 4 and a batting average under .300 make it to the LLWS? With great timing. The Cumberland bats were quiet through four games before exploding in the elimination round. Those bats will need to stay hot to prevent a two-and-out situation. The first matchup with the powerful squad from Ocean View will be very tough to be competitive in.
WEST
Ocean View, California
Overall Team Record: 18-1
West Pool Play Record: 21-6
SoCal Pool Play Record: 8-1
Team ERA: 0.53
Team Bat Avg: .351 (9 players over .300)
Key Players: Hagen Danner (.476, HR, 5 RBI, 0.00 ERA), Nick Pratto (.389, 2 RBI)
Projections: USA Champs. I don't think there's any doubt. The biggest negative against Ocean View is that everyone throws their best against them. The only pitcher I can see in the USA bracket that can out-duel any of Ocean View's pitchers is Fromm from Georgia. Otherwise, the staff of Danner, Pratto, and Salzburg will eat anybody up. The only true knock on Ocean View is that they don't hit the ball, but 9 players hitting .300 in a tough regional against top competition proves otherwise. Pratto, the team's best hitter, was barely productive all last week. If he breaks out, it's good night, Irene. Look for Ocean View to handle Rhode Island and then face a good-hitting Pennsylvania team or a McLarty-less Kentucky.
Check back tomorrow for the final four team previews from the USA. It's going to be an exciting 11 days!
7 comments:
not to point out mistakes, I think your doing a great job better predictions I've seen but I don't think you counted LLWS records from 2001 because then Great lakes records goes to 12-18 rhode island goes to 1-5 and so cal goes down to10-2 and Kentucky only has 4 wins there only other win cam in 2004
I did it since 2002 because the 2001 LLWS was messed up by the Almonte team being involved.
Thank you for the Kentucky correction. For some reason I assumed Logan County won a game.
good work on the blog section1 guy, i enjoy the llws as much as anybody. i saw each us qualifier at least once and most of them twice and in my opinion there are 4 stud players in the field in this order. danner from cali, mclarty from kent, fromm from georgia, and mckenzie from montana. thats combining their arms with their bats. the guang kid from tampa florida wouldve been up there had they hung on to win their region. anyway, question for you. what do you think kentucky will do with mclarty on friday in terms of his pitch count ? if they burn his 85 pitches they will likely win, but then not be able to use him for their next two games, damaging their chances to move on. but if they yank him out to save him, they likely will not be able to conatin pa's bats. thoughts ?
You could of counted the records from great lakes west and new england from 2001 since those teams werent in almontes pool
If kentucky goes win win, mclarty pitches the first and 3rd game throwing 85. thats extremely hard to do considering the 2nd game would be vs Cal. i think they will throw him 85 unless they get a very big lead. If they throw him 85 that is probably the only game he pitches.
I dont know how the #2 for kentucky is. if he throws upper 60s or better, i would start him and see how it goes. you play to win the tournament not 1 game. if they win their first game and have mclarty avaible vs Cal, they have a good chance at the US final.
I would think that McLarty will start and go 35 against PA (this is what he did in Indy against the Indiana team in their opener), so that he is available for Game 2 vs. California (if they can overcome the PA home field advantage and the nerves of playing in front of 20,000 people). KY Coach Bates did an excellent job of managing his pitching in Indianapolis, and as always, that will be the key to advancing through the tournament.
Paramus should be representing the Mid-Atlantic but LL baseball assured PA of that win by taking a truly great pitcher off the mound. PA isn't that impressive, good, yes, but dominating, I don't really think so.
Post a Comment