The Little League World Series
On a beautiful, sunny, late summer afternoon I'm sitting on a hill in northern Pennsylvania watching 12-year-olds demonstrate the perfection of the game. Welcome to the Little League World Series (LLWS) where "the best seats are on the hill." While some wish they were in Lamade Stadium's grandstands, most of the people I met love being on the hill. They love the camaraderie and the almost ready for Autumn breeze that cools the bright sun. What can be better than two days in the north-central Pennsylvania hills watching the game we love? It doesn't matter that the players are twelve, it’s still the same game and the level of competition dramatic. The Game’s Perfection The Setting It's the bottom of the sixth (and last inning) of the championship game. Louisiana is leading Curacao 8 - 0, with two men out. Egan Prather has pitched the entire game and wants to be on the mound for the last out. Earlier in the tournament, Prather pitched 5 1/3 innings of one-hit ball to help Louisiana avoid elimination. That day, he struck out ten kids from New Jersey. Today he continued to dominate, allowing only two hits while striking out six. "Mighty Casey" statue on the hill Little League rules state that a pitcher is not allowed to throw more than 85 pitches in a game. However, Prather has thrown only 69 pitches through the first five innings and is well under the limit when Curacao’s Curley Martha comes to the plate with two out and no one on base. Martha is no slouch. To date, he's hit .563 with a tournament-leading three home runs to help Curacao get to the finals. One of these was a two-run shot against Japan in Saturday's International Bracket final. Martha also seems to match Prather’s competitive fire. Curacao was likely headed for a loss, but Martha wasn’t going to be the one to make the last out. He’ll leave it to one of the next guys to swing and miss or hit a weak ground ball to end the game. Let him walk slowly back to the dugout while Louisiana celebrates. The Encounter Louisiana’s Egan Prather Delivers..... With two strikes, Martha fouls off pitch after pitch. Prather keeps challenging him, and his pitch count continued to grow. Every once in a while, he walks behind the mound, uses the rosin bag, throws it down and climbs the hill to make his next pitch. At one point, shortstop Stan Wiltz takes a few steps toward the mound to check-in and show some support. Prather glares at him, says something like (I assume) "I got this, leave me alone," and Wiltz walks back to his position. Martha wants a pitch he can drive, something in the strike zone. Since its a two-strike count, Prather doesn't have to throw something over the plate. He can throw his best pitches that are around the edges and corners of the strike zone. Pitches Martha shouldn't be able to hit. Martha's only…
