2024 LLIWS Preview: MOT, Middletown, Delaware

I have the privilege of calling a Little League World Series once again this year! This will mark my third consecutive call of the Intermediate 50/70 Baseball World Series, held from July 28-August 4 in Livermore, California. It's for 13-year-olds, played on a field slightly larger than Little League but still smaller than Junior League (50 feet from the pitcher's mound to home plate, 70 feet between the bases). Following this tournament and its qualifiers closely over the last three years, I've come to expect fantastic action and stories, and I'm looking forward to bringing them to you again this year!

The 2024 Intermediate World Series will air on ESPN+, and I will lay out the backstory for one of the 12 competing teams each day from now until the tournament's start on July 28. I hope you'll read along and remember a nugget here and there when you watch the tournament!

MOT, Middletown, Delaware

League:
MOT Little League
Location:
Middletown, Odessa, Townsend, Delaware
Championships:

Delaware Dist 1
East Region
Record: 8-0
Date Qualified: July 25
Noteworthy:
1st team from Delaware to reach ILWS

Coaches: Kevin Koerner, John Murray, Jeremy Clark.

At the 12-year-old age level, there have only been two Delaware teams to qualify for the Little League World Series since its founding in 1957. So it was a surprise to many when the Delaware District 1 champions, the host of this year's 13-year-old East Regional, swept it without a loss.

But nobody at MOT (pronounced Em-Oh-Tee) felt surprised, because this group had always shown it was capable. State champs as 10-year-olds and 12-year-olds, they returned 11 players from the squad that competed at 12-year-old regionals in Bristol, Connecticut last year. With some imposing 6-foot frames and big-game pitchers like Mason Guth and Jordyn Brown, they expected to make noise.

So when they took the regional stage and calmly dispatched Fairfield American (Connecticut) and dashed around the basepaths to stun Hub City (Maryland), Little League watchers took notice. But when they run-ruled Keystone (Pennsylvania) in the winners' bracket final, they became serious contenders. A much-delayed-by-rain win over South Vineland (New Jersey) Thursday night avoided the logistical nightmare of playing a delayed 'IF' game on Friday and sent MOT to Livermore.

These are heady times for MOT, with state championships at the 10- and 12-year-old age levels joining the 13s and the Senior League softball squad. Those players also start in the World Series this weekend, but in a less exotic (albeit cheaper logistically) destination of Sussex County ... Delaware. The 50/70 boys and their families are dealing with hastily arranged flights to California and, from the sounds of things, are having a ball. We'll see if that translates to the field, starting this afternoon on ESPN+!

Road to Livermore
Delaware Dist 1
July 5	at Dover	W	20-0 (4 inn.)
July 6	Camden-Wyoming	W	18-6 (5 inn.)
July 8	Milford	W	11-0 (5 inn.)
East Region
July 20	Fairfield American CT	W	5-2
July 21	Hub City, Hagerstown MD	W	5-4
July 22	Greater Nashua NH	W	18-5 (5 inn.)
July 23	Keystone, Clinton County PA (winners' bracket final)	W	11-1 (6 inn.)
July 25	South Vineland NJ (final)	W	2-0
Intermediate Baseball World Series
July 28	Vine Ingle, Macon GA	L	4-6
July 30	Livermore CA (elim)	L	5-6 (9 inn.)
Aug 1	South-West Germany (Goodwill)	L	0-3

 

2023 LLIWS Preview: Pearl City, Hawaii

For the second consecutive year, I am thrilled to be calling Little League's Intermediate 50/70 Baseball World Series July 30-August 6! This is not the 12-year-olds you see on TV in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, every year, but kids one year older, playing on a slightly bigger field (50-foot pitching distance, 70-foot basepaths) in Livermore, California. It's a different vibe than Williamsport, but extremely cool nonetheless, and it was really special for me to call the 2022 tournament, including the championship game on ESPN2.

So leading up to the 2023 Intermediate 50/70 World Series, which will air entirely on ESPN+, I want to introduce each of the competing teams with whatever information I've been able to glean on their path to Livermore (and to your ESPN+ screen!).

Pearl City, Hawaii

League:
Pearl City Little League
Location:
Pearl City, Hawaii
Championships:
HI District 7
Hawaii state
West Region
Record: 12-0
Date Qualified: July 27
Noteworthy:
1988 Little League World Series U.S. champs (12yo)

7x Junior League World Series (world champs 1984, 2007) (14yo)

5x Senior League World Series (16yo)

2x Big League World Series (18yo)

Coaches:
Ty Takahashi, Preston Onomura, Chad Furutani

Pearl City has a fantastic Little League tradition, as you can see above, particularly in the teenage age groups. Located within Honolulu, its last World Series appearance was the 2015 Junior League World Series; Central East Maui Little League has been more successful in All-Star play of late.

But this 13-year-old group has been absolutely dominant all year, beating Central Maui 5-2 for the state championship and then absolutely torching competition at the normally fierce West Region. It was big news when Douglas, Arizona managed to stay on the field for all seven innings against Pearl City in Thursday afternoon's rescheduled semifinal, and championship game opponent Encinitas, California was the only team in the tournament to keep them out of double digit runs ... but Pearl City won anyway, 9-6, to book their ticket to Livermore.

The best news for Pearl City is that although they face the same short turnaround as West Region champions often do, and despite playing two games on Thursday, they kept one of their ace starters under 50 pitches, making him eligible to pitch Sunday in their opener against Ascension Parish, Louisiana. It's just a hunch, but this could be an absolutely spectacular opening-night game between two of the strongest teams in the U.S. field.

Road to Livermore
Hawaii District 7
June 16	Waipio	W	11-1
Jun 18	Waipio (final)	W	16-0
Hawaii state
July 7	Hilo	W	13-3
July 8	at Kawaihau (winners' final)	W	7-2
July 10	Central Maui (final)	W	5-2
West Region
July 20	Woodland American, CA	W	11-0
July 21	Nogales, AZ	W	13-3
July 22	Douglas, AZ	W	12-2
July 23	Elma, WA	W	13-2
July 25	Klamath Falls, OR (quarterfinal)	W	17-2
July 27	Douglas, AZ (semifinal)	W	10-3
July 27	Encinitas, CA (final)	W	9-6
Intermediate Baseball World Series
July 30	Ascension Par., Gonzales, LA		6pm PT
TBD	TBD		TBD

2023 LLIWS Preview: Toms River East, New Jersey

For the second consecutive year, I am thrilled to be calling Little League's Intermediate 50/70 Baseball World Series July 30-August 6! This is not the 12-year-olds you see on TV in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, every year, but kids one year older, playing on a slightly bigger field (50-foot pitching distance, 70-foot basepaths) in Livermore, California. It's a different vibe than Williamsport, but extremely cool nonetheless, and it was really special for me to call the 2022 tournament, including the championship game on ESPN2.

So leading up to the 2023 Intermediate 50/70 World Series, which will air entirely on ESPN+, I want to introduce each of the competing teams with whatever information I've been able to glean on their path to Livermore (and to your ESPN+ screen!).

Toms River East, New Jersey

League:
Toms River East Little League
Location:
Toms River, New Jersey
Championships:
NJ District 18
NJ Section 3
New Jersey state
East Region
Record: 13-0
Date Qualified: July 25
Noteworthy:
2nd straight appearance at Intermediate World Series (3rd U.S. team to do so as regional champ)

1998 Little League World Series Champions (12yo)
Coaches:
Mike Mendes, Ed Todaro, George Gallagher

Toms River is a big deal in baseball circles. It was the site of the New Jersey high school baseball championships for years, and its Little League programs put the town on the international map years ago.

Toms River East was known as the Beast of the East en route to the 1998 Little League World Series championship and went right back to Williamsport in 1999 as part of winning three state championships in five years. After crosstown rival Toms River Little League picked up the mantle in the 2000s, reaching Williamsport in 2010, Toms River East returned to Williamsport as Mid-Atlantic Region runner-up in the U.S.-only LLWS of 2021.

Those players then qualified for Livermore as 13-year-olds in 2022, which may have set the table for this age group, even with no player crossover, to enter this year's 50/70 qualifying.

This Toms River East team has dealt with some close calls, notably the New Jersey winners' bracket final against Nutley (the last non-TRE team to win the 50/70 East title back in 2019), the state final against Stafford (a 1-0 win), and the regional final against Lower Merion, Pennsylvania (a 4-3 win).

But with all due respect to Tuesday's title-clincher, the biggest win was Sunday's extra-inning thriller against Massapequa Coast, New York. The same teams played twice at the 12-year-old Metro Region tournament last year, with Massapequa Coast winning both, once in extra innings and the second via no-hitter to advance to Williamsport. So these Toms River East 13-year-olds had to be slaying some emotional demons when they wiggled out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the 7th and ultimately beat Massapequa Coast 4-3 in 9 innings to reach the East final.

Last year's TRE team played back-to-back 11-10 thrillers in Livermore before bowing out against Hawaii. This year's team will be hoping for lower-scoring games to keep its pitching on schedule. Unlike many of its World Series opponents, TRE has not played on three consecutive days this summer, so winning their Monday night opener will be critical.

Road to Livermore
New Jersey District 18
June 22	Barnegat	W	10-0
June 24	Beachwood (winners' final)	W	3-0
June 25	Beachwood (final)	W	13-5
New Jersey Section 3
July 3	Lincroft	W	11-1
July 5	Princeton (winners' final)	W	20-3
July 7	Lincroft (final)	W	6-1
New Jersey state
July 12	Stafford	W	7-0
July 13	Nutley East / American (winners' final)	W	3-2
July 15	Stafford (final)	W	1-0
East Region
July 20	Lower Merion, PA	W	12-2
July 22	Hingham, MA	W	12-2
July 23	Massapequa Coast, NY (winners' final)	W	4-3 (9 inn.)
July 25	Lower Merion, PA (final)	W	4-3
Intermediate Baseball World Series
July 31	Southeast / CA 57		12noon PT
TBD	TBD		TBD