[thesportscritic]

The little league world series starts tomorrow at 7:00pm and it is being shown on ESPN and i think on ESPN2. Is anyone going to watch that sporting event?

[PAmedic]

lets be honest- NO

I have some paint drying that needs to be monitored

[A.G.]

Maybe. It won't be the same without Harold Reynolds, though.

[thesportscritic]

lets be honest- NO

I have some paint drying that needs to be monitored

I guess you are being honest

[BJWilliams]

Im going to watch it when I can. I look forward to this every year. Its amazing how talented these kids are at this age. You also can't help but realize that these are still kids (especially when you see teams crying when they lose or seeing kids react strongly when they mae a bad play or strike out or what not)

[SuperJon]

It's pathetic what the coaches do with these kids, especially the pitchers. The reason why you rarely see any of these pitchers develop into anything is because they're 12 years old and throwing 40-50% curveballs. Their arms are done by the time they're 17.

[BJWilliams]

I thought they mandated no breaking balls at that age some years ago

[SuperJon]

They threw them all the time last year.


Little Johnnie's daddy knows how to "teach" a curveball so that's what they have the kids throw. None of them know how to teach a changeup so they don't teach that at all.

[PAmedic]

not to mention some of them are actually 17.

or 23.

possibly 45.

[SuperJon]

You're just mad that the 12 year olds are bigger than you.

[A.G.]

FOFLMBO

[BJWilliams]

They threw them all the time last year.


Little Johnnie's daddy knows how to "teach" a curveball so that's what they have the kids throw. None of them know how to teach a changeup so they don't teach that at all.

When I was working with a JV baseball team a few years ago the coaches had the pitchers only throw fastball and changeup. They harped a lot on being able to locate those pitches instead of teaching the breaking pitches

[A.G.]

This is also the first year of the new age dates--was Aug 1 and now May 1--so you will see MANY 13 year olds in the games.

[TDDance234]

When I played LL, it was fastball only.

I tried throwing a slider once and about threw my shoulder out. I also nailed the kid in the head.

[01LUGrad]

The LLWS is actually pretty entertaining. I try to catch a few innings here and there each year.

I'm not a big fan of the breaking pitches at that age. If they are not taught proper mechanics their arms will fall off by the time they are 20 (Example: Francisco Liriano). Let's face it, if the pitching coaches were any good, they wouldn't be coaching 12 year-olds. Now if they are already 18 (Danny Almonte) it would be a different story.

[SuperJon]

I know that there are coaches that teach the changeup. However, at the age these kids are, the coach that let's Timmy throw the curveball is the one that's going to make it to Williamsport. It's a debate every year about the curveball. My high school coach coaches his kids' AAU team in the summer. Those kids are in 6th grade (going to 7th) and not a single one of them has every thrown a curveball in a game. He said they won't until they are sophomores.

[BJWilliams]

I remember there was this one kid for the CA team in last year's world series that struck out 18 kids in a game. He got nominated for the ESPYs for it I think

[BJWilliams]

Shutouts Decide Southeast and Southwest Little League Baseball Region Championships
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (Aug. 11, 2006) – Columbus Northern Little League from Georgia, and South Lake Charles (La.) Little League collected the first two berths in the United States pool for the 2006 Little League Baseball World Series in Williamsport, Pa., by posting shutouts on Friday night.

Columbus Northern Little League became only the second team from Georgia to advance to the Little League Baseball World Series, defeating Greater Dunedin (Fla.) Little League, 5-0, in the Southeast Region title game at Arnold S. White, Sr. Stadium in St. Petersburg, Fla.

South Lake Charles Little League earned a trip to the World Series by blanking D’Iberville (Miss.) Little League, 1-0, and capturing the Southwest Region championship at Marvin Norcross Stadium in Waco, Texas.

Kyle Carter pitched Columbus Northern Little League to victory, throwing a five-hitter, with 14-strikeouts. Offensively, the Southeast Region champions were keyed by a solo home run by Patrick Stallings and a two-run single by Josh Lester. Columbus Northern Little League finished the six-team tournament with a 5-0 record and improved its tournament record to 18-0.

National Little League from East Marietta is only other team from Georgia to reach the Little League Baseball World Series. In 1983, National Little League defeated Liquito Hernandez Little League from the Dominican Republic, 3-1, in the world championship game.

A third-inning solo home run by Tanner Hebert was all the offense South Lake Charles Little League pitcher Nicolas Zaunbrecher (three hits, eight strikeouts) would need to carry his team to the Southwest Region championship.

D’Iberville Little League pitcher Tyler Quave allowed three hits and struck out nine, but allowed the home run that proved to be the difference. The Mississippi state champions finished the eight-team tournament with a 3-2 record, while South Lake Charles Little League went 5-0 at the regional and is 11-0 overall in tournament play.

Earning berths in the Little League Baseball World Series in 1992 and 2001, South Lake Charles Little League is the fifth team from Louisiana to advance to the World Series. Louisiana has never reached the Little League Baseball World Series championship game.

Columbus Northern Little League and South Lake Charles Little League join Arabian American Little League of Dhahran, Saudi Arabia; Brateevo Little League of Moscow, Russia; Cardenales Little League of Barquisimeto, Lara, Venezuela; Pabao Little League of Willemstad, Curacao; Matamoros Little League of Taumalipas, Mexico; Kawaguchi City Little League of Kawaguchi City, Japan; and Saipan Little League from Saipan, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), as participants in the 2006 Little League Baseball World Series.

The Little League Baseball World Series for 11-12-year-olds will be played in Williamsport, Aug. 18-27. Sixteen teams from around the world will take part.

ABC will televise the Little League Baseball World Series U.S. championship game on Aug. 26, at 3:30 p.m. The world championship game of the Little League Baseball World Series can be seen live on ABC at 3:30 p.m., on Aug. 27. Twenty-seven other World Series games will be televised on ESPN or ESPN2 for a total of 29 games on national television. Eleven World Series games also will be televised on ESPN Deportes. For the second straight year, all 32 games of the Little League Baseball World Series tournament will be on television.

The next berths in the 60th Little League Baseball World Series will be decided on Saturday when the Midwest Region, West Region and Canadian Region Tournaments are scheduled to end.

The remaining U.S. region finals, which will be televised live on ESPN or ESPN2, are: Midwest (Indianapolis, Saturday, 7 p.m., ESPN); West (San Bernardino, Calif., Saturday, 9 p.m., ESPN); New England (Bristol, Conn., Sunday, 1 p.m., ESPN); Great Lakes (Indianapolis, Sunday, 3 p.m., ESPN); Northwest (San Bernardino, Calif., Sunday, 10 p.m., ESPN2) and Mid-Atlantic (Bristol, Conn., Monday, 8 p.m., ESPN2);. All game times are Eastern U.S. time.

For more information on the 2006 Little League Baseball World Series log on to: www.littleleagueworldseriesonline.org

http://www.littleleague.org/media/2006ws-seandsw.asp

[BJWilliams]

Missouri, Arizona Take Different Routes to Region Championships, Berths in 2006 Little League Baseball World Series
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (Aug. 12, 2006) – – Ahwatukee American Little League from Phoenix, Ariz., hit five home runs, three by Shaun Chase, to win the West Region Championship, 11-3, on Saturday, while Ryan Phillips threw a one-hitter, with 14 strikeouts as Daniel Boone National Little League of Columbia, Mo., claimed the Midwest Region Championship, 2-0.

A seven-run fifth inning broke a 3-3 tie and powered Ahwatukee American Little League past River Park Little League, the Northern California representative from Fresno, at Al Houghton Stadium in San Bernardino, Calif. Chase hit his second home run in the decisive fifth and Michael Anderson followed later in the inning with a three-run home run. Also hitting a home run for the West Region Champions was winning pitcher Hunter Rodriguez.

Daniel Boone National Little League, which finished 5-0 in the six-team regional tournament played at Stokely Field in Indianapolis, scored an unearned run in the first inning against Davis County (Iowa) Little League. Calvin Mathews was the losing pitcher, striking out 14 and scattering five hits, including a solo home run to Jeffrey Ausmus in the second inning.

Ahwatukee American Little League Little League, which suffered its only West Region Tournament loss to River Park Little League, finished the six-team tournament with a 5-1 record, and improved to 20-1 overall in tournament play.

Teams from Arizona have qualified for the Little League Baseball World Series four times and won the United States championship twice. The most recent runner-up finish was in 1986 when a team from International Little League in Tucson lost to Tainan Park Little League from Chinese Taipei, 12-0, in the world championship game. The most recent World Series appearance for Arizona was in 2003, when Chandler’s National Little League qualified.

The state of Missouri will be represented for the second time in the Little League Baseball World Series. Webb City Little League reached the World Series in 2002.

Ahwatukee Little League joins Daniel Boone National Little League of Columbia, Mo.; Whalley Little League of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada; South Lake Charles Little League of Lake Charles, La.; Columbus Northern Little League of Columbus, Ga.; Arabian American Little League of Dhahran, Saudi Arabia; Brateevo Little League of Moscow, Russia; Cardenales Little League of Barquisimeto, Lara, Venezuela; Pabao Little League of Willemstad, Curacao; Matamoros Little League of Taumalipas, Mexico; Kawaguchi City Little League of Kawaguchi City, Japan; and Saipan Little League from Saipan, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), as participants in the 2006 Little League Baseball World Series.

The Little League Baseball World Series for 11-12-year-olds will be played in Williamsport, Aug. 18-27. Sixteen teams from around the world will take part.

ABC will televise the Little League Baseball World Series U.S. championship game on Aug. 26, at 3:30 p.m. The world championship game of the Little League Baseball World Series can be seen live on ABC at 3:30 p.m., on Aug. 27. Twenty-seven other World Series games will be televised on ESPN or ESPN2 for a total of 29 games on national television. Eleven World Series games also will be televised on ESPN Deportes. For the second straight year, all 32 games of the Little League Baseball World Series tournament will be on television.

The next berths in the 60th Little League Baseball World Series will be decided on Sunday when the New England Region, Great Lakes and Northwest Region Tournaments are scheduled to end.

The remaining U.S. region finals, which will be televised live on ESPN or ESPN2, are: New England (Bristol, Conn., Sunday, 1 p.m., ESPN); Great Lakes (Indianapolis, Sunday, 3 p.m., ESPN); Northwest (San Bernardino, Calif., Sunday, 10 p.m., ESPN2) and Mid-Atlantic (Bristol, Conn., Monday, 8 p.m., ESPN2). All game times are Eastern U.S. time.

For more information on the 2006 Little League Baseball World Series log on to: www.littleleagueworldseriesonline.org

http://www.littleleague.org/media/2006ws-westmw.asp

[thesportscritic]

i definitely need to catch up on the llws. been quite busy lately.

[BJWilliams]

Pitching Dominant in New England and Great Lakes Region Championship Games
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (Aug. 13, 2006) – Jordan Bean struck out 13 batters and allowed only three hits in a 3-0 triumph by Portsmouth (N.H) Little League in the New England Region championship game on Saturday at Breen Field in Bristol, Conn., while David Hearne was equally impressive in the Great Lakes Region championship game at Stokely Field in Indianapolis, surrendering two hits and striking out 11 in Lemont (Ill.) Little League’s 3-0 win.

Keegan Taylor provided all of the offense Portsmouth (N.H.) Little League would need in its victory over Glastonbury (Conn.) American Little League. The New Hampshire state champions opened the scoring in the bottom of the third inning when Taylor hit a solo home run off of Glastonbury American Little League starter Mike Mainuli. With the bases loaded in the fourth inning, Taylor (3-for-3, 3 RBI) came through again, connecting for a two-run double.

Earning his third win in the regional tournament, Bean recorded the first six outs of the game by strikeout and finished the regional with 45 strikeouts.

Portsmouth Little League, 15-1 overall, earned a berth in the 2006 Little League Baseball World Series by finishing the six-team tournament with a 5-1 record, and avenging its only regional tournament loss.

Teams from New Hampshire have reached the Little League Baseball World Series three times, most recently in 2000 when a team from Goffstown qualified. New Hampshire has never been represented in the Little League Baseball World Series championship game.

In the Great Lakes Championship game, New Castle Little League’s Devin Nickelson scattered five hits and struck out 10, but gave up a double to Hearne leading off the second inning. Austin Mastela followed with a run-scoring triple. Errors later in the inning accounted for the other two runs.

Lemont Little League finished the six-team regional tournament with a 4-2 record, which included an extra-inning loss to New Castle Little League earlier in the tournament.

Teams from Illinois have reached the Little League Baseball World Series 13 times, most recently in 1992 when a team from South Holland Little League qualified. Illinois has reached Little League Baseball World Series championship game on three occasions (Kankakee Little League -1958 and 1962; North Roseland Little League - 1967), but has never won the world championship. This will be Lemont Little League’s first World Series appearance.

Lemont Little League and Portsmouth Little League join Ahwatukee Little League of Pheonix, Ariz.; Daniel Boone National Little League of Columbia, Mo.; Whalley Little League of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada; South Lake Charles Little League of Lake Charles, La.; Columbus Northern Little League of Columbus, Ga.; Arabian American Little League of Dhahran, Saudi Arabia; Brateevo Little League of Moscow, Russia; Cardenales Little League of Barquisimeto, Lara, Venezuela; Pabao Little League of Willemstad, Curacao; Matamoros Little League of Taumalipas, Mexico; Kawaguchi City Little League of Kawaguchi City, Japan; and Saipan Little League from Saipan, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), as participants in the 2006 Little League Baseball World Series.

The Little League Baseball World Series for 11-12-year-olds will be played in Williamsport, Aug. 18-27. Sixteen teams from around the world will take part.

ABC will televise the Little League Baseball World Series U.S. championship game on Aug. 26, at 3:30 p.m. The world championship game of the Little League Baseball World Series can be seen live on ABC at 3:30 p.m., on Aug. 27. Twenty-seven other World Series games will be televised on ESPN or ESPN2 for a total of 29 games on national television. Eleven World Series games also will be televised on ESPN Deportes. For the second straight year, all 32 games of the Little League Baseball World Series tournament will be on television.

The next berth in the 60th Little League Baseball World Series will be decided on Sunday when the Northwest Region Tournament is scheduled to end.

The remaining U.S. region finals, which will be televised live on ESPN2, are: Northwest (San Bernardino, Calif., Sunday, 10 p.m.) and Mid-Atlantic (Bristol, Conn., Monday, 8 p.m.). Game times are Eastern U.S. time.

For more information on the 2006 Little League Baseball World Series log on to: www.littleleagueworldseriesonline.org

http://www.littleleague.org/media/2006ws-neandgl.asp

[BJWilliams]

Staten Island’s Mid-Island Little League Wins
Mid-Atlantic Region With Home Run; Field Set for 60th Little League Baseball World Series
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (Aug. 14, 2006) – Despite having the go-ahead run taken off the scoreboard by a missed step on the bases, Mid-Island Little League from Staten Island, N.Y., refused to be denied as Frank Smith hit a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to defeat Livingston (N.J.) American Little League, 2-1, in the Mid-Atlantic Region Championship game Monday night at Breen Field in Bristol, Conn.

Smith’s home run off of Livingston American Little League’s Zach Gray came after Mid-Island Little League thought it had taken the lead an inning earlier. Winning pitcher Joe Calabrese singled to center field with runners on second and third. The base hit gave the New York state champions a 2-1 lead, but an appeal request by Livingston American Little League questioned whether the second base runner had touched third base. The third base umpire ruled he had not, and the run was disallowed.

In complete-game efforts by both pitchers, Gray (four hits, nine strikeouts) matched Calabrese (six hits, nine strikeouts) through three scoreless innings to start the game. Livingston American Little League’s Nick Ebert broke the deadlock with a solo home run in the top of the fourth inning.

Mid-Island Little League, 16-2 overall, finished the six-team tournament with a 5-1 record. The only regional defeat suffered by the Mid-Atlantic Region winners was an, 8-6, eight-inning loss to Livingston American Little League.

Teams from New York have appeared in the Little League Baseball World Series 15 times, winning the world championship twice (1954 and 1964). Mid-Island Little League defeated Liga Pequena Little League of Monterey, Mexico, 4-0, in the 1964 world championship game. In that game, Danny Yacarino threw a no-hitter. Little Leagues from Staten Island had previously reached the World Series tournament on three occasions (1964, 1985 and 1991).

Mid-Island Little League completes the field for the 2006 Little League Baseball World Series, which includes Murrayhill Little League of Beaverton. Ore., Lemont (Ill.) Little League; Portsmouth (N.H.) Little League; Ahwatukee Little League of Phoenix, Ariz.; Daniel Boone National Little League of Columbia, Mo.; Whalley Little League of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada; South Lake Charles Little League of Lake Charles, La.; Columbus Northern Little League of Columbus, Ga.; Arabian American Little League of Dhahran, Saudi Arabia; Brateevo Little League of Moscow, Russia; Cardenales Little League of Barquisimeto, Lara, Venezuela; Pabao Little League of Willemstad, Curacao; Matamoros Little League of Taumalipas, Mexico; Kawaguchi City Little League of Kawaguchi City, Japan; and Saipan Little League from Saipan, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).

The Little League Baseball World Series for 11-12-year-olds will be played in Williamsport, Aug. 18-27. Sixteen teams from around the world will take part.

ABC will televise the Little League Baseball World Series U.S. championship game on Aug. 26, at 3:30 p.m. The world championship game of the Little League Baseball World Series can be seen live on ABC at 3:30 p.m., on Aug. 27. Twenty-seven other World Series games will be televised on ESPN or ESPN2 for a total of 29 games on national television. Eleven World Series games also will be televised on ESPN Deportes. For the second straight year, all 32 games of the Little League Baseball World Series tournament will be on television.

For more information on the 2006 Little League Baseball World Series log on to: www.littleleagueworldseriesonline.org

Little League Baseball and Softball is the largest organized youth sports program in the world, with 2.7 million participants in all 50 states and nearly 75 other countries.

http://www.littleleague.org/media/2006w ... lantic.asp

[SuperJon]

BJ's talking to himself. I thought I'd throw something in here.

[BJWilliams]

Here are the standings from Williamsport through Sunday:

United States
Pool A
Mid-Atlantic Mid-Island Little League Staten Island, New York 0 - 2 (L 2-3 vs Southeast, L 0-1 vs. Great Lakes)
Great Lakes Lemont Little League Lemont, Illinois 1 - 1 (L 0-1 vs West, W 1-0 vs. Mid Atlantic)
West Ahwatukee American LL Phoenix, Arizona 1 - 1 (W 1-0 vs. Great Lakes, L 1-4 vs. Southeast)
Southeast Columbus Northern LL Columbus, Georgia 2 - 0 (W 3-2 vs Mid Atlantic, W 4-1 vs. West)

Pool B
New England Portsmouth LL Portsmouth, New Hampshire 1 - 1 (W 6-1 vs Northwest, L 5-14 vs. Midwest)
Northwest Murrayhill Little League Beaverton, Oregon 1 - 1 (L 1-6 vs New England, W 9-1 vs. Southwest)
Midwest Daniel Boone National LL Columbia, Missouri 1 - 1 (L 0-1 vs Southwest, W 14-5 vs. New England)
Southwest South Lake Charles LL Lake Charles, Louisiana 1 - 1 (W 1-0 vs. Midwest, L 1-9 vs. Northwest)


International
Pool C
Pacific Saipan Little League Saipan, CNMI 0 - 1 (L 1-9 vs Transatlantic, vs Latin America suspended 0-0 8th inning)
Latin America Cardenales Little League Barquisimeto, Lara, Venezuela 0 - 0 (vs. Pacific suspended 0-0 8th inning)
Canada Whalley Little League Surrey, British Columbia 0 - 1 (L 0-5 vs. Transatlantic)
Transatlantic Arabian American LL Dhahran, Saudi Arabia 2 - 0 (W 5-0 vs. Canada, W 9-1 vs. Pacific)

Pool D
Mexico Matamoros LL Matamoros, Tamaulipas 2 - 0 (W 3-2 vs. Carribean, W 11-1 vs. EMEA)
Asia Kawaguchi Little League Kawaguchi City, Japan 1 - 0 (W 11-0 vs. EMEA)
EMEA Brateevo LL Moscow, Russia 0 - 2 (L 0-11 vs. Japan, L 1-11 vs. Mexico)
Caribbean Pabao Little League Willemstad, Curacao 0 - 1 (L 2-3 vs Mexico)

[BJWilliams]

Alright, well pool play is over and the Semifinals are set:

International Semifinals:

Latin America (Cardenales Little League Barquisimeto, Lara, Venezuela) vs Mexico (Matamoros LL Matamoros, Tamaulipas)
Asia (Kawaguchi Little League Kawaguchi City, Japan) vs. Transatlantic (Arabian American LL Dhahran, Saudi Arabia)


US Semifinals

Great Lakes (Lemont Little League Lemont, Illinois) vs. Northwest (Murrayhill Little League Beaverton, Oregon)
New England (Portsmouth LL Portsmouth, New Hampshire) vs. Southeast (Columbus Northern LL Columbus, Georgia)