Virtually everyone associated with baseball at any level is familiar with the Little League World Series.
For those who have participated, it has served as a steppingstone to college and the pros. It also serves as a steppingstone to higher divisions at the youth level:
The Intermediate 50/70 Baseball World Series is ongoing through Sunday in Livermore while the Senior League Baseball World Series also also wraps up this weekend in Easley, S.C.
The Junior League Baseball World Series rounds out the older youth schedule Aug. 3-10 in Taylor, Mich.
California District 66 Little League’s Spring Valley-Lemon Grove combo team is representing the Southern California region in the Senior League tournament while California District 31 champion 4S Ranch faced off play in the Junior League West region tournament 2-0 with wins over Nevada (12-2 on July 24) and Northern California (9-2 last Friday).
The 13-team tournament was scheduled to wrap with Wednesday’s championship game, then it’s off to Michigan for the winning team.
Spring Valley-Lemon Grove carried a 22-1 overall record into its first game Saturday in South Carolina against the host team, dropping a 7-1 decision.
The Sixty6ers rebounded with a 9-7 victory against Texas, the Southwest Zone champion, on Monday to remain alive in the 12-team tournament.
The District 66 team’s next game was slated Wednesday in a rematch with Easley, which eliminated the Pennsylvania entrant, 11-2, on Monday.
The tournament continues through Saturday with elimination games on Thursday, the United States and International championship games on Friday and the tournament championship game on Saturday (U.S. versus International championship game winners).
The weather back in Easley may be hot and muggy (the high was 95 on Monday with overnight humidity of 81 percent) but it’s baseball as usual for all the teams that made their own luck to get there.
Spring Valley-Lemon Grove manager Esteban Virto described called it “surreal” just being part of the event.
“At first it seemed like any baseball tournament but then you felt the adrenaline and confidence of the other teams, all the teams that got there had to play great defense, you saw the velocity of the pitches, mostly in the high 80s (mph), and all the little mistakes that can turn costly,” Virto explained. “But it’s fun just being here.”
The Senior League tournament features 12 teams — six from the United States and six from International zones.
The six participating U.S. teams include Burbank American Little League (Burbank, Ill.) from the Central Zone), Dubois Little League (Dubois, Pa.) from the East Zone, Easley Little League from Easley, S.C. as the host team, Irmo Little League (Irmo, S.C. from the Southeast Zone, Northeast Little League (Victoria, Texas) from the Southwest Zone and Spring Valley-Lemon Grove from the West Zone.
Participating international teams include Guam District 01 Little League from Guam in the Asia-Pacific Zone, Wanneroo Little League (Perth, Western Australia) from the Australia Zone, Diamond Baseball Little League from Mirabel, Quebec) from the Canada Zone, Ameilia Baseball Club Little League (Guyanabo, Puerto Rico) from the Caribbean Zone, South Czech Republic Little League (Brno, Czechia) from the Europe-Africa Zone and Santa Maria der Aguayo (Tamauipas, Mexico) from the Latin America Zone.
Burbank American got off to a 2-0 start while the Irmo also got off to a winning start. Spring Valley-Lemon Grove and the host team were both 1-1 in the early going. Pennsylvania was 0-1 while Texas was 0-2.
Puerto Rico was 2-0 while Czechia was 1-0, Australia was 1-1 while Guam, Quebec and Mexico were all 0-1.
Texas scored twice in the bottom of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead on Spring Valley-Lemon Grove in Monday’s elimination game but the Sixty6ers rallied with two runs in the top of the second inning to knot the score.
The game remained tied until Spring Valley-Lemon Grove poured across five runs in the fourth inning to take a 7-2 lead. But the Texans produced their own big inning by plating four runs to narrow the score to 7-6. The Southern California and West region champions tacked on two more runs to go up 9-6.
“They scored one more run, but we managed to hold them off,” Virto said.
Kaden Bedsole pitched five innings with two runs allowed to pick up the victory on the hill while Ivan Virto reached base four times with two hits and two walks, drove in one run and scored three times.
Catcher Isaac Lederer doubled to score one run and also scored himself.
“We were pressing them then we got that one big inning,” the elder Virto said.
The World Series exposure should spark interest beyond the 12U level, D66 administrator Rolland Slade said.
“Generally speaking, when local teams like the Sixty6ers going to the World Series we see an increase in inquiries and sign-ups.” Slade said.
“These two leagues are two of the stronger leagues within the district. I believe their success will spark some of the other leagues to consider fielding teenage level teams. What a great way to spend a summer!
“I also believe the local high schools will see more interest from players. I hope that we can develop a relationship with all the local high schools and realize that the sharing of players is good for the community.”
4S Ranch is representing Southern California in the Junior League West Regional.
Scripps Ranch advanced to the championship game in the Intermediate 50/70 West Region tournament before bowing to Hawaii, 3-1, on July 24 in Nogales, Ariz.
Scripps Ranch finished 6-1 in the 11-team tournament behind Hawaii’s perfect 7-0 showing.
Golden moment
California District 42 champion Sweetwater Valley Little League captured this year’s 10U Southern California state championship with a 5-2 victory over California District 70 champion Vista in an all-San Diego County affair last Friday in Ontario.
SVLL ran through the 10-team bracket undefeated with four consecutive wins: 2-1 over District 28 campion Temecula, 5-2 over District 56 champion Golden Hill, 12-5 over District 36 champion Palos Verdes and 5-2 over Vista — to finish its all-star summer season with a 12-1 overall record, including district, section and regional play.
California District 42 administrator Ernie Lucero called Sweetwater Valley’s SoCal championship a “great accomplishment.”
“Their win marks them as the best team of 10-year-olds in Southern California,” he said. “This is a steppingstone for these players who will be 12-year-olds in a couple of years. At age 12, they will hopefully be able to play at the Western Region complex in San Bernardino and go on to Williamsport, Pa.”
Lucero said SVLL manager Ryan Preciado and his coaches were outstanding in strategizing and guiding this team against other outstanding 10-year-olds in Southern California.
“The District administrator from District 23 said that the manager, coaches, players, parents and fans were an absolute pleasure to host in the city of Ontario,” he said. “They represented District 42 and Section 7 with the upmost respect, dedication and high standards.”
Sweetwater Valley Little League will go down in history as the second team in more than 24 years in District 42 to win the Southern California tournament for 10-year olds. The last team in District 42 to win this title was Imperial Beach Little League.
Sweetwater Valley advanced from the District 42 championships to the California Section 7 tournament that featured all-star champions from California District 41 (Fletcher Hills), California District 66 (Spring Valley) and California District 22 (Calexico).
The SVLL 10s defeated Fletcher Hills, 8-0, to win the section championship en route to advancing to the 10-team SoCal finals, the last stop for this age-group.
The SVLL 12s took an unexpected exit off the road to the Little League World Series following a gritty 5-4 loss to District 31 champion 4S Ranch in a second-round losers bracket game on July 24 featuring another all-San Diego County matchup. The D42 and Section 7 champions finished their summer all-star odyssey with a final 9-2 record.
SVLL lost 3-1 to District 56 champion Golden Hill, the eventual state champion, in the first round to show just how close and competitive this year’s state tournament was.
“This team kept fighting, winning their ensuing two games before losing against 4S Ranch,” Lucero said.
The SVLL 12s defeated D41 champion Rios Canyon, 16-6, for the Section 7 title.
Golden Hill will represent Southern California in the West Regional tournament alongside teams from Northern California (Menlo Park), Arizona (Phoenix) and Hawaii (Honolulu). Games, which will be telecast on the ESPN platform, start Saturday and conclude Aug. 7 with the winning team punching its ticket eastward.
