Tag: Little League World Series

Umpire confusion in Little League World Series gave Australia a triple play, then wiped it out

At least they got the call right eventually. We think.

Baseball may be America’s favorite pastime, but it can also be America’s most head-scratching one.

Sometimes, its niche rules can be so hard to understand that they can even throw the umpires for a little bit of a loop, and that’s exactly what happened in the Little League World Series during Saturday’s matchup between Europe-Africa (Bologna, Italy) and Australia (Brisbane).

In what was a wild sequence, the Italian team hit a fly ball that landed just inside the first-base line before it was retrieved by a fielder for Australia. Fair ball, right? The umpires certainly thought so, and Australia took advantage by turning it into a triple play to apparently end the frame.

But not so fast.

Though the call on the field was originally fair, the Australian fielder is clearly standing with two feet in foul territory when the ball bounces into his glove. By rule, that should be called foul.

The umpires ultimately got it right — I think — and wiped the triple play off the board for Australia. Italy went on to win the elimination game by a score of 12-7.

But ultimately, this just proved to be a very confusing play, even for the officials, and users on Twitter are still debating whether the umpires should’ve signaled for an infield fly during the original fair call.

So it seems no one can even fully agree on how the rules should be applied in this situation. Ah, baseball.

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A bizarre, controversial call by a Little League World Series umpire led to the weirdest walk-off

What happened here?!

This was a truly weird and controversial way for a Little League World Series regional game to end.

Here’s the breakdown: Oregon and Washington were tied up at two runs apiece at the bottom of the seventh. Washington had a runner on first, when the batter hit a ball down the third-base line.

The umpire clearly signaled a foul ball, but the runner came home with the winning run to send Washington on to the next round.

Umpires claimed that the call on the field was a fair ball — huh? — and there wasn’t evidence on replay that it could be overturned.

Sure enough, game over when it was ruled a fair ball:

A Wyoming Little Leaguer hit a home run while wearing work gloves and everyone loved it

Work gloves for a Little League home run!

This is pretty awesome.

Aydin Jeffress of Wyoming’s Little League World Series team stepped up to the plate last week in a game against a team in Utah. And everyone has noticed days later that Jeffress wasn’t wearing batting gloves before he hit a huge two-run dinger.

No, he was wearing work gloves, like you might find on a farm. How cool is that? Who says we have to wear batting gloves to help us grip a bat better? Work gloves probably have plenty of grip, more than enough.

This went viral on Friday and everyone was sharing it on Twitter:

A Little League player listed his dream job as ‘Chicken Nugget Taste Tester’ and fans loved it

What a legend.

Little League players throughout the country/world are currently battling it out for spots in the Little League World Series later this month in Williamsport, Pa.

While the road to the those legendary fields in Williamsport can be an intense one, it can also be a fun because these are kids after all and kids just want to have fun and play some good baseball with their friends.

It’s also a good time for kids to share with the world what they want to be when they grow up. And I’ll tell you what – a kid from Missouri has the best dream job ever.

Check this out:

It’s always important to dream big!

Brody Jackson, you legend.

Twitter loved it.

Oklahoma Little Leaguer consoles pitcher who had just hit him on the head in classy moment

Now, THAT is sportsmanship.

Tuesday’s Southwest Region Championship to qualify for the Little League World Series was going to be the end of the road for one of these teams from Pearland, Texas and Tulsa, Okla.

But regardless of the result, both teams had every reason to be proud of themselves for one of the best displays of sportsmanship we’ll see in any baseball game.

In the first inning with Tulsa’s Isaiah Jarvis at the plate, a pitch from Kaiden Shelton struck Jarvis on the side of the head. Jarvis went down, but would be OK to remain in the game — the ball thankfully hit his helmet. Shelton, though, was visibly shaken up on the mound, and Jarvis noticed that the opposing pitcher needed some help.

He called time and made his way to the mound to console Shelton.

What a moment.

We could hear Jarvis say to Shelton, “Hey, you’re doing just great.”

It doesn’t get much better than that, and baseball fans understandably appreciated the genuine moment of sportsmanship.

Side-by-side video shows the stunning similarities between LLWS star Gavin Weir and Chris Sale

A mirror image.

We’re only a few days into the 2021 Little League World Series, and we’ve already seen some incredible pitching performances.

Washington’s Eli Jones threw a no-hitter to avoid elimination in a win over Florida, which included a classy moment with Florida coach Mark Rodgers. But the early talk of the tournament has been all about South Dakota and its young pitching star Gavin Weir.

Weir led South Dakota’s Sioux Falls Little League team to a 2-0 win over Louisiana at the LLWS on Friday. Weir struck out 15 batters in 5.2 innings before a teammate finished off the game for the combined no-hitter. And that performance wasn’t a fluke: Weir has been dominant throughout the district, regionals and LLWS.

It’s also easy to see where he got his inspiration from. Weir’s mechanics look strikingly similar to that of Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale.

The first person to congratulate Washington’s Eli Jones on his LLWS no-hitter was the opposing coach

All class.

Washington pitcher Eli Jones had himself a night to remember at the Little League World Series on Saturday.

The 12-year-old from Sammamish, Wash., threw the first Little League World Series no-hitter since 1980, shutting down the team from Palm City, Fla., 1-0, in an elimination game. Jones also drove in that only run of the game.

It was the kind of effort that everyone had to recognize as objectively awesome, but still, you have to love the sportsmanship from Florida coach Mark Rodgers.

After Jones sealed the no-hitter on a fly out to left field, Rodgers made his way to the young pitcher. He was the first person to congratulate Jones on the epic game.

That’s exactly what the Little League World Series should be about — win or lose. Great on Rodgers to set an excellent example after his team got eliminated.

Jones threw 77 pitches in the complete game, no-hitter. Washington will play on Monday in another elimination game.

Little League batter had a priceless reaction to umpire’s laughably bad strike call

Is Angel Hernandez umping Little League now?

Major League umpires have been under increased scrutiny in recent years because, well, they’ve been terrible. Pitchers are throwing faster and with more movement than ever before, and umpires — like Angel Hernandez — have generally been unable to adjust with any consistent accuracy.

But if you thought Major League umpires were bad, let me introduce you to Little League umpires.

Little League umps generally work games on a volunteer basis, and their training doesn’t approach that of even the worst high school umpire. They miss a lot of calls, and those mistakes go unnoticed until the televised Little League World Series (and regionals) come along. And, oh man, it’s wild to see those missed calls when TV cameras are around.

Just look what happened during Tuesday’s Southwest Region championship between Texas West and Louisiana.