Hawaii just won the Little League World Series! Only the third American team to win it in the last 10 years.
A rather exciting game, Curacao held a 6-3 lead in the bottom of the 6th (last inning). Tons of Hawaii people were in attendance. Ewa Beach is a suburb of Honolulu.
Thank you. The station here cut away after the sixth, as if the game was over.
How did they score?
Leadoff batter hit an opposite field homerun on a 3-2 count. I gotta say the play at the LLWS this year was absolutely phenomenal. For players that age to be turning double plays and throwing people out after diving stops is amazing. They will probably replay the game late, late tonight on one of the ESPN’s if you want to Tivo or tape it.
For all the hype and commercialization given to an event for kids, this game seemed to be a great mixture of some spectacular plays that reminded me of adults and just enough plays that made it look like there were a bunch of kids on the field.
And the two teams had the greatest collection of names! It was almost like there was no language group not covered (OK, no Arabic names or Central Asia, but still).
Yeah, there were some nice plays. I’ve thought recently that maybe the distance between bases should be increased by five feet or so. It seems like the kids speed is outstripping their coordination.
Hawaii tied it up 6-6 to end the 6th. Top of the 7th, the Hawaii pitcher did a 3-up 3-down (The last two were strikeouts). Then lead-off in the 7th for Hawaii parks the 3-2 pitch.
Nah its just that most of the kids there are huge for their age (The 95% for 12 year olds is 130 lbs) and are very good. They go up to 90 foot bases and 60’6" pitching mound at the next level.
What hype and commercialization? LLWS is a non-profit organization and the Kids love to be on TV and to play in front of all those fans. They are having the times of their lives and no one is making money off of them outside of perhaps ESPN.
I like this quote from the Star Bulletin article HubZilla linked to.
My favorite single moment from this game was the leadoff homer from Hawaii in the bottom of the third (to bring the score to 3-2). The look on that kid’s face as he rounded the bases: pure joy.
Speaking of the athleticism of these kids, what about the pitcher for Hawaii with the 77-MPH fastball? :eek:
I mean, this kid just threw heat the whole top of the seventh, and if not for the fact that the second homer in the fourth (fifth?) was off of him, I’d say he was unhittable.
Just a heartwarming event all around. (Especially since I’m from HI.) 
Possibly a small hijack… but remember when Taiwan used to destroy the US Little League teams (won like 10 in a row). How come there are so few Taiwanese major leaguers?
I believe it was China (Taipae) that dominated for a bunch of years and they did that becuase they were bringing 14-15 year olds.
Really?
I was under the impression the only teams that cheated was the Philippines in 1992 and the US in 2001 (although, to be fair, most of the players were born outside the country).
Chinese Taipei’s (Taiwan’s) advantages were:
Rules changes made teams draw their players from smaller groups. If you sent the All-California all stars out every year, they’d probably win.