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2019 Little League Thread

pepper brooks

By pepper brooks
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Huckleberry

Huckleberry 33099

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Looked it up. Last Austin area team to win State was Delwood Northeast Optimist in 1980 back when it was one state title (2002 was the first split Texas tournaments). They lost in the semifinals of the South region and did not get to Williamsport back when only 4 American teams went to the LLWS.

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pepper brooks

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West University Seniors are in the WS in South Carolina.  Beat Delaware last night 4-2.  Had to burn their ace for 3 days (woodcox).  Play Hawaii tomorrow on ESPN+ if anyone has a subscription and wants to watch.  Hawaii is really good an hasn't played a game that was close at all.  Will be a tall order, but if they can win this one they will be in the driver's seat.  

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Tylerocks

Tylerocks 2554

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Pretty cool that a guy I grew up with and played little league with, his son is on he POLL team.

Pretty cool to see it come full circle for him.

 

When we were kids, we had a shot at getting to Waco (At least I think we did).  We beat a couple of the better teams (Westbury and West U) and ended up losing to one of the Spring Branch teams.  Kid had a massive curveball that nobody could hit. 

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Catpfish

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On 7/26/2019 at 10:39 AM, Huckleberry said:

Looked it up. Last Austin area team to win State was Delwood Northeast Optimist in 1980 back when it was one state title (2002 was the first split Texas tournaments). They lost in the semifinals of the South region and did not get to Williamsport back when only 4 American teams went to the LLWS.

We played them first round.  They had a kid that looked like he was 7' tall and throwing hard.  Luckily, the batter ahead of me made the last out before I had to bat...yeah, I sucked

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On 7/31/2019 at 5:05 PM, pepper brooks said:

Wull seniors got worked over yesterday by hawaii. That Hawaii team is  machine. They’ve not had a single game that was close. Maybe we can get back in it, but it’s gonna be tough. 

They seem pretty good.

 

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torre

torre 1286

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Louisiana defeats POLL 4-1.

Great game.   2-1  game till top of 6th.   Louisiana player had a 2 out solo HR and POLL lost composure resulting in another run.  Marshall Louque (La) had a no hitter thru 3, no walks, and fell 2 batters short of a complete game due to pitch count.   Remember his name,  he has a future.

Anyone know the catcher for POLL  ?   Really leads the team - a little fireball.

POLL starts the journey thru the loser's bracket vs Okla, 5PM, Sunday.    Used several pitchers, no one was over extended.    (sayin' there is a chance/gif)

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torre

torre 1286

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12 hours ago, BrazilHorn said:

OK beat POLL handily 5-0. POLL never really got anything together. OK has a lot of big kids that could swing the bats. 

 

Yep,  POLL's offense went cold - 6 hits and 1 run in 2 games.    But credit Louisiana and Oklahoma - their starting pitchers were excellent,  very few walks,  pounded the zone.

POLL did not seem to have that one ace pitcher or position player who carries the team.

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troph

troph 24910

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Back in youth league....

 

Kids spent two weeks this summer in baseball camps. Took them to the park tonight to work on hand eye coordination with the bat and the heavy balls and routine catch and throw drills. Paid off big time. More confidence, happier in their own game and technically more consistent, accurate and timely throws. Fly ball catching better and significantly more power with a more integrated swing. Super impressed with their commitment this summer. Quickly jumped on the life lesson about dedication and all that in one ear and out the other nonsense.

 

Tryouts for fall ball this Saturday.

 

 

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2 hours ago, troph said:

Back in youth league....

 

Kids spent two weeks this summer in baseball camps. Took them to the park tonight to work on hand eye coordination with the bat and the heavy balls and routine catch and throw drills. Paid off big time. More confidence, happier in their own game and technically more consistent, accurate and timely throws. Fly ball catching better and significantly more power with a more integrated swing. Super impressed with their commitment this summer. Quickly jumped on the life lesson about dedication and all that in one ear and out the other nonsense.

 

Tryouts for fall ball this Saturday.

 

 

Good to hear. Doing any coaching in Fall ball?

 

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troph

troph 24910

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Good to hear. Doing any coaching in Fall ball?

 

I would like to but it’s emotionally hard. I didn’t go into a lot of it here but my head coach was bad ass at including me. 2 of the others including the practice head coach were chock full of little sexist shit. I think I won them over sorta by the end when they started seeing me as a chick athlete that actually had something to bring to the table. It was a time suck and emotionally pretty hard though. So I think I’m going to sit fall out unless there is a specific request. I might come back ready to go in the spring. I’m really glad I did it though, even saw one of my players at H-E-B this weekend and it was great to give him a high five and say “go cubs!” I know not every dad can do it but take away the boys club part and I’ve got nothing but good things to say about the experience. And those fellas did teach me a lot about the game and how to run a practice and a game. Any dad thinking about it should do it. You won’t regret it.

 

 

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9 minutes ago, troph said:

I would like to but it’s emotionally hard. I didn’t go into a lot of it here but my head coach was bad ass at including me. 2 of the others including the practice head coach were chock full of little sexist shit. I think I won them over sorta by the end when they started seeing me as a chick athlete that actually had something to bring to the table. It was a time suck and emotionally pretty hard though. So I think I’m going to sit fall out unless there is a specific request. I might come back ready to go in the spring. I’m really glad I did it though, even saw one of my players at H-E-B this weekend and it was great to give him a high five and say “go cubs!” I know not every dad can do it but take away the boys club part and I’ve got nothing but good things to say about the experience. And those fellas did teach me a lot about the game and how to run a practice and a game. Any dad thinking about it should do it. You won’t regret it.

 

 

Sorry to hear that but glad to hear you left with an overall positive experience. I tell ya, it always pays off when you run into the former players at the store and they give that positive feedback from a previous season.

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troph

troph 24910

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I was surprised how cool that was! And half the hard part is just me being me. But If I was to bet, I’ll coach one season with my youngest. Seeing him turn toward baseball has been the best part of raising him so far.

It’s truly the best team sport out there. Tennis being the best individual imo.

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torre

torre 1286

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1 hour ago, Surly Bevo said:

 


Uh yea no. This game was already played. I won’t ruin it for you.

 

😊

Thx for the correction.   Never in my wildest would have thought they would have 12PM start.    Won't ruin it for others in case they also did not check schedule.

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torre

torre 1286

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Louisiana (Eastbank) 6  Texas (Midland) 2     3-2 game until bottom of 5th when La scored 3.   Well played game,  no errors for either team.  

 

First trip for a Louisiana team since 2011,  per wiki.    Eastbank LL is from River Ridge, La,  suburb of NO.  Should note the Eastbank softball team also made it to the LLWS which began today in Portland, Or.   Not sure how their leagues are composed in the NO Metro Area,   but Eastbank may continue to be a prominent team

 

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13 hours ago, torre said:

Louisiana (Eastbank) 6  Texas (Midland) 2     3-2 game until bottom of 5th when La scored 3.   Well played game,  no errors for either team.  

 

First trip for a Louisiana team since 2011,  per wiki.    Eastbank LL is from River Ridge, La,  suburb of NO.  Should note the Eastbank softball team also made it to the LLWS which began today in Portland, Or.   Not sure how their leagues are composed in the NO Metro Area,   but Eastbank may continue to be a prominent team

 

I read that Eastbank LL has only been around for the past 5 years. There head coach said their All Star team was groomed in Select baseball throughout their youth. The new league has been dominating Lousiana Little League the past few years so I expect them to be a regular presence in the regional tournament.

 

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Hanrahan

Hanrahan 1306

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In my experience, here's how tournament ball plays out from 7-11 years old. 
"We're just looking for some good families and good kids.  We had the time of our life last year in rec, but just don't want to deal with rec league anymore and end up on random teams.  If I'm going spend that much time with someone, I'd like it to be people I know and like.  Don't worry, we're going to do it laid back and focus on development more that winning."
Oh shit, turns out everyone else we play isn't laid back and we're getting our shit pushed in.
time to stop letting the kids play different positions and have them focus on one and field the best lineup we can right now.
Start practicing 2 times a week instead of once.
Turns out Billy and Bobby aren't as good at 8 as they were at 7.  We need to find a way to get them off the team.  Here's what we'll do - we'll have open tryouts with the wink-wink understanding that the other 8 players will make the team and Billy and Bobby won't.  Billy and Bobby don't make the team.  Their parents kind of know what just happened, but not completely.  We feel bad about backstabbing their 2nd grader, but that's life, cuts happen.  We won't be friends for the next 10 years.
Tim and Tom replaced Billy and Bobby.  Tim drives an hour in for practices and games.  His dad is a dick and thinks his son is incredible, and you can tell Tim thinks the same.  They have no interest in making friends and relish the role of the hired gun.  Tom goes to different school than ours.  He has two older brothers and ever since he got on the team, the other kids have started saying Fuck and Shit after they strike out.  None of this really matters because these boys can mash and we are starting to win a lot more.
We just won 3 A tournaments in a month and got promoted to AA!!
Turns out these guys in AA are pretty good.  We need to practice more.
As we move into kid pitch, its really time for these boys to play for a real coach.  We'll sign up at an organization and play under their umbrella.  They have a guy who was drafted in the 35th round and gives batting lessons.  He coaches U11 and U13 team as well, so he obviously knows how to coach kids.
Coach immediately identifies 3 kids who aren't going make a successful transition from coach pitch to kid pitch.  I was already thinking it, but sure am glad I have this guy to do the dirty work this time around. He already has three kids in mind.  They aren't bad kids, but we don't have much in common with them or their parents.  So much for doing this with good friends and families.  But, they, things changed.  If we are investing this much time and money, we expect to win.
And win we do.  We just ran through a couple of AA tournaments.  Promoted to AAA!!
I've bragged to a few of my buddies about my son being on a AAA team.  They don't get it.  Fuck, that's because they have girls.  They don't realize how big of a deal this is.
We are leaving town pretty much every weekend now.  Turns out there aren't as many local AAA tournaments as there are for A and AA.  Also, we are practicing 3 times a week, plus taking batting lessons from our coach.  Its worth it.  That's the life of a stud 9 year old baseball player.
I admit I did have a weak moment and start to question whether all this time was worth it, but we just won our first AAA tournament.  Sure, it was a holiday weekend and the field was slimmer than normal, but nothing will top that car ride home.  Feels great when you work hard and earn something like me and my son just did.
Well...that was short lived.  We just got knocked out in the first round of the next tournament.  Coach is PISSED at the kids.  And he should be.  They must've thought they were incredible after last weeks win.  In 6 days we went from top of the world to bottom of the barrel.  
There's 5 of us still left from the original team.  The best of the best at our school.  Some of the other kids who were on our team two years ago don't even play baseball anymore.  Hell, we did them a favor culling them from the team.   Some play soccer.  Others go to summer camp with dorks.  My kid is getting to travel and see a lot of the region.  We are going to play in a tournament in Florida soon.  Kid probably won't be allowed to swim because it will tire him out, but he'll still enjoy it.  See, we vacation too.
But of the 5 still left, its not that they aren't good players, they just aren't on the level of my kid.  When my kid pitches, the other guys make errors.  When the other guy's pitch, they just aren't nearly good enough.  They're kind of making my kid look bad and I feel like he's wasting some of his prime years on a team that can't keep up with him.
I was approached by a dad of a player on a Major team.  This is what its all about.  A whole team of players as good as mine.  I don't see my kid being friends with any of the other players.  Hell, half of them are from out of town.  but he has friends at school and can talk to them at lunch period.  Friends with their parents?  Heck, no, I don't have time for that.  I don't like to talk to anyone when the game is being played anyway.  That is a stressful time.  And the kids aren't allowed to be silly or cut up in the dugout or the coach will tear their asses up.  Good.  This ain't rec ball or some fun little tournament team with a bunch of losers.
What a great decision.  We just won a ton of tournaments.  My kid has more USSSA rings than you can keep up with.  Bought a couple of special trophy cases to hold them and made part of my office the trophy room.  I'm so proud of him.  Unlike his little brother who still plays in the local rec league. Sure i don't have time to teach him how to do anything, but its the freaking rec league and he can't even dominate that?  Not really worth my time.  Maybe we should sign him up for soccer?
We are a week away from the 11U season starting and my son just told me he doesn't want to play baseball any more.  WTF?  Does he know how much time and money we've spent just in this offseason?  Its because I let him hang out with that loser kid from school.  The one who plays some sports but his parents won't even let him play on the All Star team because they visit their grandparents every June in Georgia.
i can't believe what an ungrateful fuck he's being about this.  I know lots of parents think this, but he honestly could've been a great college player and have a good chance at getting drafted.  I am always going to let him know how much of a quitter he became.


Well this has played out perfectly so far. We put a neighborhood team together with some talented kids. Then proceeded to lose a bunch. We went from rotating positions liberally, then losing a couple of Sunday games to infield errors, then relegating kids to outfield. We’re going to play fall but have some kids that need to be cut but don’t know how to do it. Cue bringing in third party coaches. If this continues my kids will hate me and baseball in a few short years.
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troph

troph 24910

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 Well this has played out perfectly so far. We put a neighborhood team together with some talented kids. Then proceeded to lose a bunch. We went from rotating positions liberally, then losing a couple of Sunday games to infield errors, then relegating kids to outfield. We’re going to play fall but have some kids that need to be cut but don’t know how to do it. Cue bringing in third party coaches. If this continues my kids will hate me and baseball in a few short years.

 

 

 

 

My 9 year old who if I have an athlete is my athlete is only just now deciding he likes it. I’m not going to rush anything but time at the park. He and I can get 10,000 reps together and then if he’s good enough to be recruited in middle school and he wants it, great. But then I will explain it’s about winning not just having fun and if striving for the win is fun then let’s do it. But if baseball is just a way to run around the bases - sometimes under the lights - and it gets your mind off school and me and your brothers then let’s just ride out youth league and migrate to a life long sport to run around and get your mind off stuff like tennis or something.

 

Don’t let select ball ruin anything.

 

 

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torre

torre 1286

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Watching the RI/NH game,  RI runner on 2B was stealing the signs and pointing for the batter to the pitch location where catcher was sitting.

NH coach called time and ump warned RI coach.    Wow !    Anyone ever experienced similar ?

 

 

 

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Surly Bevo

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A lot of this regional play is pretty mediocre. I've seen so many choppers that get by 2B in the last few days without what appears to be even good recognition, movement and an attempt at a play on the ball.  Now perhaps that is a function of the bandbox field set up LL has but it isn't pretty. 

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3 hours ago, Surly Bevo said:

A lot of this regional play is pretty mediocre. I've seen so many choppers that get by 2B in the last few days without what appears to be even good recognition, movement and an attempt at a play on the ball.  Now perhaps that is a function of the bandbox field set up LL has but it isn't pretty. 

Yeah regional play is a mixed bag. The skill level doesn't really get better until the LLWS. 

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torre

torre 1286

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Mentioned the below in previous post.    Very sad !    The manager is correct - very evident when watching game.  

 

Barrington (Rhode Island) Little League, the New England Region's representative in the Little League World Series, is accused of stealing signs to help get to the pinnacle of the sport in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Pat Dutton, the manager of the team from Goffstown, New Hampshire, which lost to Barrington in Saturday's region final, made the accusation after the game in Bristol, Connecticut.

"You can see [runners on second base] leaning in, looking in and they're doing hand gestures to their kid [at the plate] indicating what kind of pitch it is and where it's located," Dutton told the New Hampshire Union Leader. "You can do that in big league ball, but in Little League it's unsportsmanlike, it's dishonorable and it's disgusting.

"They did it the whole tournament and got away with it, and now that's what's representing New England in the Little League World Series. It's just a bad look."

Little League International issued a statement Wednesday saying it had "full confidence" in the umpires and tournament officials at the New England Region and that it "considers this issue closed."

Barrington Little League issued a statement to Boston.com on Tuesday, calling the allegations "unfortunate" while denying any sort of wrongdoing.

"We hold our coaches, players and teams to the highest standards," the Barrington statement said, "and do not coach or condone unsportsmanlike behavior of any kind."

Dutton told the Union Leader that he suspected the Barrington team of stealing signs during Goffstown's 2-1 win on Thursday and alerted the umpire, just as he did during Saturday's game.

Dutton said warnings were issued to Barrington's manager and a player on the next pitch after Saturday's complaint.

"That's something these kids don't learn on their own. That's something that they're taught," Dutton told the newspaper. "They're coached to do that. Obviously the team condones it, they coach it, and, personally, that's something that I'm completely against. Little League is supposedly against it, but you wouldn't know it this week."

While it is a frowned-upon practice and one of baseball's unwritten rules at higher levels, it is prohibited at the Little League level, with players and coaches being subject to ejection from the game.

"It is under the judgement of the umpire to decide if unsportsmanlike behavior, including stealing or relaying signs, has taken place," the statement by Little League International said. "If so, the penalty is ejection and a one-game suspension for those involved."

Little League International said it has stressed "the importance of adherence to all rules and regulations" to all teams at the Little League World Series in Williamsport.

Barrington opens the Little League World Series against the Southeast Region champs from South Riding, Virginia, on Thursday (ESPN, 3 p.m. ET).

https://www.espn.com/llws/story/_/id/27385397/manager-accuses-llws-team-stealing-signs

 

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pepper brooks

pepper brooks 580

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4 hours ago, torre said:

Mentioned the below in previous post.    Very sad !    The manager is correct - very evident when watching game.  

 

Barrington (Rhode Island) Little League, the New England Region's representative in the Little League World Series, is accused of stealing signs to help get to the pinnacle of the sport in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Pat Dutton, the manager of the team from Goffstown, New Hampshire, which lost to Barrington in Saturday's region final, made the accusation after the game in Bristol, Connecticut.

"You can see [runners on second base] leaning in, looking in and they're doing hand gestures to their kid [at the plate] indicating what kind of pitch it is and where it's located," Dutton told the New Hampshire Union Leader. "You can do that in big league ball, but in Little League it's unsportsmanlike, it's dishonorable and it's disgusting.

"They did it the whole tournament and got away with it, and now that's what's representing New England in the Little League World Series. It's just a bad look."

Little League International issued a statement Wednesday saying it had "full confidence" in the umpires and tournament officials at the New England Region and that it "considers this issue closed."

Barrington Little League issued a statement to Boston.com on Tuesday, calling the allegations "unfortunate" while denying any sort of wrongdoing.

"We hold our coaches, players and teams to the highest standards," the Barrington statement said, "and do not coach or condone unsportsmanlike behavior of any kind."

Dutton told the Union Leader that he suspected the Barrington team of stealing signs during Goffstown's 2-1 win on Thursday and alerted the umpire, just as he did during Saturday's game.

Dutton said warnings were issued to Barrington's manager and a player on the next pitch after Saturday's complaint.

"That's something these kids don't learn on their own. That's something that they're taught," Dutton told the newspaper. "They're coached to do that. Obviously the team condones it, they coach it, and, personally, that's something that I'm completely against. Little League is supposedly against it, but you wouldn't know it this week."

While it is a frowned-upon practice and one of baseball's unwritten rules at higher levels, it is prohibited at the Little League level, with players and coaches being subject to ejection from the game.

"It is under the judgement of the umpire to decide if unsportsmanlike behavior, including stealing or relaying signs, has taken place," the statement by Little League International said. "If so, the penalty is ejection and a one-game suspension for those involved."

Little League International said it has stressed "the importance of adherence to all rules and regulations" to all teams at the Little League World Series in Williamsport.

Barrington opens the Little League World Series against the Southeast Region champs from South Riding, Virginia, on Thursday (ESPN, 3 p.m. ET).

https://www.espn.com/llws/story/_/id/27385397/manager-accuses-llws-team-stealing-signs

 

Just LLA covering for their incompetent umpires.  They guys they send out to our district tournament are quite simply awful.  All you need to know about how LLA covers for these guys at every turn is read through the process to "appeal" a missed base.  It is absolutely written and enforced with the goal of you standing by a terrible call.  Most of the time these knuckle heads are watching the game, and not watching runners touching bases.  Their strike zones are usually not in accordance with the stated zone, and can and do vary wildly inning over inning.  They likely never ever noticed a team stealing signs, and from what I have seen, depending on the team doing it even if they had seen it they may or may not have done anything about it.  We had guys out this year who didn't have even a rudimentary understanding of the rules. 

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ddt2

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Barrington Little League has displayed some of the worst conduct and character I have seen in the LLWS in a long period of time. It does not surprise me one bit that their coach was accurately accused of cheating by stealing signs. On multiple occasions during the regional tournament and yesterday against Virginia, Barrington Little League players are seen turning around at the plate to directly argue with the umpire. Runners on base constantly throw their hands up in the air in disgust, and scoff and talk about every single strike call. 

It is abundantly clear that the Barrington Little League coach has established a culture of disrespect for the game of baseball. Additionally, it is a sore look on Little League Baseball to have a team so disrespectful represent the New England region in the Little League World Series.

Side Note. They are a terrible baseball team who succeeded in winning the least competitive region in the United States. Their only chance of winning a baseball game will be the consolation game they will play against Australia in two days when both teams inevitably lose today.

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