2015 Little League World Series

[GannonFan]

Yep PA & SC seem to be the best two teams I've seen so far. SC's pitcher no-hit VA yesterday, throwing some in the high-70's which is over a 100mph equivalent from 60 ft. I may be biased but PA looks like the team to beat - they're racking up gaudy #'s, their lineup mashes from top to bottom (probably 3-4 of their outs yesterday were caught on the warning track) - and for 12 year olds some of their fielding is spectacular - the SS has a gun & the 1B is very impressive. No one has even challenged them all summer.

Agree

Those PA kids are huge - they have a couple of 5'7" kids and the ace pitcher who will throw in the finals is bigger than that. Can't teach size.

Think I read that the coaches on that team do all the batting practice pitching and they throw full speed. I imagine some of those guys can throw well into the 70's. That team can hit - I think they had 17 hits against NJ yesterday. There was a kid from that CA team a year or two ago (real long hair) that could hit anything - batted over .700 in the LLWS - Red Land looks like they have 4-5 players with that kind of prolific ability to hit.

[Killamike296]

Wisconsin is on a roll, Two 10-0 games in a row going into Regional Finals

[Jjoey52]

Those coaches who let their pitchers throw curves at that age should hung. The arms are not developed yet and their careers are over before they start.

Teach them to throw change ups and knuckleballs instead. Also work with them on control, but no curves or sliders.

[clenz]

Is 5'7 at 11 or 12 really that big?

Iowa jokes aside that's...thats not that big for 12

[YoUDeeMan]

Is 5'7 at 11 or 12 really that big?

Iowa jokes aside that's...thats not that big for 12

Huh?

64 inches (that's 5'4 inches) is at the 95th percentile for boys at age 12...heck, 5'7" is at the 95th percentile at age 13. And for 11 years old...that is really tall.

So yeah, when you have more than one 5'7" 12 year old kid on a team of 12-13 players, you've got some relatively tall kids on the team.

http://www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/data/se ... 41c021.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[YoUDeeMan]

BTW, it still sucks that a team can win the regional championship without double elimination for the loser of the championship game.

It happened at least twice in the regionals...and it stinks.

Cripes, Wisconsin blew out Kentucky once, and then Kentucky blows out Wisconsin...so who goes to the championship? Kentucky. Why? Which team was better? Two blow outs...but only one team moves forward, despite each losing big to the other team.

Why not play a winner take all game?

Some winners of the first round have to play 3 consecutive days, and on the third day, face the LOSER of the first round, who got a day off. WTF?

That scheduling makes little sense...and it sucks.

[bluehenbillk]

BTW, it still sucks that a team can win the regional championship without double elimination for the loser of the championship game.

It happened at least twice in the regionals...and it stinks.

Cripes, Wisconsin blew out Kentucky once, and then Kentucky blows out Wisconsin...so who goes to the championship? Kentucky. Why? Which team was better? Two blow outs...but only one team moves forward, despite each losing big to the other team.

Why not play a winner take all game?

Some winners of the first round have to play 3 consecutive days, and on the third day, face the LOSER of the first round, who got a day off. WTF?

It's all for TV, but the team that plays in the final that's undefeated has a big advantage from a pitching standpoint. Pitch counts and pitching depth are paramount in Little League - especially tournament play. The more rest & better pitchers available a team has the better their chance of winning.

[GannonFan]

PA looked mortal yesterday (and frankly, in the first game against NJ they struggled to pull away). If they face a pitcher throwing a lot of junk like the kid from NJ did, they could be in trouble when Wagner isn't pitcing. Tons of kids throw a lot of junk once you get to the LLWS (again, one of the things I despise about baseball at that age - the reliance on breaking ball pitches) so they could be in for a little trouble depending on the draw.

[CAA Flagship]

PA looked mortal yesterday (and frankly, in the first game against NJ they struggled to pull away). If they face a pitcher throwing a lot of junk like the kid from NJ did, they could be in trouble when Wagner isn't pitcing. Tons of kids throw a lot of junk once you get to the LLWS (again, one of the things I despise about baseball at that age - the reliance on breaking ball pitches) so they could be in for a little trouble depending on the draw.

That Wagner is one big kid. And he absolutely shut down a potent offense in NJ. They got the bat on the ball those first few innings but nothing was hit hard.

There is nothing wrong with 12 year olds throwing curve balls if they throw them correctly. The problem is that most of the kids are not being taught how to throw them right. So your point is ultimately valid.
In fact, I'm amazed at how many pitchers I see that have terrible pitching form. Wagner's pitches were mostly high because he didn't bend his back until well after he released the ball. The pitching motion of the NJ kid was awful. and watching most Latino pitchers in the Major League isn't helping.

[clenz]

Is 5'7 at 11 or 12 really that big?

Iowa jokes aside that's...thats not that big for 12

Huh?

64 inches (that's 5'4 inches) is at the 95th percentile for boys at age 12...heck, 5'7" is at the 95th percentile at age 13. And for 11 years old...that is really tall.

So yeah, when you have more than one 5'7" 12 year old kid on a team of 12-13 players, you've got some relatively tall kids on the team.

http://www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/data/se ... 41c021.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Okay...the coasts must really swing the average.

When I was 12/13 I was about 5'11-6' and 160-170 lbs. I was an the average/short side at that point.

8 guys in my class started a tournament team for basketball with the 8 of us that traveled all over Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, etc... playing tournaments against other kids our age. We weren't a traveling team, we were all from the same town of 800 and our heights were..in 6th and 7th grade at 12/13 years old

6'4
6'4
6'1
6'0
6'0
5'8
5'8
5'6

We didn't tower over anyone...that was pretty standard for all the teams we played.

I coached middle school baseball and my 7th grade teams probably averaged 5'8-5'10

[SunCoastBlueHen]

8 guys in my class started a tournament team for basketball with the 8 of us that traveled all over Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, etc... playing tournaments against other kids our age. We weren't a traveling team, we were all from the same town of 800 and our heights were..in 6th and 7th grade at 12/13 years old

A young Clenzy modeling the hoops uni...

[YoUDeeMan]

Huh?

64 inches (that's 5'4 inches) is at the 95th percentile for boys at age 12...heck, 5'7" is at the 95th percentile at age 13. And for 11 years old...that is really tall.

So yeah, when you have more than one 5'7" 12 year old kid on a team of 12-13 players, you've got some relatively tall kids on the team.

http://www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/data/se ... 41c021.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Okay...the coasts must really swing the average.

When I was 12/13 I was about 5'11-6' and 160-170 lbs. I was an the average/short side at that point.

8 guys in my class started a tournament team for basketball with the 8 of us that traveled all over Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, etc... playing tournaments against other kids our age. We weren't a traveling team, we were all from the same town of 800 and our heights were..in 6th and 7th grade at 12/13 years old

6'4
6'4
6'1
6'0
6'0
5'8
5'8
5'6

We didn't tower over anyone...that was pretty standard for all the teams we played.

I coached middle school baseball and my 7th grade teams probably averaged 5'8-5'10

Yeah, yeah...but how tall were the players on the curling team?

[YoUDeeMan]

8 guys in my class started a tournament team for basketball with the 8 of us that traveled all over Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, etc... playing tournaments against other kids our age. We weren't a traveling team, we were all from the same town of 800 and our heights were..in 6th and 7th grade at 12/13 years old

A young Clenzy modeling the hoops uni...

[clenz]

8 guys in my class started a tournament team for basketball with the 8 of us that traveled all over Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, etc... playing tournaments against other kids our age. We weren't a traveling team, we were all from the same town of 800 and our heights were..in 6th and 7th grade at 12/13 years old

A young Clenzy modeling the hoops uni...

Thankfully I've never owned a pair of those.

[CAA Flagship]

Poll has been created.

I'm taking South Carolina.

[bluehenbillk]

All 16 teams play today.

[89Hen]

I'm the only smart one who took California?

2009 - Chula Vista, CA
2011 - Huntington Beach, CA
2013 - Chula Vista, CA
2015 -

[bluehenbillk]

1st game was a pitching duel, TX beats OR 1-0. TX got 1 hit, a home run in the 4th.

[bluehenbillk]

I'm the only smart one who took California?

2009 - Chula Vista, CA
2011 - Huntington Beach, CA
2013 - Chula Vista, CA
2015 -

They sure look strong - taking Kentucky to the cleaners, 14-0 in the 3rd & still batting - headed for a mercy rule in 3 more outs.

[bluehenbillk]

PA destroys MO 18-0, they and CA look on whole other levels. Over 32K at the nightcap, Cole Wagner looks amazing, he'll pitch Sunday.

[CAA Flagship]

PA destroys MO 18-0, they and CA look on whole other levels. Over 32K at the nightcap, Cole Wagner looks amazing, he'll pitch Sunday.

PA vs. SC tonight. Should be a good game.

[tribe_pride]

Insane Pennsylvania-SC game today. Penn scores 5 in the first and adds 1 in the 2nd to seemingly dominate this game. SC scores 4 in the 4th to get within 2 and then scores 4 in the top of the 6th (final inning) to take the lead. That included 2 outs with guys on 1st and 2nd and a 10 pitch walk to load the bases when they were still down by 2 before the next guy tripled in 3 guys to take a 1 run lead. Then Penn scores 3 in the bottom of the inning without getting an out to win the game.

West (Cali) was upset by Southwest (Texas) earlier to move into the loser's bracket game and have to play SC tomorrow and winner needs to win 3 straight to advance to the final game while Texas and Penn only need to win 2 more and get to wait until Wednesday to play again.

[CAA Flagship]

Insane Pennsylvania-SC game today. Penn scores 5 in the first and adds 1 in the 2nd to seemingly dominate this game. SC scores 4 in the 4th to get within 2 and then scores 4 in the top of the 6th (final inning) to take the lead. That included 2 outs with guys on 1st and 2nd and a 10 pitch walk to load the bases when they were still down by 2 before the next guy tripled in 3 guys to take a 1 run lead. Then Penn scores 3 in the bottom of the inning without getting an out to win the game.

West (Cali) was upset by Southwest (Texas) earlier to move into the loser's bracket game and have to play SC tomorrow and winner needs to win 3 straight to advance to the final game while Texas and Penn only need to win 2 more and get to wait until Wednesday to play again.

That PA-SC game was unbelievable. That triple for the win was the pitcher that gave up the 4 runs in the top of the 6th.

[YoUDeeMan]

WTF was Wagner thinking?

0-2 and he serves up a high, fat fastball over the plate.

Throw that pitch out of the area code and hope the batter reaches. Cripes, the ump was calling strikes 8-10 inches out of the strike zone...make the SC kid chase a bad ball and the game would have effectively been over. Instead, he served up a big, fat butterball. And the PA kid taking off from second was another mental mistake that ended an inning.

SC was pretty disciplined at the plate with 2 strikes as the game went on.

Wagner pitch count...will it haunt PA later? SC used a lot of pitchers. But, I was thinking that PA had a good shot at hitting him...he was nothing special. So, I told my son PA was going to get some hits off the kid in the last inning.

Now, bring on Texas!

[bluehenbillk]

The PA-SC game was stupendous, both teams showed a lot of heart & also a lot of talent in the batters box.

It'll be interesting if teams continue to try to freeze Wagner at the plate or if they'll pitch to him. I can't ever remember seeing a kid be intentionally walked 3 times in a game.