We hit some of the Northwest, New England, Midwest, and Europe today on our road trip around the Little League world. I personally went out to my home section's winners' bracket final today in New York Section 4. Pearl River Little League continued to dominate its opponents after a bit of a slow start against Fishkill. Sean Flaherty proved to me once again that he's an elite hitter in this age group with his fifth home run in four games and a HUGE three-run hit. He's for real. I'm not sure Pearl River has the pitching to bring home a state championship this year, but they certainly hit up and down the order. They bunt the heck out of the ball too. Away we go.........
New Hampshire
New Hampshire
The state finals are set in New Hampshire. Salem won a tough
District 1 with a walk-off home run from John Olivo to pull out a 9-7 victory
in the “if” game. Bedford forced the “if” game over the weekend with a 19-1
thrashing of Salem.
Salem will face Rye LL from District 2 in the best-of-three state finals. Rye romped through its district unbeaten and won the state championship as 10-year olds two years ago. Expect to see a lot of long balls.
Salem will face Rye LL from District 2 in the best-of-three state finals. Rye romped through its district unbeaten and won the state championship as 10-year olds two years ago. Expect to see a lot of long balls.
Germany
KMC Little League of Rammstein AFB is looking to get back to Williamsport in the newly created Europe & Africa region. KMC is 3-0 so far with a couple of thrashings in its last two games. The American boys from Germany have a lot of pop in their bats.
KMC Little League of Rammstein AFB is looking to get back to Williamsport in the newly created Europe & Africa region. KMC is 3-0 so far with a couple of thrashings in its last two games. The American boys from Germany have a lot of pop in their bats.
Nebraska
Kearney went all the way to the Little League World Series last year and now they’ve caught the bug. Kearney waltzed into the state tournament with big victories over its district foes. Kearney returns at least two players with LLWS experience as well as a coach. That’s important when/if they reach the regionals again.
Rhode Island
The Rhode Island state tournament is always one of the toughest in the country. All four districts are strong and they love their baseball. Perennial-power Lincoln is back in the state tourney after a few years and they dominated too. Johnston should come out of District 1 and they look very strong. Coventry upended the 11-year old state champions in their district.
Kearney went all the way to the Little League World Series last year and now they’ve caught the bug. Kearney waltzed into the state tournament with big victories over its district foes. Kearney returns at least two players with LLWS experience as well as a coach. That’s important when/if they reach the regionals again.
Rhode Island
The Rhode Island state tournament is always one of the toughest in the country. All four districts are strong and they love their baseball. Perennial-power Lincoln is back in the state tourney after a few years and they dominated too. Johnston should come out of District 1 and they look very strong. Coventry upended the 11-year old state champions in their district.
Washington
Washington is into its winners bracket semifinals right now and quite frankly, I don’t know the teams that are there. None of them have a long term pedigree in the state. There’s no Kents, Redmond’s, Richland’s, etc… It’ll be interesting. West Seattle had the biggest blowout victory, but also had a bye.
Oregon
I don’t have any news out of Oregon yet, but I had to go on one of my scheduling rants. I’ve always hated single elimination at every level. It’s atrocious, especially after pool play. Well, Oregon decided to find out who the best team in the state is this year with a single elimination tournament of nine teams. They all play like 3-4 pool play seeding games that mean nothing, then play single elimination from there on out. It is completely mind-boggling to me.
Washington is into its winners bracket semifinals right now and quite frankly, I don’t know the teams that are there. None of them have a long term pedigree in the state. There’s no Kents, Redmond’s, Richland’s, etc… It’ll be interesting. West Seattle had the biggest blowout victory, but also had a bye.
Oregon
I don’t have any news out of Oregon yet, but I had to go on one of my scheduling rants. I’ve always hated single elimination at every level. It’s atrocious, especially after pool play. Well, Oregon decided to find out who the best team in the state is this year with a single elimination tournament of nine teams. They all play like 3-4 pool play seeding games that mean nothing, then play single elimination from there on out. It is completely mind-boggling to me.
Vermont
South Burlington continued its quest towards a repeat trip to Bristol CT for the New England regional. The boys from Burlington routed everyone in their district including a 14-1 victory in the final. They have approximately 5-6 players back from last year’s run in the regional.
South Burlington continued its quest towards a repeat trip to Bristol CT for the New England regional. The boys from Burlington routed everyone in their district including a 14-1 victory in the final. They have approximately 5-6 players back from last year’s run in the regional.
Delaware
The big news in Delaware today is that Newark National is looking great again. National has won back-to-back state championships and then went 7-1 in pool play at the Mid-Atlantic regional in those years. A 1-0 loss to Par-Troy East NJ kept them from Williamsport last year. Canal from Wilmington was supposed to be the state favorite, but Newark put a hurting on them tonight with a 10-2 victory behind Nate Hardcastle, the lone returner from last year’s 12-year old team. Watch out for the Nats.
The big news in Delaware today is that Newark National is looking great again. National has won back-to-back state championships and then went 7-1 in pool play at the Mid-Atlantic regional in those years. A 1-0 loss to Par-Troy East NJ kept them from Williamsport last year. Canal from Wilmington was supposed to be the state favorite, but Newark put a hurting on them tonight with a 10-2 victory behind Nate Hardcastle, the lone returner from last year’s 12-year old team. Watch out for the Nats.
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1 comment:
Check out the Caribbean Regional live here:
http://www.littleleague.org/worldseries/series/llbb/qualify/caribbean.htm
Since LL cracked down and divided Curaçao into 3 leagues the Region has opened up to new faces at Williamsport, but as with Taiwan, teams find a way back to Willy with hard work and dedication and perhaps a little sprinkle of boundary issues which the other league from Curaçao has claimed from this years favorite to repeat as Caribbean Champions. Could be just a sore loser factor since that league has not made it back to Willy since the LL crackdown.
With a masterful pool play plan and championship round created to help the Host country make the finals; it looks like Puerto Rico is the country that stands to take the easy ride to the final and perhaps upset the (boundary issue) favorites from Curacao. Watch live for free at website above.
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