U.S. Final to be a Southern Affair

LLWS_Active — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 04:12:00 GMT

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

Payton Purvis didn't have anything personal against Howard J. Lamade--the man whom Little League baseball's main stadium is named for and is honored with a bronze bust in right field. He was just trying to hit the ball. Hard.

"I was thinking it'd be funny if somebody hit a bomb out there and hit that guy in the face," said Purvis, whose three-run homer in the fourth inning glanced off the head of Mr. Lamade. "And I did it tonight. It was funny."

The dinger was part of a back-to-back-to-back home run explosion in the fourth inning that helped Warner Robins (Ga.) Little League defeat West Chandler (Ariz.) Little League 16-6--putting them in a U.S. final matchup against Lubbock Western.

Purvis didn't actually start the game. But that didn't stop him from lobbying manager Mickey Lay to send him up to the plate.

"Payton was sitting there on the bench for a while," said Lay. "And he was saying, 'I can hit this guy. I can hit this guy.' He certainly did tonight."

West Chandler was the one who came into the game with the slugger's reputation. No American team had scored more runs or had a higher batting average than Arizona. But Warner Robins, whose offense had been frustrated earlier in the week, found themselves beating Arizona at its own game to move on in tournament play.

"Anybody in this lineup can hit the ball," said Lay. "We lost our bats for little while but they're coming back. They worked very hard at batting practice and I'm very proud of the way they're working."

Lay admits that working hard at practice isn't always a given with his team, and it's the job of the manager to know when to push and when to pull back.

"Sometimes they go through the emotions because we've been together while," said Lay. "Payton is one and my son (Second baseman Taylor Lay) is another one. We really have to push them because they're so laid-back. But we have to be tolerant of their personalities and understand where they're coming from."

Where they're coming from now is a team that's just two wins away from winning the Little League World Series. Perhaps that's why they've been picking the brain of Columbus Little League~~fellow Georgians and last year's champions~~who were in attendance for Thursday's game against West Chandler. The biggest tip they got? Don't let all the ESPN stuff psych you out.

"It was good to see Kyle, Josh and J.T. from Columbus," said Purvis. "They gave us good advice how to stay focused with all those cameras."

That ability to stay focused will be challenged even more as the rest of the games will be televised to a large worldwide audience on ABC. But having spent the past two months with these kids, Lay is fairly confident his team won't let the media attention go to their heads.

"They don't go around talking about how good they are," said Lay. "They laugh and watch SportsCenter and wrestle. They're just kids."

No Rain on Georgia's Parade

LLWS_Active — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 20:23:00 GMT

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

Not even three inches of torrential rain~~and an 18-hour game delay~~could stop Dalton Carriker from leading his Warner Robins (Ga.) Little League team to the United States semifinal at the Little League World Series.

With a devastating fastball that reached the upper 60's and a curveball that kept Walpole (Mass.) Little League hitters off balance, Carriker pitched four- plus strong innings in an 8-1 win over the New England champion--leaving Warner Robins just two victories away from the Little League World Series championship game.

But Carriker didn't just dominate on the mound. He chipped in an opposite field home run in the second inning and made some astounding defensive plays that caught the notice of Walpole manager Brian Oberacker.

"He did everything," said Oberacker. "He made two or three plays up the middle that would've been singles any other day. He hit the ball out. We didn't have an answer for him."

Even Carriker admitted feeling jubilant as he ran the bases after his dinger.

"It's a great feeling knowing no one was going to catch that one," said Carriker. "Seeing those little kids in the outfield trying to catch it. That's really cool."

Most of the offensive damage, including a two- RBI single from Payton Purvis, was done by hitters using the whole field. A philosophy Warner Robins manager Mickey Lay has stressed to his players throughout the tournament.

"Part of our discipline is to hit the ball hard and close off the strong side so we can stay back on the ball," said Lay. "That's what we try to focus on. For the most part, everybody hit really well today."

"Those fences are a long way away"

How big of a part did the numerous delays play in Walpole's tournament performance? Oberacker wouldn't say. He did admit, "It's hard to keep 12 and 13 year- olds concentrated on the game with a break in the action like that."

Still the distance of the fences at the Little League World Series~~moved to 220 feet two years ago~~might have had more to do with silencing an offense that came into the tournament slugging at an enormous rate.

"We were a power hitting team when the fences were at 200 in district," Oberacker said. "We' re a little undersized and it really shows here at the Little League World Series."

For Oberacker the only regret was how some supporters of Warner Robins conducted themselves in the stands. An ESPN microphone caught Oberacker referring to a certain "clown" making comments from the Georgia rooting section.

"Anytime you get a bunch of people together, there's always one in the crowd," said Oberacker, reluctant to broach the topic. "Today there was that one. I won't comment on on it any further."

The Mighty Underdog

Warner Robins was not a favorite to win the Georgia state championship--let alone make it to the Little League World Series. But now the loose and carefree team from Georgia, whose main focus seemed to be the dormitory pillow fights they exchange with the team from Mexico on a daily basis, is now on the verge of allowing their home state to boast back-to-back Little League World Series champions.

"At the start of the regular season, nobody thought this all-star team was going to be anything," said Carriker. "We showed them we could pull it out."

Blog Posts From 2007 Little League World Series Tagged With baseball

U.S. Final to be a Southern Affair

No Rain on Georgia's Parade