The Little League World Series is set to wrap up this summer’s youth baseball odyssey. The final 20 teams — 10 from the United States and 10 from around the world — are scheduled to start tournament play Aug. 13 and conclude with the grand finale Aug. 24.
TV ratings should be robust.
The West representative was to be determined on Thursday as the West Region tournament wrapped up in toasty San Bernardino. The four-team tournament included teams from Fullerton (Southern California/Golden Hill Little League), Menlo Park (Northern California/Alpine West Menlo Little League), Phoenix (Arizona/Arcadia Little League) and Honolulu (Hawaii/Honolulu Little League).
Hawaii and Northern California both got off to 1-0 starts while Southern California was 1-1 and Arizona was 0-2 through the opening two rounds.
Northern California defeated Arizona, 5-1, in Saturday’s tournament opener while Hawaii shaded Southern California, 1-0.
Southern California responded with a 7-3 win over Arizona on Monday while Hawaii shaded NorCal, 4-3, in an eight-inning thriller in Monday’s winners bracket semifinal to earn a berth in Thursday’s championship game.
The win by Golden Hill advanced Southern California to Wednesday’s elimination game against NorCal.
Monday’s game invoked the international tie-break with a runner starting at second base. The game-winning run scored on a passed ball.
Either Hawaii, SoCal or NorCal will represent the West region at the Little League World Series.
California District 42 champion Sweetwater Valley fell short of qualifying for this year’s West Region tournament with a 2-2 record in the preceding Southern California state tournament. Golden Hill went through the 10-team bracket with an unblemished 4-0 record.
Sweetwater Valley came close with a 3-1 setback to Golden Hill in the tournament opener but couldn’t successfully navigate completely through the loser’s bracket. Sweetwater Valley would have been required to win seven consecutive elimination games to punch its ticket to San Bernardino. The Bonita team won twice — 18-4 over District 62 champion Huntington West and 6-5 over District 25 champion Santa Monica — before finally taking the offramp on the road to the Little League World Series in a 5-4 loss to District 31 champion 4S Ranch in the third round of elimination games on July 23.
The all-San Diego County matchup saw 4S Ranch take an early lead on the strength of a three-run home run. Sweetwater Valley challenged in the last inning to trim the score to one run with a runner on base.
But 4S Ranch survived the scare to prevail 5-4 and advance to the next round against District 23 champion Upland Foothill, winning 4-2. 4S Ranch made it as far as the loser’s bracket semifinal against District 72 champion Eastvale, with the winner advancing to the state championship game.
Eastvale won 12-5 to relegate 4S Ranch to a third-place finish in the SoCal state tournament. Sweetwater Valley to a tie for fifth place with a final 9-2 all-star tournament record.
“It was an incredible run for these boys!” emphasized Sweetwater Valley Little League president Joe Griffin. “Winning District 42 and Section 7 three years in a row is an impressive accomplishment on its own. I truly believe you’ll see many of them playing at the next level in high school, college and beyond. I’m extremely proud of this group and excited to see what their future holds.”
Following the opening-round win over SVLL, Golden Hill continued through the winners bracket with victories against District 63 Goleta Valley South (3-2 on July 22) and back-to-back 8-0 decisions over Eastvale on July 24 and July 26.
Muster roll
The 10 U.S. regions contributing teams to this year’s Little League World Series include the West, Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic, Metro. Midwest, Mountain, Northwest, New England, Southeast and Southwest.
International regions include Asia-Pacific, Australia, Caribbean, Canada, Europe-Africa, Latin America, Japan, Mexico, Panama and Puerto Rico.
SoCal pride
The California Section 7 tournament funneled its champion into the SoCal state tournament. Four teams vied for that honor: Sweetwater Valley from District 42, Rios Canyon from District 41, Encanto from District 66 and Calexico from District 22.
Sweetwater Valley defeated Rios Canyon, 16-6, to win the Section 7 title.
Rios Canyon defeated Calexico, 11-4, to open the tournament before dropping a 10-0 decision to Sweetwater Valley in the winners bracket semifinal.
Encanto lost 8-7 to SVLL in the tourney opener but remained in contention with a 7-6 win over Calexico in the losers bracket elimination game. Rios Canyon edged Encanto, 8-7, in the losers bracket semifinal to get a second crack at the District 42 champions.
Rios Canyon defeated Rancho De Oro, 6-3, to capture the District 41 tournament in double-elimination fashion while Encanto topped Lemon Grive, 14-4, to claim the District 66 title.
Sweetwater Valley defeated Chula Vista American, 4-1, for the District 42 championship.
Looking forward to next season, Griffin said he is “very optimistic” about Sweetwater Valley’s fortunes.
The SVLL 10U squad came home with the league’s first SoCal state title while the SVLL 11s advanced to the district championship game. The SVLL Intermediate 50/70 team combined with Eastlake Little League to defeat Park View, 11-6, in the district final.
“I believe all of our all-star teams will be coming out strong and ready to make a statement,” Griffin said. “In particular, I expect our 12U team to be especially motivated as they set their sights on reclaiming the District 42 and Section 7 titles and making a run toward Williamsport.”
Eastlake Little League represented District 42 at the 11U Section 7 tournament against teams from Fletcher Hills (District 41), Spring Valley (District 66) and Imperial (District 22).
Eastlake edged Sweetwater Valley, 4-3, in a double-elimination championship game while Fletcher Hills defeated Santee National, 5-1, to win the District 41 banner. Spring Valley defeated Valley de Oro, 14-4, to claim the District 66 banner.
Fletcher Hills defeated Eastlake to win the Section 7 championship to propel itself to the SoCal state tournament against Encino (6-1 loss) and Goleta Valley South (10-9 loss).
Next level
Spring Valley/Lemon Grove represented District 66 in the just-concluded Senior League Baseball World Series in Easley, S.C. The SoCal/West Region state champions finished 1-2 with a 9-7 win over Texas and 7-1 and 7-2 setbacks to the South Carolina District 1 host team.
The host Easley team went on to win the U.S. division championship with a 7-4 win over Irmo, South Carolina, in an all-Palmetto state matchup, while posting a 3-2 runner-up finish to Caribbean region champion Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, in the tournament championship game.
Puerto Rico went through undefeated at 5-0 while Easley finished 5-2. U.S. Southeast champion Irmo finished 2-1 while U.S. Central region champion Burbank, Ill., finished 2-2.
Dubois Little League (Pennsylvania) and Victoria Little League (Texas) both finished 0-2.
Among the international entrants, Wanneroo Little League from Perth, Australia, finished 4-2 while South Czech Republic Little League (Europe-Africa) and Santa Maria de Aguayo Little League from Tamaulipas, Mexico, both finished 1-2.
Guam (Asia-Pacific) and Quebec (Canada) both finished 0-2.
Southern California Little League Champions
10U: Sweetwater Valley (District 42)
11U: Encino (District 40)
12U: Golden Hill (District 56)
Intermediate Division: Scripps Ranch (District 32)
Junior League: 4S Ranch (District 31)
Senior League: Spring Valley/Lemon Grove (District 66)
PONY Baseball
Pony-13 International World Series
Wednesday, July 29 in Carlsbad
Championship: Japan 9, Puerto Rico 0
