Throughout most of the big states in the country, it’s
sectional week. Everyone is a district champion from here on out. Without
seeing the teams in person it’s nearly impossible to predict who is strong
based on score-watching, but past history of leagues, districts, sections, etc
is a decent predictor. Success as 10-year olds and 11-years olds helps too.
Based on what we’ve seen so far, here’s some notes on the big surprises and
disappointments around the country.
Biggest Surprise
Pennsylvania: Keystone Little League. The boys from Lock Haven were the darlings of the Little League World Series in 2011, and their younger compatriots are trying to equal the feat. Keystone didn’t win the district championship when they were 10 years old and they didn’t win the district championship when they were 11 years old. In fact, Loyalsock won the state title from Keystone’s district last year. So what has Keystone accomplished thus far?
Keystone has wins of 26-0, 21-1, 27-1, 14-1, and 14-3. That final game was over Loyalsock. They have yet to play a 6-inning game. In five games, they have 25 home runs. Definitely a team to watch.
Pennsylvania: Keystone Little League. The boys from Lock Haven were the darlings of the Little League World Series in 2011, and their younger compatriots are trying to equal the feat. Keystone didn’t win the district championship when they were 10 years old and they didn’t win the district championship when they were 11 years old. In fact, Loyalsock won the state title from Keystone’s district last year. So what has Keystone accomplished thus far?
Keystone has wins of 26-0, 21-1, 27-1, 14-1, and 14-3. That final game was over Loyalsock. They have yet to play a 6-inning game. In five games, they have 25 home runs. Definitely a team to watch.
Biggest Disappointment
Tennessee: Goodlettsville Little League. The league that
made it all the way to the Promised Land last season was primed for another big
run. Goodlettsville has come out of nowhere to become a Little League power
with dominant champions at every level now, but not so fast. South Nashville
Little League had something to say about it and beat Goodlettsville twice to win
the district title.
Teams to Watch
New England: One of the smaller regions in terms of size and colder regions in terms of climate, New England actually packs a good punch in baseball and is tough to read this early. South Burlington Vermont almost pulled off one of the more dramatic upsets in regional history last year and they return 5-6 players from that team. They won’t be a favorite if they get to the regional, but expect them to get there.
New England: One of the smaller regions in terms of size and colder regions in terms of climate, New England actually packs a good punch in baseball and is tough to read this early. South Burlington Vermont almost pulled off one of the more dramatic upsets in regional history last year and they return 5-6 players from that team. They won’t be a favorite if they get to the regional, but expect them to get there.
Others: North Andover East MA, Lincoln RI, Westport CT, Saco
ME, and Rye NH.
Mid-Atlantic: There are more leagues in the Mid-Atlantic
region than any other region in the country. It’s extremely hard to get out of
certain states, such as New Jersey. The best teams don’t win the region most
years. Right now, Nottingham NJ looks like a good bet to make a run. One of the
most storied programs in the East, Nottingham reached the LLWS back in 1992.
They rolled easily through a tough district and have a good schedule for the
sections. If they escape New Jersey, watch out.
Others: Massapequa Coast NY, West Point PA, Berlin MD, Capitol City DC, and Canal DE.
Others: Massapequa Coast NY, West Point PA, Berlin MD, Capitol City DC, and Canal DE.
Southeast: The Southeast has become the land of Warner
Robins GA. The league is monstrous. People move there to play baseball and they
love their sports. WRALL challenges for regional titles year after year out of Georgia now. It's amazing to someone from the northeast to see a league threaten for a regional title every single year. We're used to more depth up here, I guess. Either way though, Georgia Little League is certainly on a high right now. Plant City FL
might be a team to watch early on. They won the state title a year ago
and Florida is always strong.
Southwest: Texas and Louisiana are the powers in this region
and both states have its share of great programs. Watch for the Lafayettes and
South Lake Charles’ from Louisiana and in Texas watch for Midland Northern in
the West and Pearland or Sweeny in the East.
West: Southern California is always packed with talent. The
winner is a LLWS favorite right off the bat. The team on the tip of everyone’s
tongues for right now is Sherman Oaks. There’s a long way to go though. In
Northern California, Santa Cruz’s name has popped up with some big time
pitching, MLB pedigrees, and big bats.
The Northwest, Great Lakes, and Midwest don’t have a ton of
states with sectionals, so their district tournaments are barely finished. It’s
still way too early to even pretend to have teams to watch in these regions
currently. We’ll get back to them later on.
We’ll have tons of updates early on from the East, especially New York and New Jersey in the next week. We’d love to get contributors from other regions as well.
Do you have blog ideas and want me to write about them? Do you want to contribute content to the blog yourself? If so, shoot me an email at section1guycom@aol.com.
Join the Little League World Series discussion on Facebook with some of the best baseball minds around right here: Little League World Series Discussion
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We’ll have tons of updates early on from the East, especially New York and New Jersey in the next week. We’d love to get contributors from other regions as well.
Do you have blog ideas and want me to write about them? Do you want to contribute content to the blog yourself? If so, shoot me an email at section1guycom@aol.com.
Join the Little League World Series discussion on Facebook with some of the best baseball minds around right here: Little League World Series Discussion
Like our Facebook page: Little League Insider
Please spread the word about the blog to anyone who loves the Little League World Series. For the hard work on this blog, Please...
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