Kids Sports News Network

Little League World Series Highlights

Mo’ne Davis and the Taney Dragons
Mo’ne Davis, 13 year old star of the Taney Dragons, lead her team to the Pennsylvania state championship with her 70 mile per hour fastball. When she hits a home run, her teammates like to say she hits like a girl, reclaiming that once insult. She tells other young girls to “don’t let anyone stop you from doing what you like.” There have only been 18 girls to play in the history of the Little League World Series. Davis is the first girl on an American team in the Little League World Series in 10 years. Girls have come a long way in Little League baseball. Kathryn Johnston was the first girl to play when she tucked her hair under her hat and joined the Kings Dairy team in Corningy NY as “Tubby” in 1950. When she told her coach she was a girl, he let her keeping playing first base: “That’s okay, you’re a darned good player.” However, the Tubby Rule prohibited girls form playing until the rules were revised in 1973 after the National Organization for Women successfully sued the Little League World Series. After Mo’ne Davis single-handedly shut out teams with her pitching skills, she landed on the cover of Sports Illustrated. She is the first Little Leaguer to make Sports Illustrated’s cover in company with other young athletes include Venus Williams (1997), Michelle Kwan (1998), LeBron James (2002), and Maria Sharpove (2004). The Taney Dragons lost to 6-5 to Chicago.

New England Teaches Us How to Lose Well
ESPN caught Rhode Island coach David Belisle’s memorable speech after their heartbreaking loss to Chicago’s Jackie Robinson West team, 8-7. He inspired them to win against Tennessee, coming back from 2 down. And, then when he saw some of the boys crying after playing Chicago, he told them to lose with their heads held high. Losing well is recognizing what went well: “Look at the score: 8-7, 12-10 in hits. It came to the last out, we didn’t quit. You had the whole place jumping. You had ESPN jumping. Because you wanna know why? They like fighters. They like sportsmen. They like guys that don’t quit. They like guys that play the right way. We got down to the nitty gritty, we’re one of the best teams in the world. Think about that for a second — the world!” There were so many teams the played well and won a pride that can’t be lost.

South Korea Defeats Chicago for LLWS Title
Hae Chan Choi pitched the final four innings, hit a solo home run, and scored twice to lead South Korea to an 8-4 victory in the Little League World Series championship game. It was the third LLWS title for South Korea, and the first since winning back-to-back titles in 1984 and 1985. It appeared that South Korea would run away with the final just as it had run through its previous four opponents. The winners won their first four games of the tournament by a combined score of 34-13. Don Wan Sin also hit a solo home run and scored two runs for the winners. Jae Yeong Hwang started on the mound for South Korea and gave up just one hit while striking out four. He made it through two innings before leaving the game due to illness. Hwang also had two RBIs as the South Koreans built an 8-1 lead entering the sixth and final inning.

As they had done four times previously on their way to the LLWS final, Jackie Robinson West of Chicago put together a late rally. This time, however, the comeback fell short. The American champion managed three runs in the bottom of sixth to make the game interesting. Jackie Robinson West was attempting to become the first team from the state of Illinois to win a Little League World Series championship. The last U.S. winner was the Huntington Beach, Calif., entry in 2011.

The Other Eight LLWS Finals
This was the 75th anniversary of the Little League World Series. The LLWS is actually made up of nine different tournaments in both baseball and softball covering a variety of age groups. The other eight Little League World Series finals are listed below.

LLWS3

 

LLWS2

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Author: Melanie Carbine and Rick Bouch

Rick Bouch is a former college and professional football player and former sports journalist for several publications.  He currently is a freelance sports writer covering national sports news.

6 Comments

  1. Pingback: New Website: Kid Sports News Network | Ms. Melanie

  2. SmithJr

    October 9, 2014 at 7:36 pm

    This is a homerun!

  3. RevisJr

    October 9, 2014 at 7:36 pm

    lol

  4. Simmi Nirula

    October 9, 2014 at 7:46 pm

    Mo’ne davis is an inspiration to all junior female sports players. It is amazing how fast and well she pitches. She led her team to the championship! That is awesome and I hope that she will be with the Taney Dragons once again next season.

  5. Guest

    October 9, 2014 at 7:48 pm

    These was exciting to watch in action this summer. I bet we see more of Mo’ne Davis in the future.

  6. SmithJr

    October 9, 2014 at 7:48 pm

    Chicago’s Mo’ne davis didn’t not get to play in the game that chicago lost.
    Because she played 2 straight gane but i bet if she played she would have 16 strikeouts.Lol

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