MONDAY,AUGUST 19,2002
LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN - 21B
Louisville routs Harlem
The Associated Press
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Zachary Osborne struck out 14 — the last two with the bases loaded in the sixth inning — as Louisville, Ky., beat Harlem 2-0 last night in pool play in the Little League World Series.
Osborne struck out Fernando Frias and Spencer White to end the game after the New York City team loaded the bases on hits by Javier Lopez, Alibay Barkley and Jorge Lopez.
"I was really nervous in the last inning," Osborne said. "Bases loaded, two outs, with their No. 5 hitter. I just took a deep breath, calmed down and struck the guy out."
Jeremy Lopez struck out eight for Holm (j-1).
Harlem manager Morris McWilliams described Kentucky as just an "all right" team with a good pitcher on the mound, saying the game turned on his team's errors.
"We committed three errors, and "that's how they scored," McWilliams said. "They didn't score any earned runs."
Osborne scored both runs for
Louisville (2-0).
He tripled down the right-field line in the third, and scored on a fielder's choice to give Louisville a 2-0 lead. Louisville loaded the bases with just one out, but Lopez struck out two.
"This is a huge win for us," said Louisville manager J. Troy Osborne, the pitcher's father. "Harlem is very aggressive, very big kids, very strong kids. When they hit, they hit the ball hard. We feel lucky to come out with a 2-0 record."
in other games, Apitos, Calif., beat Clemons, N.C., 11-8; Fort Worth, Texas, routed Waipaul, Hawaii, 8-0; Agana, Guam, beat Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, 9-6; and Monterrey, Mexico, rallied to beat Moscow 4-3.
Texas 8, Hawaii 0
Michael "Mikey" Valdez's three a one-hitter, and Walker Kelly doubled twice and drove in three runs to help Fort Worth improve to 2-0. Waijahu dropped to 1-1.
California 11, North Carolina 8
Brian Godoy hit a grand slam and
Andrew Biancardi added a two-run
home in six-run fours for Athetus (1-1).
Alex Robertson hit a two-run
"I was really nervous in the last inning. Bases loaded, two outs, with their No. 5 hitter." Zachary Osborne Louisville, Ky.
homer and Christopher Sanders followed with a solo blast in the fourth for Clemmons (0-2).
Guam 9, Saudi Arabia 6
Taylor Taitague, John M. Dazo and Hosea I., C.Wave hit home runs in the top of the sixth for Agana (1-1). Ware also homered in the fifth inning. Dhahran also is 1-1.
Mexico4, Russia 3
Rodolfo Garcia and Diego Segura hit back-to-back solo home runs in the bottom of the fourth inning as Mexico (1-1) rallied for the win.
Dmitri Tehaikovski's RBI grounder to scored the final run in Russia's (0-2) three-run second inning.
Mexico overcomes Russia in fourth inning
The Associated Press
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pennsylvania — Rodolfo García and Diego Segura hit back-to-back solo home runs in the bottom of the fourth inning yesterday as Mexico rallied to beat Russia 4-3 Sunday in the Little Leauce World Series.
Mexico took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Jose Angel Díaz's solo home run before Russia tallied three in the top of the second for 3-1 lead.
Kirill Chermoshtevson walked and scored when ivan Novikov's single to right field was misfieled for a two-base error.
Evgeni Vorotynysw walked and Novikov crossed the plate on the front end of a double steal before Dmiriti Tchaikovski's grounder to first base drove in the final run.
After scoring in the second innning on a double steal to cut Russia's lead to 3-2, Mexico regained the lead for good in the fourth on Garcia and Segura's home runs.
Russia threatened to tie the score in the sixth when Chermoshentsev doubled and went to third on a passed ball.
Missouri Little League team struggles
The Associated Press
SOUTH WILLIAMSport, Pa. Members of the Webb City, Mo., Little League team filed out of their dormitories Sunday morning in time for their appointed practice. But instead of heading down the hill to the practice fields, they marched up toward their families and a day away from baseball.
"We want to get the kids away for the day, get them with their families," manager Craig Powell said.
It's been a tough two days for Webb City, a team from a small town just north of Joplin in Missouri's southwestern corner. On Friday, Fort Worth, Texas, scored in the top of the sixth in beating Webb City 1-0 Webb City took a 1-0 lead early in its second game, but lost 2-1 to Worcester. Mass
"We've only given up three runs in two games. That's good." Powell said. "But we need to get our bats going. We need to get some offense."
webb City is a sports town that's used to winning. Webb City High School has won 29 consecutive games and the last two 4A state championships.
And there's no doubting the Little League team's toughness — Chance Sossamon took a shot to the head during infield practice Saturday morning and still threw nine strikeouts that night.
But it's unclear where they'll find the needed offense. Missouri got to the World Series because of another tough defensive performance, beating Grandview Little League of Des Moines, Iowa, 2-1 in the Midwest Regional final, Caleb Powell, the manager's son, hit an RBI double in the bottom of the sixth, scoring Darren Aggus all the way from first base for the win.
That win made Webb City the first Missouri team ever to reach the Little League World Series, a fact that hasn't
been lost on its young players
"The coaches told us after we won state, we could make history." Sossamon said. "We just keep playing our game, trying hard. If we do that, we can win."
The Massachusetts game was a particularly tough loss. Webb City knew a loss would put them behind the 8-ball in terms of advancing. Missouri took a 1-0 lead on Darren Aggus' RBI double in the top of the first, but Massachusetts tied the game in the bottom of the inning, then scored the go-ahead run in the fourth. A controversial call in the fifth could have put a Webb City runner on third, but he was called out.
"The kids took last night hard. An hour after the game, it still hurt," Powell said. "But they're kids, they're 12 years old, and they bounce back. We ordered some pizza, and I think they're OK."
pool advancing to the quarterfinals, Webb City is in a tough spot — but not out of the running yet. If three teams tie with 1-2 records, the number of runs allowed are used to break the tie. With only three runs allowed in two losses, Missouri would be in good shape.
With the top two teams from each
But first, they need to come back Monday and beat Hawaii. Then they need some help from the rest of the teams in their pool.
"We've got to have a lot of marbles fall into place," Powell said. "By no means are we out of it. But if we take care of our own business, take care of Hawaii, then we've still got a shot."
Caleb Powell, a pitcher and infielder, said despite the high stakes the players wouldn't treat Monday's game any differently than any other game.
"We just think of it as a regular game," Caleb Powell said. "We just want to go out there and play our best."
Almonte moves on, pitching his best ever
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Danny Almone
just can't ice his age.
just can catch it.
Last year, he cost his Bronx team its third-place finish at the Little League World Series when it was revealed he was too old to play. And this year, pitching in a league loaded with much older teens, he's been too good to hit.
"Danny's pitching his best in a 19- and under league," says his coach, Rolando Pauloino. The numbers back him up: Almonte is 2:0 with 21 strikeouts in 12 1-3 innings against the older guys.
How much older? That remains a question with Almonte, whose Dominican Republic birth certificate — uncovered during last year's Little League World Series — would make him 15 now, 14 last August. The age limit at the World Series is 12.
"I want people to think of just Danny Almonte, not Danny Almonte the Littie League player," the somewhat shy player said Friday in Spanish, with Paulino translating.
On a brutally hot August morning, Almone was one of two dozen kids practicing on a Bronx field that had nothing but its four bases in common with the manicured diamonds of South Williamsport, Pa.
Almonte, who admitted in recent interviews to being 15, no longer wants to discuss his April 7 birth date.
Almonte, in a sweat-soaked gray shirt and Chicago Cubs cap, swung the bat and chased飞 balls.
the bare neck of the hip.
On the concrete stands behind first base, plastic blue caps from crack vals sat alongside a crumpled cigarette pack and broken glass. Only a pair of spectators watched: Ira Warheit, a Bronx dentist who serves as an adviser to Almonte, and a representative from the Dominican consulate. (Danny's parents reside in the Dominican Republic, and the teen lives with Paulino).
Almonte stood in center field, wearing a glove that was a gift from Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Odalis Perez.
"Danny just wants to play baseball, go to school and play with his friends." Warheit says.
Almonte did all three in the past year enrolling in I.S. 52 while playing in four summer leagues with his local buddies.
buddies.
Almonte burst onto the national stage last summer when his Bronx "Baby Bombers" team reached the Little League World Series, mostly on his whip of a leaf arm. He was a mini-Randy Johnson, firing a 16-strikeout perfect game — the first in 44 years at the series.
he fanned 46 batters in three starts, surrendering just three hits. Several major leaguers — including the Arizona Diamondbacks' Johnson — called to wish Almonte well as his team finished third.
But then Sports Illustrated found a birth certificate contradicting Almonte's claim that he was just 12 years old. All of Almonte's victories—and all his team's victories — were expunged.
Paulino, founder of his eponymous Bronx Little League, was banned for life from any association with Little League. It was a disastrous ending to their feel-good story.
ending to the true success,
Almonte, however, earned a bit of
celebrity. Hall of Fame pitcher Juan
Marichal, an executive with a
Dominican team, offered to bring
Almonte home to develop his pitching
skills.
Major leaguers such as the Houston Astros' Octavio Dotel and the Milwaukee Brewers' Nelson Figueroa said hello when they spotted Almonte at Shea Stadium. Fans approached him for autographs.
Despite all the attention and controversy, Almonte said he still enjoys playing baseball
"There's no pressure," he said. "It's fun for me."
The latest stir surrounding the prodigy is where he'll attend high school. Three schools are in the mix in this recruiting war.
Before picking a school, Almoney plans to attend the Little League World Series in South Williamsport on Tuesday and root for the Harlem team that reached this year's event.
As for the future,he hopes his story can vet have a happy ending.
In a decade, Almonte says with a smile, "I hope to be playing in major league baseball. I want to be a professional baseball player."