 |
2007 Little League All Star Playoffs Preview |
 |
A
USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
|
DYER (7-01-2007)
One of my theories on the popularity of the Chicago Cubs is that the Cubs
can breed younger fans because the wild games in small, windy Wrigley Field
resemble Little League games with the wild leads and mood changes. Not
quality. Style and size. The size of the players compared to the size of the
dugouts and the field is so similar to the size of boys compared to tiny
Little League fields. A last at-bat homer wins for you one day and you lose
78-2 the next day. The Cubs play the kind of game you played when you were in the Little
League.
So here is comes. The flurry of Babe Ruth and American Legion playoffs led off by the Little League. There are two million Little League baseball players world wide and the 12 year olds play off towards an eight team pool play championship in Williamsport, Pennsylvania in late August. This is most boys' introduction to competitive sports. Until you reach the 10-year-old level of Little League playoffs, competition is basically for fun. While there are eight and nine year old competitions, it is at age 10, when the playoffs suddenly matter, your name gets in the newspaper and your town gets all excited when the home team wins.
Every town may not have a high school, a college loyalty or a pro sports heritage. But everybody's got a Little League or boys who play in it. And even when the parents fuss and fight like they did at last year's state finals in Merrillville, there's a lot to be said about it for entertainment value.
One other thing. Admission to all Little League games, according to the bylaws of the organization, is and always has been free. There's a lot to be said about that, too.
Babe Ruth baseball is tougher than the Little League because, if you lose early in a tournament, you could end up playing four games in two days. Although all all-star managers claim to have seven or eight pitchers on their squad, they usually have two or three good ones. No all-star team has enough pitching to play four games in two days. So you simply, without exception, must win your first playoff game in every round or you become a 'dead team walking', a squad that's still playing with little realistic chance to win.
There is also a question of the new IHSAA rule (which went into effect last year) that said that no five members of any one school can participate in an out-of-season sport after the beginning of fall practice, which starts on July 30.
Almost all Babe Ruth teams are made up from one or two schools. So, whoever the Indiana state champions are, and due to the number of Indiana Babe Ruth teams there are two Indiana state champs, those teams' seasons may be over anyway because they could not complete the Ohio Valley Regional before July 30. But a Northern Babe Ruth state title involves beating LaPorte and Harris Township, which is Penn high school. That's a very tall order. Overall, Northwest Indiana has had a lot of success in the last two decades in youth baseball and somebody should win a state title in 2007. It's only a matter of who.
All-Star Previews
10-year old all-stars
11-year old all-stars
12-year old all-stars
Babe Ruth League all-stars
Junior Little League (13-14) all-stars
Senior Little League (15-16) all-stars
10-year old all-stars
CEDAR LAKE - The 10-and-under Little League
state tournament goes back to the early
90s. Each League is allowed two teams and
Dyer, Highland and Munster take that route. There is the 10-year-old national tournament
so the season ends at the state finals. CP
had two 10-year-old teams in the past but
this year has only one. Little League
shouldn't be allowed two all-star teams. It
gives the larger leagues a significant
advantage in local play.
There are few levels of sport wilder than 10-and-under Little League all-stars. Absolutely no lead is safe and, with everyone playing five pool play games, pitching will be worn out because few Little League teams really have three or four good 10-year-old all-star pitchers. By the end of the week, runs will be crossing the plate on a very regular basis. The 'Big Pool' five pool play game format at Cedar Lake, which is new this year, sounds like an experiment. It's a response to the old double-elimination format which had some teams eliminated and through for the season after two games. Everybody gets to play in the state tournament, but it better not rain in Cedar Lake. Two teams advance from every site and the District finals cannot begin until every advancing team has completed play at all sites.
10-year-old all-stars (10s) 6 teams
Pool A at CEDAR LAKE Little League -
pool play
7-6 (Fri) CROWN POINT vs. LOWELL - 6 p.m.
7-6 (Fri) DYER (Black) vs. Highland (Gold) 8
p.m.
7-7 (Sat) CROWN POINT vs. CEDAR LAKE - 6
p.m.
7-7 (Sat) LOWELL vs. DYER (Black) 8 p.m.
7-8 (Sun) CROWN POINT vs. Highland (Gold) 6
p.m.
7-8 (Sun) LOWELL vs. CEDAR LAKE - 8 p.m.
7-9 (Mon) CEDAR LAKE vs.. Highland (Gold) 6
p.m.
7-9 (Mon) CROWN POINT vs. DYER (Black) 8
p.m.
7-10 (Tues) LOWELL vs. Highland (Gold) 6
p.m.
7-10 (Tues) CEDAR LAKE vs. DYER (Black) 8
p.m.
10-year-old all-stars (10s) 4 teams
Pool B at DeMotte Little League - pool
play (no lights)
7-7 (Sat) Wheatfield vs. DeMotte - 3 p.m.
7-7 (Sat) Hobart Township vs. DYER (Red) 5
p.m.
7-8 (Sun) Hobart Township vs. Wheatfield - 3
p.m.
7-8 (Sun) DeMotte vs. DYER (Red) 5 p.m.
7-9 (Mon) Wheatfield vs. DYER (Red) 6 p.m.
7-10 (Tues) DeMotte vs. Hobart Township - 6
p.m.
10-year-old all-stars (10s) 4 teams
Pool C at Hessville Little League - pool
play
7-8 (Sun) Hessville vs. Munster (Red) 6 p.m.
7-8 (Sun) Hebron vs. Roselawn - 8 p.m.
7-9 (Mon) Hebron vs. Munster (Red) 6 p.m.
7-9 (Mon) Hessville vs. Roselawn - 8 p.m.
7-10 (Tues) Roselawn vs. Munster (Red) 6
p.m.
7-10 (Tues) Hessville vs. Hebron - 8 p.m.
10-year-old all-stars (10s) 4 teams
Pool D at Highland Little League - pool
play
7-8 (Sun) Irving vs. Highland (Blue) 6 p.m.
7-8 (Sun) Whiting vs. Munster (Black) 8 p.m.
7-9 (Mon) Whiting vs. Highland (Blue) 6 p.m.
7-9 (Mon) Irving vs Munster (Black) 8 p.m.
7-10 (Tues) Highland (Blue) vs. Munster
(Black) 6 p.m.
7-10 (Tues) Irving vs. Whiting - 8 p.m.
The top two teams from each site advance
to the eight team age-10 District II finals
in Cedar Lake beginning on Thursday, July 12
10-year-old all-stars (10s)
District II finals at the CEDAR LAKE
Little League - pool play
7-12 (Thurs) Pool A winner vs. Pool B
runner-up - 6 p.m.
7-12 (Thurs) Pool C winner vs. Pool D
runner-up - 8 p.m.
7-13 (Fri) Pool B winner vs. Pool A
runner-up - 6 p.m.
7-13 (Fri) Pool D winner vs. Pool C runner
-up - 8 p.m.
7-14 (Sat) Semifinal game one - 6 p.m.
7-14 (Sat) Semifinal game two - 8 p.m.
7-15 (Sun) District championship - 6 p.m.*
*Winner advances to the Best-of-3
Sectional playoff series beginning Wednesday,
July 18.
11-year old all-stars
DYER - The 11-and-under Little League state
tournament just began a couple of years ago. It was reportedly a response to AAU teams
that began forming because most 11-year-olds
could make the 'majors' all-star squads, the
Little League's 12-and-under all-star teams. There are not that many leagues that have
all-star teams of 11 year olds. 11-year
olds can play with the 11s or the 12s, but
not both.
This is not one of the traditional Little
League brackets, many leagues do not compete
here and, while there is a state finals in
11 year-old-play, there is no national
tournament.
Still, if your kid is in it, he's playing
for the state championship.
11-year-old all-stars (11s) 5 teams
Pool A at ROBERTSDALE Little League - pool
play
7-8 (Sun) Hessville vs. Munster (Red) 6 p.m.
7-8 (Sun) Robertsdale vs. DYER (Black) 8
p.m.
7-9 (Mon) LOWELL vs. Hessville - 6 p.m.
7-9 (Mon) Munster (Red) vs. DYER (Black) 8
p.m.
7-10 (Tues) Robertsdale vs. Hessville - 6
p.m.
7-10 (Tues) LOWELL vs. Munster (Red) 8 p.m.
7-11 (W) Robertsdale vs. LOWELL - 6 p.m.
7-11 (W) Hessville vs. DYER (Black) 8 p.m.
7-12 (Th) Robertsdale vs. Munster (Red) 6
p.m.
7-12 (Th) LOWELL vs. DYER (Black) 8 p.m.
11-year-old all-stars (11s) 5 teams
Pool B at DYER Little League - pool play
7-8 (Sun) CROWN POINT vs. Munster (Black) 6
p.m.
7-8 (Sun) Highland vs. DYER (Red) 8 p.m.
7-9 (Mon) Irving vs. CROWN POINT - 6 p.m.
7-9 (Mon) Munster (Black) vs. DYER (Red) 8
p.m.
7-10 (Tues) CROWN POINT vs. Highland - 6
p.m.
7-10 (Tues) Irving vs. Munster (Black) 8
p.m.
7-11 (W) Highland vs. Irving - 6 p.m.
7-11 (W) CROWN POINT vs. DYER (Red) 8 p.m.
7-12 (Th) Highland vs. Munster (Black) 6
p.m.
7-12 (Th) Irving vs. DYER (Red) 8 p.m.
The top two teams from each site advance
to the four team age-11 District II finals
in Dyer beginning on Saturday, July 14
11-year-old all-stars (11s)
District II finals at the DYER Little
League - pool play
7-14 (Sat) Pool A winner vs. Pool B
runner-up - 6 p.m.
7-14 (Sat) Pool B winner vs. Pool A
runner-up - 8 p.m.
7-15 (Sun) District championship - 7 p.m.*
*Winner advances to the Best-of-3 Sectional
playoff series beginning Wednesday or
Thursday July 18 or 19.
12-year old all-stars
MUNSTER - This is the big one. Each
league gets only one team in the 12-year-old
bracket because it goes all the way. This
is the tournament that sends boys to
Williamsport, Pennsylvania to play on
National TV in what is the most famous
sports world championship for children, the
Little League World Series. Highland lost
one game short of the World Series in 2004.
Dyer made it to the World Series in 1997.
No Indiana team has ever won the world
championship.
It takes a modern day miracle to get that far. Depending on what path you take, your all-star team must play at least 19 games and win at least 15 of them including at least six single-elimination winner-take-all games to reach the Little League World Series. Indiana teams have one small advantage because the Hoosier State champion advances to the Central States regional which is always held in Indianapolis. The championship game of the Central States Regional is also nationally televised.
The first Indiana state Little League tournament was the 12-year-old tourney held in 1957 in Indianapolis and it was won by the Monticello Little League. There are 14 districts in Indiana, which produce the eight teams in the finals. Because West Lafayette is the host of the 2007 Little League finals, the District III and IV winners advance directly to the state finals. The other 12 district champs pair off for best-of-three game series that will produce the other six finalists.
But, forget all that. Locally this
bracket features some of the most bitter
rivalries in all of local sports.
Crown Point-Dyer, Munster-Dyer and
Munster-Highland. Because of how the
districts are cut, Crown Point (district I)
and natural rivals Merrillville and Lakes of
the Four seasons (district II) are not in
the same district and do not meet in Little
League district play and could only meet as
district champs in the best-of-three game
sectional playoff series.
Dyer, the 1994 and 1997 state champion, has
won 10 of the last 18 District II titles,
Crown Point, the 1995 state champ, has won
six times in 20 years. Highland, the 2004
state champ, won in 2004 and 2005 and Dyer
is the defending District II champion.
This is a bracket dominated by pitching and
hitting on alternate days. Little League
baseball was designed by a dad who wanted
his sons to play baseball even though they
were too little for the real field
distances. He designed a smaller field so
his boys could play. At age 12, the final
year for true Little League baseball (junior
and senior Little Leagues use true baseball
distances), the boys are getting to be too
large for the fields. So, especially in
pool play when the pitching runs short,
games are often decided by home runs. It can
be very exciting because one swing can turn
defeat into victory more often in
12-year-old Little League than in any other
level of baseball.
12-year-old all-stars (12s) 5 teams
Pool A at Munster Little League - pool
play
7-5 (Thurs) Munster vs. CROWN POINT - 6 p.m.
7-5 (Thurs) Lake Village vs. DeMotte - 8
p.m.
7-6 (Fri) Hebron vs. Munster - 6 p.m.
7-6 (Fri) Lake Village vs. CROWN POINT - 8
p.m.
7-7 (Sat) DeMotte vs. Munster - 6 p.m.
7-7 (Sat) Hebron vs. CROWN POINT - 8 p..m.
7-8 (Sun) Hebron vs. DeMotte - 6 p.m.
7-8 (Sun) Lake Village vs. Munster - 8 p.m.
7-9 (Mon) DeMotte vs. CROWN POINT - 6 p.m.
7-9 (Mon) Lake Village vs. Hebron - 8 p.m.
12-year-old all-stars (12s) 5 teams
Pool B at DYER Little League - pool play
7-5 (Thurs) Wheatfield vs. Whiting - 6 p.m.
7-5 (Thurs) Hessville vs. DYER - 8 p.m.
7-6 (Fri) Robertsdale vs. Whiting - 6 p.m.
7-6 (Fri) Wheatfield vs. Hessville - 8 p.m.
7-7 (Sat) Whiting vs. DYER (Red) 6 p.m.
7-7 (Sat) Wheatfield vs Robertsdale - 8 p.m.
7-8 (Sun) DYER vs. Robertsdale - 6 p.m.
7-8 (Sun) Whiting vs. Hessville - 8 p.m.
7-9 (M) Wheatfield vs. DYER - 6 p.m.
7-9 (M) Hessville vs. Robertsdale - 8 p.m.
12-year-old all-stars (12s) 6 teams
Pool C at Highland Little League - pool
play
7-5 (Thurs) Roselawn vs, Hobart Township - 6
p.m.
7-5 (Thurs) Irving vs. LOWELL - 8 p.m.
7-6 (Fri) Highland vs. Roselawn - 6 p.m.
7-6 (Fri) Hobart Township vs. Irving - 8
p.m.
7-7 (Sat) Roselawn vs. LOWELL - 6 p.m.
7-7 (Sat) Hobart Township vs. Highland - 8
p.m.
7-8 (Sun) LOWELL vs. Highland - 6 p.m.
7-8 (Sun) Irving vs. Roselawn - 8 p.m.
7-9 (M) Hobart Township vs. LOWELL - 6 p.m.
7-9 (M) Irving vs. Highland - 8 p.m.
The top two teams from each site advance
to the six team age-12 District II finals in
Munster beginning on Saturday, July 11. Two
of the six teams get a first round bye.
12-year-old all-stars (12s)
District II finals at the Munster Little
League - pool play
7-11 (W) 4th seed vs. 5th seed - 6 p.m.
7-11 (W) 3rd seed vs. 6th seed - 8 p.m.
7-12 (Thurs) Top seed vs. winner 4/5 - 6
p.m.
7-12 (Thurs) 2nd seed vs. 3/6 winner - 8
p.m.
7-13 (F) District II championship game - 7
p.m.*
*Winner advances to the Best-of-3 Sectional
playoff series against the District I
champion on
Monday or Tuesday July 15 or 16
Babe Ruth League all-stars
CROWN POINT -
Of the three levels of Babe
Ruth play, the most telling is often the
15-year-olds, who will be entering their
sophomore seasons in 2008 and may affect
varsity play. Crown Point is the defending state
champ of the age-15 bracket and they will be
consistently good here.
Since CPHS varsity coach Steve Strayer
started the CP summer team, the Babe Ruth
playoffs begin when the summer season
ends. That basically puts CP's 2007
freshman team into the Babe Ruth playoffs
after a month of working together.
Obviously, if you lose the first game in a double-elimination tournament, you will probably be eliminated before the title is awarded, but it would be a surprise if CP, which includes a left-handed pitcher named Josh Negele, who was on the varsity roster for CPHS at the semistate, did not advance beyond the first round. Any local 15s also could benefit from the state finals being in St. John, basically 10 minutes from CP and five minutes from Dyer. The 15-year-old set up is good for a NW Indiana team to go a long way, but a double-elimination tourney run can all blow up on opening night.
BABE RUTH all-stars
age 14 and under (14s) at CP Babe Ruth
- Indiana Ave - CP
7-5 (Th) Valparaiso at CP 5:30
7-5 (Th) Hammond vs. GYB (Gary Youth
baseball) 7:45 p.m.
7-6 (F) Munster vs. Valpo-CP winner - 5:30
p.m.
7-6 (F) Consolation game - 7:45 p.m.
7-7 (Sa) Winner’s bracket final - 10 a.m.
7-7 (Sa) Loser’s bracket - 1
p.m.
7-7 (Sa) Loser’s bracket - 4
p.m.
7-8 (Sun) Championship round game one - 2
p.m.
7-7 (Sun) Championship round game two - 5
p.m.*
* Winner advances to state finals on
Thursday July 12
(15) District Playoffs at Munster BABE
RUTH
Thurs, July 5 - Dyer vs. CROWN POINT -
5:30; St. John vs. Hammond - 8 p.m.
Friday July 6 - Munster (Red) vs. CP or Dyer
- 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 7 - Winners bracket final --
one p.m.
Sunday July 8 - championship game one - 4
p.m.
Sunday, July 8 - championship game two -
6:30 p.m.*
The winner advances to the 10-team Babe
Ruth age 15 state finals in St. John
beginning Wed, July 11.
Junior Little League (13-14) all-stars
LOWELL - This level of play, at times, takes
you back to when you began playing baseball.
The short Little League distances go away at
age 13 and you play on regulation baseball
diamonds. Base stealing, which is
prohibited in 12-and-under Little League is
allowed at age 13 and it changes the game.
Pitchers who were great at the short
distances, have problems with longer
pitches. Hitters get new life. This formerly was just a 13-year old
bracket but, a few years ago, the Little
League expanded the 'junior' bracket to
include 13 and 14 year old all-stars and
that made this level much more watchable.
A pure 13-year-old bracket sometimes is a nightmare of bad pitching and inexperienced catching. But, like the 10-and-under playoffs, no lead is safe and the infield sometimes resembles a dusty merry-go-round where double digit totals are common.
Junior (age 13-14) all-stars (14s) 6
teams
District II finals at Lowell -
double-elimination
7-8 (Sun) Hebron vs. Wheatfield - 5:30
p.m.
7-8 (Sun) Roselawn vs. CEDAR LAKE - 7:45
p.m.
7-9 (Mon) Hebron/Wheatfield vs. Hessville -
5:30 p.m.
7-9 (Mon) Roselawn/CEDAR LAKE vs. LOWELL -
7:45 p.m.
7-10 (Tues) Loser's bracket quarterfinal -
5:30 p.m.
7-10 (Tues) Loser's bracket quarterfinal -
7:45 p.m.
7-11 (W) Loser's bracket semifinal - 5:30
p.m.
7-11 (W) Winner's bracket final game - 7:45
p.m.
7-12 (Th) Lower's bracket final game - 5:30
p.m.
7-13 (F) Championship round game one - 7:45
p.m.
7-14 (Sat) Championship round game two - 3
p.m.*
