Spanning the Little League Globe (7/19/14)

Here's our next look around the country to check in with our teams to watch and others still alive in their respective sections and states. Saturday opens play in many state tournaments around the country. We'll have another look around the horn late night then as well.


New York

Today, I watched Wappinger win the NY Section 4 crown for the first time since 1989. That was the last time anyone from NY D17 has won a section title. The boys from Wappinger have lost tough battles with Sherman Park the last two years in this bracket but finally got over the hump. They did it with their bats. The Top 5 hitters in the lineup are ridiculous threats to hit the ball out of the park, but at least 7 players went deep this week alone. The lineup features Kyle Caccamise at the top, one of my favorite "little guys" to watch ever.

East Meadow won the Long Island (Section 6) title for the first time ever with a 3-1 victory over Port Washington. That victory seals the deal for New York. None of the six teams that have reached the state tournament played in states as 10s or 11s.

Look for a New York State Tournament Preview this weekend!

Michigan

The Michigan state tournament opened today and it looks like one of the coolest events in the country. Sixteen district champions playing in four pools. Three rounds of single elimination after pool play is kind of rough though. The media coverage is spot on and we love that here at Little League Insider. Midland Northeast has won as 10-year olds and 11-year olds. They opened with a 12-3 victory today, so their title as favorites continues.

Missouri

What a story Joplin South could be this year. As most people know Joplin, it's the town that was devastated by a tornado back in 2011. Many players on this year's Joplin South team lost their homes. They also happen to be pretty good at baseball. They won district titles as 8-year olds and 9-year olds. They won the state title as 10-year olds. NINE of them played up on the 12-year old team last year and lost in the district title game to Webb City who eventually won the state title. They pushed Webb City to an "if" game. Now, this year, they rolled through their district and opened up the state tournament with a 12-2 victory.

Connecticut
Losers bracket action in the divisional round continued, setting up a rematch in Section 1 between Fairfield American and Norwalk. It's looking like the state champion is going to come from one of these two teams or Farmington who is killing everyone in their division.


New Jersey

Nottingham and Ocean Township played a classic losers bracket final on Friday with OT leading 11-5 heading to the bottom of the sixth inning, but the boys from Hamilton cracked a few home runs, and a two-run single ended it 12-11 in favor of Nottingham. The boys in the ugliest uniforms known to man (trust me on that one) will face off against Toms River Little League in the NJ Section 3 final. TRLL is the heavy favorite. In NJ Section 1, Somerset Hills won a slugfest over Ridgewood to reach the championship game. Ridgewood will face Sparta in the losers bracket. Monroe Township eliminated the 11-year old state champs from Erial. They'll face Haddonfield. Upper Township/Ocean City is in the winners bracket, and Elizabeth Elmora topped Nutley East to reach the Section 2 title game. They'll need to beat Wood-Ridge/Moonachie twice.

Massachusetts

Section 4 round-robin continued and Hamilton-Wenham got into the win column by blasting six home runs against North Andover American. Peabody West knocked off Wilmington to move to 2-0 and in the drivers seat for a berth in the section championship.

North Carolina

Southwest Forsyth made a statement in its dominant win over defending state champion, Myers Park Trinity, in the opening round, and continued that dominance in the second round with a 14-2 victory over Rocky Mountain National. They'll meet fellow unbeaten North State LL in the winners bracket final of the state tournament.

Southern California

Long Beach opened the sub-divisional tournament with a 15-1 shellacking of Manhattan Beach. Being stuck in the play-in game could make it a really tough road for the 1992 and 1993 Little League World Series champions.


Tomorrow we'll discuss the opening of the state tournaments from Rhode Island, Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Nevada, NorCal, Vermont, Kentucky, Ohio, and more. Also continue with coverage from the state tournaments and sections which are already in progress.

If we're not talking about your team it's because we're not hearing about you in the news. Please let us know how things are going for you via Facebook or Twitter.


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