Little League World Series Tournament Play - Friday, August 7th Recap

New England: Bangor East "banged up" Southborough Youth from Mass 6-4 before Rhode Island took the field to shut out Fairfield American LL on their home field in Bristol 0-2. New Hamphshire's Portsmith LL and Shelburne LL from Vermont play their first games today. Note: No Vermont team has advanced to the World Series since joining tournament competition in 1957. Can you guess which team I'm rooting for?

Shelburne's all-stars chasing history

www.burlingtonfreepress.com

Mid-Atlantic: in Bristol Connecticut yesterday, Capital City LL was beat by their Maryland neighbors - who have arguably the best name in Little League baseball - the Railroaders LL from Bruswick, 5-7 while Brandwine LL from Wilmington, Delaware were "Steinbrennered" by NY's Stony Point LL 1-11. That's gonna leave a mark!

Great Lakes: The story seems to be Ohio's West Side LL from Hamilton nearly shutting down Owensboro Southern from Kentucky 9-1. Illinois' Moline Natonal LL bean Michigan's Richmond LL 7-4 and Burlington LL from Wisconsin edged out Terre Haute North LL by just one run 5-4. Top scorers Ohio & Illinois face each other this morning testing each team's pitching depth.

Southwest: Orchard Mesa LL from Grand Junction humbled Tulsa American LL 11-2 while the Texans battled it out with Pearland White LL edging out Eagle Pass 7-5. Arkadelphia LL (I did not make that up the name-they're from Arkanses) beat Albuquerque's Altamont LL team 4-1.

Northwest: Two teams showed yesterday why their the ones to watch. Auburn LL from Washington trounced Wyoming 14-2 while Murrayhill LL from Beaverton took Montana's Boulder Arrowhead LL team to the woodshed 13-4. Surprise showing by North Boise LL with "nearly unhittable" pitching beating Juneau's Gastineau Channel LL 7-1. Only game today: Alaska's Gastineau v. Wyoming's Laramie LL - both are underdogs to make it out of the playoffs.

West: Last night, Huntington Beach's Ocean View team beat Las Vegas' Mountain Ridge team 10-3 - one of the strongest teams in the hunt. 3 games today - Mountain Ridge faces Utah's Washington LL, North Scottsdale vs. Napa National and Ocean View plays Waipio from Hawaii at 7:30pm. That'll be a big test for them as Hawai'i has fielded very strong teams and were the 2008 World Champions beating Mexico 12-3.