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For more cool stuff on the Little League World Series check out Active's The Road to Williamsport special section.

Warner Robins (Ga.) Little League manager Mickey Lay knew that nobody gave his team a chance.


"Everybody overlooked us.  You look at the paper today and all it said was 'Texas power'-- with just a little bit about Georgia."


 

Whichever  paper Lay looks at tomorrow morning, he's likely to see far more about this  underdog team from Macon who stunned the worldand prohibitive favorite  Lubbock Western (Texas) Little Leaguewith a 5-2 victory in the Little League  World Series U.S.  championship  game.  The win guarantees for the second  straight year a team from Georgia will play in the tournament's title game.


 

The  offensive heroics belonged to Dalton Carrikerwho bashed a home run to center  and came into the game batting over .700 for the tournamentand David  Umphreyville Jr. who had three hits, including a two-run single in the third  that broke the game open.


But it was stellar defense in the fifth inning that sealed the victory for the Southeast regional champions. Shortstop Zane Conlon made a diving catch to his left to rob Texas of a two-out single that would have tied the game at four.


“That was one of the greatest plays I’ve seen in a shortstop,” said Lubbock Western manager Ed Thorne. 


Despite the loss Thorne was unwilling to concede the best team won. When asked if he believed his team was the better team Thorne nodded and said, "Yes."


"We saw a lot better pitching in the Southwest regional than we saw here at this tournament," said Thorne. "He (Warner Robins starting pitcher Clint Wynn) didn't do anything that we didn't tell our kids he would do. We hit the ball at people. It happens in baseball "


When told of the comments Lay, who admitted he never thought his team would "get out of the state of Georgia", had a passionate response.


"Look at the scoreboard," said Lay. "I'm sorry, but we kicked some butt.  They (Lubbock Western) are a good team.  But you need the right chemistry at the right time to make it happen."


The chemistry reference is an interesting one. Was it a thinly veiled attack at a Lubbock Western team many consider an elite travel ball team disguised as a Little League squad? Lay left little doubt where he comes out on the topic.


"We didn't manufacture a team.  We did it right. Hardly anybody on our team plays travel ball. If you've got billions and billions of dollars, you can buy a team.  But there's no guarantee they'll play."


Managerial jibes aside, the game proved Warner Robins' formula of steady pitching, clutch defense and an uncanny knack for getting a timely base hit was enough to conquer a team most thought would cakewalk to the Little League World Series final. Being taken for granted is something the Georgia team is used to, in fact, it's something they relish.


"You can call us the underdog, but we love to beat you,” winning pitcher Wynn said.


Next up for Georgia: a Little League World Series final against Tokyo Kitasuna. Texas manager Thorne believes Japan will have no problem dispensing of Warner Robins in the Sunday afternoon matchup. But Lay is not interested in the predictions of a manager whose team he has just defeated.


"They lost and we're champions," said Lay.  "And that's all I have to say."

 

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For more cool stuff on the Little League World Series check out Active's The Road to Williamsport special section.

Tokyo Kitasuna Little League manager Youichi Kubo doesn't know many words in English--but "unbelievable" is definitely one of them.


After Ryo Kanekubo's walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning in a 7-4 victory over Pabao (Curacao) Little League, Kubo was eagerly showing off his foreign-language skills as his shortstop rounded the bases.


"I believed in him," said Kubo through a translator. "I didn't think he'd hit a grand slam, but I believed in him. Unbelievable!"


For Japan it was the second straight game they've won with a walkoff home run. The day before Junsho Kiuchi sent home Chinese-Taipei with a dramatic 10th inning home run.


 

Kanekubo  made an unlikely hero in the international finalhe had struggled recently to  adjust to the high amount of curveballs thrown at himbut a little tinkering  with his swing seems to have paid off.


"I missed the ball on several chances the last three days," said Kyle Kanekubo. "The manager told me not to open my hip and legs when I start to swing. Very good advice."


Japan didn't figure to bash their way into the Little League World Series final. Early scouting reports on the team described them as a fundamentally-sound squad with outstanding pitching, if a bit undersized and lacking that big power bat. But Kubo believes his team is a resilient group that makes them very difficult to put away at the end.


"The slogan for this team is ' Never give up,'" said Kubo. "Even as Kanekubo was getting ready for his final at-bat, he was saying, "We can win."


Japanese ace Ryo Ogawa, who kept the game close with four runs allowed over 5 2/3, delivered the understatement of the tournament.


"The mood on the team bench is very nice," said Ogawa.


It should be. Tokyo Kitasuna is just one victory away from becoming the seventh Japanese team to claim the Little League World Series title, and the first since Musashi Fuchu Little League in 2003. Does Kubo, a proponent of spontaneous practice sessions, have anything planned in preparation of Little League World Series final matchup against the U.S. Representative, Warner Robins (Ga.) Little League?


"Nothing special," said Kubo. "We just want to have a good game."


Knowing Tokyo Kitasuna's flair for the dramatic that's exactly what were going to get.


 

Maybe He  Was Looking for a Point Guard


You might have noticed, if you were watching the games on ABC today, a certain Texas Tech basketball by the name of Bobby Knight hanging out near the press box. I'm sure Bobby never likes being quite that close to reporters, but he was a good sport and talked glowingly of Lubbock Western Little League.


"They've done the state proud," said Knight. "I just love coming up here."


No word on whether Knight found any early recruits for his Texas Tech frontcourt.

 

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