The final game  broadcast of the 2007 Little League Senior Softball World Series will start at 2 PM, live from the Lower Sussex Little League Complex in Roxana Delaware on ESPNU with a rebroadcast on ESPN2 later this month.

The Teams?

USA Central from South Bend Indiana had to come from behind after the West team, Arrowhead Little League of Arizona took an early 2 run lead in a game that ended the evening on a slightly wild note. Tera Sutton's 2nd inning double had helped give West the lead and Brandi Manning came home later that inning to put the West in command 2-0.

But Central, finding themselves giving up their first earned runs of the Series chipped away, scoring 1 in the fourth, then scoring 3 in the 5th to come back on Arizona.

The 3 run 5th was a wild affair with an error, a walk, a missed tag on a runner who was tagged out at home during the same play, plus a third runner reaching home after the 2nd out. The play had everyone in the press box scratching their heads, and it took the 4 umpires to work out the details.

When the dust cleared, Central had a 4-2 lead, and with the wind whipping around the field, Olivia Findley threw 4 innings of relief, striking out 4 and not allowing any runs. West tried, but they just couldn't hit Findley.

USA Southwest from Northwest Little League of San Antonio, Texas used three runs in the first, and a two pitcher four hit shutout to earn the first berth in the Championship game 4-0. 7 of 9 starters had hits for Southwest, starting pitcher Amanda Hinojosa also doubled in two runs, then drove in another later to finish with 3 RBIs. She also struck out 3 and didn't allow a run in 3 innings of work. Blanca Idar got the win in relief - she pitched 4 innings of shutout ball.

All four pitchers are still eligible to pitch Saturday in the final

Saturday's game will be the first Nationally Televised sporting event from Sussex County. The first pitch will be about 2:06 pm Saturday - Player introductions will begin at 1:45 PM, the broadcast begins at 2:00 PM.

The final game  broadcast of the 2007 Little League Senior Softball World Series will start at 2 PM, live from the Lower Sussex Little League Complex in Roxana Delaware on ESPNU with a rebroadcast on ESPN2 later this month.

The Teams?

USA Central from South Bend Indiana had to come from behind after the West team, Arrowhead Little League of Arizona took an early 2 run lead in a game that ended the evening on a slightly wild note. Tera Sutton's 2nd inning double had helped give West the lead and Brandi Manning came home later that inning to put the West in command 2-0.

But Central, finding themselves giving up their first earned runs of the Series chipped away, scoring 1 in the fourth, then scoring 3 in the 5th to come back on Arizona.

The 3 run 5th was a wild affair with an error, a walk, a missed tag on a runner who was tagged out at home during the same play, plus a third runner reaching home after the 2nd out. The play had everyone in the press box scratching their heads, and it took the 4 umpires to work out the details.

When the dust cleared, Central had a 4-2 lead, and with the wind whipping around the field, Olivia Findley threw 4 innings of relief, striking out 4 and not allowing any runs. West tried, but they just couldn't hit Findley.

USA Southwest from Northwest Little League of San Antonio, Texas used three runs in the first, and a two pitcher four hit shutout to earn the first berth in the Championship game 4-0. 7 of 9 starters had hits for Southwest, starting pitcher Amanda Hinojosa also doubled in two runs, then drove in another later to finish with 3 RBIs. She also struck out 3 and didn't allow a run in 3 innings of work. Blanca Idar got the win in relief - she pitched 4 innings of shutout ball.

All four pitchers are still eligible to pitch Saturday in the final

Saturday's game will be the first Nationally Televised sporting event from Sussex County. The first pitch will be about 2:06 pm Saturday - Player introductions will begin at 1:45 PM, the broadcast begins at 2:00 PM.

Story Lines for World Series games 8/9

Its the last day of Pool Play in the World Series and after Latin America's loss to Central last night, the late game at Ebbets Field looks like the game to watch in Pool A, as unbeaten District III [3-0] faces another unbeaten team, Central [3-0].

Central can pound out runs AND has the pitching to shut down a team's attack. District III has shown they can come back to win and has the pitching to keep another team under control.

But don't forget the other matchup of unbeatens over in Pool B as the West (2-0) takes on Southwest (2-0) over on Connie Mack.

Once again, two well coached teams with good pitching, defense, and  the ability to hit the ball around the yard. Southwest has 6 girls returning from last year [plus their manager] - they know what it takes to play in the series and win.

Head to head play is the first tie breaker, and it looks like tomorrow's games will have the same teams playing different opponents in the semi finals. Right now, if you are unbeaten you have a good shot at the Championship.

Latin America [1-2] will also try to stay in the hunt in the early game with East [1-2] at Connie Mack.

The winners of both late games will earn the top seed in their respective pools, the loser will still play Friday as the 2nd team in the semi-finals - the "Final 4" games.

The only dark cloud on the horizon is the weather forecast for dark clouds and maybe thunderstorms in Lower Delaware tonight. Right now the fields are beautiful, thanks to the efforts of the Lower Sussex and Millsboro ground crews. Local folks got to see some of their work last night as WBOC-TV16 broadcast sports from Connie Mack. [thanks Paul Butler]

We'll have the results up as soon as we can tonight - plus the stats on each team on the roster page as soon as we can get them up.

All the World Series games are played at the Lower Sussex Little League complex in Roxana Delaware.

If you look over the team rosters, you may note a few players with the same surnames. The Semi Final Rosters have several sets of sisters, even a set of triplets.

The triplets play for the Host District III team. Taylor, Alexis and Kelsey Oliphant are really triplets - without the numbers on their uniforms its hard to tell them apart at first glance. We've joked that Alexis and Kelsey play as far apart from each other on the field as possible - center field and catcher, but they are one reason the D3 team is still in the semi-finals.

Another reason is Courtney and Brooke Evans - one more pair of sisters on the D3 team.

Another team with sisters is the winner of Pool A, Central with the Bousquet sisters, Ashleigh and Alex. Playing at Short and Third, they're as close on the field as they are in real life. For anyone interested, there's a great story about these two sisters and how the team has really helped them through tough times this year.

Then there's the team that won Pool B, USA Southwest. Joe Leal, the manager, was here last year with his daughter Kristie.

After the games were over and they returned to San Antonio, Joe figured he was done with World Series Softball. Was he ever wrong.

His younger daughter Erica looked at all the "loot" Kristie had brought home for playing in the series and told her Dad, "Hey, next year is my turn."

Like a good father, Joe coached the Northwest LL team through the Regionals and into the top spot in Pool B. Some fathers will do anything for their kids.

What's the song lyric? "Lord help the mister who gets between me and my sister?" If you're base runner, that might just be true between 2nd and 3rd playing Central, and this year at the 2007 Senior Softball World Series.

In the Early Games, West had little trouble with Europe and District III rolled over Canada, but everyone stayed around for the late game at Ebbets Field, with Central taking on Latin America.

Latin America needed a win to stay in the hunt for the finals, Central needed a win to stay even with District III at 3-0.

Despite the best efforts of Latin America's pitching, Central exploded in the first inning, racking up 3 runs. They held the girls from Puerto Rico scoreless in bottom of the frame, then Santana Bozman clubbed a solo home run out to Right Center.

The game then became a pitchers battle, as Latin America couldn't seem to score, and Sam DeFord, then Olivia Findley shut down the potent LA attack. Fans figured the game would end 4-0, but in the top of the 7th, Central's bats came alive, scoring 6 runs on solid hitting and good base running.

It sets up tomorrow's late game at Ebbet's field: District III against Central, and that's just one of the story lines....

Storylines for games August 8th

The West [Arrowhead LL] (1-0) needs a strong win over EMEA (0-2) tonight to solidify their position as leader of Pool B. West has been off for 2 nights due to Asia Pacific's withdrawal so they're well rested but now its back to business as they need a win to secure a 2-0 record heading into Thursday's showdown game with Southwest [Northwest LL]. The game is at Ebbets Field at 5:30 PM

District III [Laurel LL] (2-0) needs to continue their top pool leading play in their game with 0-3 Canada [Windsor South LL] tonight. Canada may have surprised Latin America with their strong showing yesterday, but don't think the folks on the Host team didn't notice that the the Canadians can get runners across the plate fast. The Host team takes on Canada at Connie Mack at 5:30 PM

2-0 Central [Indiana Dist 11] gets a big test as they face 1-1 Latin America [Puerto Rico] in a big game in Pool A, pitting one undefeated team against a team with one loss. The winner will probably be one of the 4 teams in the semi-finals. The game is scheduled for 8 PM on Ebbets field.

All these games are at the Lower Sussex Little League complex in Roxana Delaware.

All three games Tuesday featured close scores:

At Ebbets Field Southwest (2-0)waited until the top of the 7th to score enough runs to beat the South (1-2) 2-1.

In the second game Latin America (1-1) scored 6 early but allowed Canada (0-3) to score 5 before shutting down the Canadian attack to win 6-5

Over on Connie Mack, East (1-2) and Central (2-0) took a 1-0 game to the last out before Central finally won.

Tonight its Party Time. The games resume at 5:30 PM Wednesday at the Lower Sussex Little League Complex in Roxana.

A Barn Burner and 2 10 run rule games marked the play at the 2007 Senior Softball World Series Monday night.

The Early game featured Latin America against District III Host - Laurel LL. The game came down to one error which allowed Kelsey Oliphant to score the only, and winning run in the bottom of the 5th inning.

Oliphant singled, then stole 2nd. With one out, Alyssa Martin hit the ball to 3rd, but the first baseman bobbled the throw, leaving Martin on first and Oliphant on 3rd. Brooke Evans then hit a slow roller to third and was out at first, but Oliphant scampered home as the throw to home was too late to catch her, but the Latin American catcher then threw the ball back to 3rd to catch Martin for the 3rd out.

In the two late games, East rolled over Canada, scoring 7 in the first and 4 in the third while Elysa Parrilla and Aubrey Latham pitched perfect no hit ball. The final was 11-0 in 5 complete innings.

Over on Connie Mack, the South scored the first 4 runs, but EMEA came right back with 3 of their own and it was 4-3 in the first.

EMEA's defense then broke down as the South scored 4 in the 2nd and 5 in the third to take a 13-3 lead. Neither team scored the rest of the way and the South won on the 10 run rule.

Tomorrow the games start at 1:00 PM. Join us for some afternoon softball at the Lower Sussex Little League Complex

Problems obtaining visas in time has forced the withdrawal of the Asia-Pacific team again. The 2007 Little League Senior Softball World Series will continue, with 9 teams, 5 in Pool A and only 4 in Pool B.

In addition, due to wet grounds, today's first game between the Host, District III team and Latin America has been moved to Ebbets Field, where District III beat the East team last night, just before the rains came.

The Weather for tonight is expected to be muggy, but a repeat of last night's severe weather is not expected as of 4 PM today.

Senior Softball World Series games are being played at the Lower Sussex Little League complex in Roxanna, Del. The first game will be at 5:30 PM tonight, Tuesday

by Roy Lamberton

Roxana, Del -- Latin America scored 2 runs in each of the first 3 innings to take an early 6-0 lead behind the pitching of Annette Cruz.

But Canada kept chipping away, leaving runners on base until the 5th inning when Ashlie Thibeault, Mollie Charron and Andjela Andrich singled back to back to back off reliever Gretchen Ortiz to load the bases. Two strikeouts later, pitcher Sabrina Phillips tripled to drive in 3 runs before she was thrown out trying to score from 3rd.

Canada got going again in the top of the 6th when Sammi Newton walked and scored on Amanda Shaule's double. Shaule then scored on Thibeault's single to left.

But that was where the scoring ended. Latin America brought Cruz back in to pitch and she shut down the rally, and ended the game in the top of the 7th.

                

By Roy Lamberton

Roxanna, Del -- The Southwest waited until the top of the 7 the to score, but came back to beat the South team 2-1.

The team from the Northwest Little League in San Antonio [2-0] gave up a first inning run after the Morristown LL's [1-2] Brittney Watson clubbed a lead off double to left field. Leslie Poole singled Watson to 3rd and Tash Morrell doubled her in leaving Poole on third. A 5-3-2 double play ended the threat.

Neither team scored, and in the 3rd, Southwest brought in Blanca Idar who pitched 5 innings of no hit ball, striking out 9 and walking just 4 batters.

In the top of the 7th, still behind 1-0, Southwest's Jackie Gonzalez singled to lead off, then took 2nd on a throwing error as the ball came back in to the pitching circle. Ashley Perez singled Gonzalez to 3rd - she scored on Amanda Hinojosa's fielder's choice. Blanca Idar drew another fielder's choice, putting Perez on 3rd.

Ashley Marquez then hit a sacrifice fly to deep center field,  scoring Perez for what turned out to be the winning run.

Idar got 2 of her 9 K's in the bottom of the 7th before Brittney Watson hit a fly ball to left to end the game.

Idar got the win, Brittany Watson took the loss.


            

and we got all the games in before the sky opened.

In Game 1: Southwest pitchers combined to pictch a 1 hit shutout as they rolled over EMEA 9-0

In Game 2: Central recorded 13-0 no hitter over Canada.

In Game 3: East took a first inning 2-0 lead, but district III came back with 4 in the 3rd, 1 in the 4th and 4 more in the fifth to take a 9-2 win in a game shortened by rain and lightning.

In game 4: West had an 8-0 lead before South came up with 3 runs in the 7th. Final was 8-3 in favorof West.

Games will pick up tomorrow. Asia Pacific's game with West has been cancelled, Asia-Pacific will forfeit the game. The team should be here in Roxana on Tuesday to pick up play.

Check out the Host-District III roster.

Some District III softball folks will tell you that you can't have a Laurel team without a Wheatley and an Oliphant. The Host team this year has both.

Alexis, Kelsey and Taylor Oliphant are triplets, as close as 3 sisters can be until they get on the field - Alexis plays way out in center field, Kelsey is the catcher, and Taylor is a pinch hitter. 3 different roles for the sisters.

Then there's Stephanie Wheatley - one of the two ace pitchers on team - there's been a Wheatley on a Laurel team for years.

The Evans girls, Brooke and Courtney are cousins.

But what about the two Brittingham girls - Ashlee and Brittney. Surprise, they're not related!

So when they announce the Host Team, who off the field proudly where their powder blue "The Kids Are COMING" T-Shirts, you probably won't see an Oliphant to Oliphant to Oliphant double play, but if it wasn't for the numbers on their backs, you'd be hard pressed to tell the 3 apart.

The rest of the team may count as cousins and neighbors but together they're the "Kids" of the Host-District III team from Laurel, Delaware, and they're proud of it.

[Comments from the Media Guy]

We're starting to get rosters from teams that have qualified to the 2007 Little League Senior Softball World Series.

Managers and coaches are being added, and there will even be a pronunciation guide for folks who need to talk about the team and want to get the names "right."

The guys at At the Beach enterprises are working overtime getting all the new things on this website. We think its going to better this year than ever.

In two weeks, we'll be knee deep in Softball Games -a few story lines...

1. Will Host-District 3's Laurel All Stars get back to the final and win in their 3rd try?

1. The Latin American team from Puerto Rico missed last year's series, but also returns for their 3rd August Classic. In the past, they've featured great pitching and defense - the stuff that wins ball games.

1. Asia-Pacific's team from the Philippines will be here this year. In the past their teams have also featured lots of pitching and aggressive defense. They're looking for their first world series title and give fans the first international final game.

1. USA South, and Southwest have given fans some outstanding softball over the years. Is it time for South to step up and return to the finals?

1. We can't forget the "beast of the East" in our story lines. Last year the team from Milton brought a legit Division I pitching prospect. Over the past years, USA East has played in the top tier elimination game twice - but only once, last year, have they made it to that final game [yeah, they won]. Will USA East be there at 2 PM Saturday for the final?

We'll surely have more story lines as we get information on the teams and how they won their regionals, but right now the 3 teams that are in all feature pitching and defense. Isn't that how you win championships?

by Roy Lamberton, LLWS Media Director

With all the emphasis on playing "travel ball" these day, some people may discount the value of playing Little League Softball in their own backyard, here in District 3.

I'm sure the travelball discussions will continue to rage regardless of what we say, and there's no substitute for just playing lots of games, but this year, five Softball players from Sussex County were named first team All-State. Three of these top athletes played on the 2005 District 3 team that lost to the eventual winner [Puerto Rico] in the semi-finals.

[In alphabetical order]
Amanda Horsey of Laurel: batted .333, and was on base 47% of her appearances in the series. She had 3 hits, 2 Walks and scored 3 runs in the 4 games District 3 played. She is attending Trevecca University next year on a Softball scholarship.

Brittany Joseph of Laurel played at Sussex Tech was a 2 time All State choice [2006 & 07]: Batted 357 in the series [tops among the Dist 3 players] with a home run and 2 doubles. She scored 2 runs, and walked once for a 40% on base percentage. She also pitched 2 innings in one of Dist 3's losses, but still recorded 2 strikeouts, throwing a first pitch strike 9 out of 10 times. Her college plans are to play softball on scholarship for the Florida State Seminoles.

Kim Owens of Laurel also played at Tech: Didn't bat well in the series, although she scored one of the two times she reached base, it was her pitching to a 0.70 ERA that won one game for Dist 3 and placed her among the top pitchers of the series. She recorded 12 strikeouts against 1 Walk and gave up only 7 hits in 10 innings of work. A 3 year All Conference winner also, she's headed to Del-Tech to play ball next year.

I guess the moral of the story is that kids from District 3 can play with some of the best in the world and regardless of what happens during the series, these young women can go on to become major players for their respective teams.

Yes, all 3 played travel ball, and yes, they all worked very hard to sharpen their skills, but they also demonstrated that there is top talent on display down in Roxanna during the first week of August. They've been there.

Last year, the final game featured the team from Nanticoke [Seaford] Little League facing off against one of the top college prospects in Pennsylvania, Milton, Pennsylvania's Nicole Smith. The game was tied until the top of the 7th inning when Smith singled home what wound up as the winning run.

At least one final 4 Women's College World Series coach asked us for more information on Smith. I'm sure she's had more interest since.

The moral of the story is that if you want to watch some of the top women's softball talent in the world, you need to visit a few games in Roxanna, August 5-11th. Two of the international teams that are coming have allowed under 3 runs in their previous tournament games.

And Sussex County fans just might get to see some of next year's All State selections in action before they are seniors in high school, and maybe our local softballers need to take another look at playing Little League.

[The Little League Senior Softball World Series will be held at the Lower Sussex Little League Complex in Roxanna, August 5-11. Games are usually at 5:30 PM, the final is Saturday at 2 PM. Check out http://www.district3.org for more information.]

What takes 3 sets of scaffolding, 5 sissor lifts, 100 feet of snow fence, 5 telephone lines, and don't forget to order the extra porta-potties and arrange for special security. Sounds like a construction site, right?

Nope, that's short list of a few of the extra items the Little League Distgrict 3 Senior Softball World Series committee has been lining up for this year's final game, ever since ESPN announced it will be broadcasting the action to a national audience August 11th.

The baseball-softball complex at Lower Sussex Little League has been the host site for the series for the past 3 years, and has handled TV coverage, live radio broadcasts, and numerous news photographers, but this year's final game will put the media facilities to the test, when ESPN rolls up with their two tractor trailer sized mobile production facilities.

In the works are plans to build an additional TV Press box along the third base side of home plate at Ebbets field, and to put sissor lifts around the field to hold the TV cameras. Several additional telephone lines will have to be ordered and installed.

"The good thing is that they tell us they will do almost everything involved with setting up the broadcast, and will help with extra expenses," Little League District 3 Administrator, Martin Donovan said. "But its the unknown things that can keep you up nights."

Over the past 3 years, the committee has had to reschedule games [even the final] due to weather concerns, and they've had to push back the start of the final because the consolation game went into extra innings, delaying the closing ceremonies. And locals know that August in Lower Sussex County for outdoor activities can be tricky with pop-up thunderstorms or worse always a possibility.

This year, the final game has to start exactly at 2:00 PM to meet the ESPN network schedule. It will be a first for many of those involved in Little League tournaments, where games usually get started when everyone is ready.

"ESPN knows how to broadcast Little League. They've been broadcasting the Little League Major Baseball World Series for years, but our games are played out in the country where an easy source of technical material isn't around the corner." Media Director Roy Lamberton noted. "We've had TV folks in the park for the games before, but we've just never had to provide information and support in real time for a live broadcast. I'm not worried but it could get interesting."

"What should become obvious to the viewers is the quality of the facilities in Sussex County for youth baseball and softball. Ebbets Field [the site of the final game] at Lower Sussex looks out on a farm field which sometimes has corn growing - a real 'Field of Dreams' feel." Donovan noted. "Most people only know about Delmarva's beaches, this is another opportunity for them to get to know about the people who live, work and play here in Sussex County."

The Little League Senior Softball World Series takes place at the Lower Sussex Little League complex August 5-11. Most games start at 5:30 PM, a complete game schedule can be found at series web site; Schedule Page

Here's a region by region update as of Sunday Morning 7/29:

Central: The Host Team, South Bend, is 3-0 in Pool A Play, with one game to go before the Championship Series begins in South Bend, Ind. Monday. Over in Pool B, The Pinery Park Little League of Michigan has a 2-0 record with one game to go in Pool B Play. The final game in Central is scheduled for Tuesday.

East: With only the first day's action reported, and two teams drawing a first round bye, its too early to look for a leader. Play should heat up this (Sunday) afternoon along with the weather. The forecast calls for scattered showers.

South: Its a busy day with 8 games scheduled for Ladysmith, Virginia. The Championship round begins Monday at 10 AM with the winner chosen that afternoon. Right now, all of the rain is north of Ladysmith, Vir., site of the tournament.

Southwest: In double elimination action in San Antonio, Texas, we've already seen two 10 run rule games as Texas East (El Campo), New Mexico (Deming LL) and the Host team (Five Diamonds LL) all advanced Saturday. On tap today is a Loser's Bracket game between Louisiana and Colorado, then Two more Winner Bracket games.

West: the All City Softball Little League, wins the battle of the Californias 6-4 to remain on top of the standings. Meanwhile, Ken Hubbs' Memorial LL (Southern Cal) and Arrowhead Little League (Arizona) are still in the hunt with Arizona facing Northern Calfornia Monday evening. The first and second place teams will meet on Tuesday for a best of 3 playoff.

Asia Pacific and Latin America's teams have already been chosen, as have the Host-District III team. Canada has their two team playoff scheduled to begin Monday and the EMEA Championship game should just be over in Ramstein, Germany.

All of the regional winners start to arrive here on Delmarva Friday night, with the opening games of the 2007 Little League Senior Softball World Series scheduled to start Sunday evening at the Lower Sussex Little League Complex in Roxanna, Delaware. Opening ceremonies are Sunday afternoon.

Back in 2005, the young ladies of the Arrowhead Little League from Glendale, Arizona represented the West in the Little League Senior Softball World Series.

This afternoon the Arrowhead girls defeated Southern California [Ken Hobbs Memorial LL, Colton Cal.] 7-4 and 11-1 to claim the "best of the West" title again, and collect their tickets to the World Series that starts Sunday.

The 2007 Little League Senior Softball World Series is held each year at the Lower Sussex Little League complex in Roxanna, Delaware. Games are played each night [except for 4 afternoon games Tuesday] at 5:30 and 8:00 PM, weather permitting.

Pawcatuck Little League of Connecticut who rolled over New York 4-1 Thursday morning then shut down Pennsylvania 2-0 in the Championship game.

The New Yorkers [Fredonia LL] had chalked up a 3-1 record in pool play, good enough for 2nd, but not good enough to beat their neighbors. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania's Corry Little League played a tight game with their neighbor to the south, Maryland [Elkton LL] winning 3-0.

Both teams in the finals had identical records - winning a close contest puts Connecticut in the hunt for a repeat of the East's 2006 Series win.

The Eyes of Texas landed on the Host Team, Northwest Little League of San Antonio is the Southwest entry into the 2007 Little League Senior Softball World Series which starts Sunday. But don't say that the Texas East [El Campo Little League] didn't make things interesting.

The Northwest girls had to play two final games to reach the series after they lost to Texas East 8-4 in the first of the double eliminiation Championship games. The Host came back with a 7-3 in the final to earn the berth in Roxanna.

The Senior Softball World Series starts Sunday with opening ceremonies at 3:30 and the first games at 5:30. The teams will start to arrive in Delaware tonight, Friday.

Tennessee's Morristown Little League had a tough assignment Monday - they had to beat West Virginia's Hedgesville Little League with a 3-0 record in their pool, then come back at 1 PM to beat Virginia's Mclean LL team.

They did, and they're the second USA Team to earn a berth in the 2007 Little League Senior Softball World Series.

It turned out to be a final game between two #2 finishers - both Virginia and Tennessee were the #2 team after the pool play, but both #2's won by a wide margin, and the South final was ready to go.

The final score' Tennessee 4, Virginia 1.

Rosters will be up as soon as we get them, but now its half way home as we wait for the full slate of teams.

The 2007 Little League Senior Softball World Series starts Sunday, August 5th, with first round games at 5:30 PM. The series is in its fourth year at the Lower Sussex Little League complex in Roxanna Delaware.

The Senior Softball World Series is pleased to announce the umpires for the 2007 series:
Lenard Edmonds - Converse, Texas,
James Crist - Austin, Texas,
Gregory Rachau - Sunbury, Pennsylvania.,
Richard Rogan - Mansfield, Massachusets,
Kenneth Corbeille - Lake Station, Indiana.,
Ronald Vetor - Anderson, Indiana.,
Thomas Schenek - Lake Mary, Florida.,
Wilbur Jenkins - Charleston, West Virginia,
Shawn Buchanan - Riverside, California.,
Ralph Mahoney - Corvallis, Oregon.,
Sady Klaber - Willemstad, Curacao, and
Pat Wiley - LaSalle, Ontario.
These volunteer "men in blue" preside over the games - this year we have an umpire from Latin America and one from Canada, [even our umpires have gone international].

World Series umpires are selected based on league evaluations and nominations from their home league. While at the series they are further evaluated by the umpire-in-chief's umpire committee, who determines which umpires earn the honor of calling the final game. Four umpires are assigned to each pool game, with 6 assigned to the finals.

The World Series provides them lodging during the series, but they pay their own transportation to Lower Delaware.

The Windsor East Little League swept two games from Windsor South-Canadians Little League to capture the Canadian title for the 2007 Little League Senior Softball World Series today, 12-8 and 6-4.

The Canadian team will be competing in the annual event held at the Lower Sussex Little League Complex in Roxanna Delaware each year. The Games start Sunday, August 5th at 5:30 and run through the final on August 11th at 2 PM.

Ramstein-American's streak comes to a halt

The team from Germany, the Ramstein-American Little League, was on a roll. They'd won 4 games by wide margins and it looked like they were going to be boarding the planes to head to Roxanna. All that was left was the EMEA championship game, a rematch with the Amsterdam Little League [The Netherlands], a team they'd beaten 14-6 last Tuesday.

But the German bats fell silent Sunday, as the Netherlands team held Germany's potent offense to just 1 run, and scored 5, to beat Ramstein-American in the EMEA final, earning a trip to Roxanna and the 2007 Little League Senior Softball World Series.

This marks the third time in four years a team from the Netherlands will be at the Series.

The team from Amsterdam Little League appears to have offensive power - they also won their pool games by a wide margin - their only loss in the regiohnal was to Germany.

This year marks the 3rd time the Dutch team has represented Europe in the Series. Last year Rotterdam Rijnmond represented EMEA in the Little League Senior Softball World Series. The series starts Sunday at the Lower Sussex Little League Complex in Roxanna Delaware.

A representative from ESPN came to Roxanna to scout out equipment locations and a place for a TV Press Box.

ESPN broadcasting the final game of the Senior Softball World Series on ESPN-U and ESPN 360 [Internet Service]. They will be at the Lower Sussex Little League park for the final game on August 12th.

It took an 8-1 win over Indiana [Jeffersonville/GRC LL], then a 2-0 win over Ohio [Ashtabula American/National/Kingville Area LL], to launch the Host team, South Bend, Indiana/District 11 Little League all stars into the 2007 Little League Senior Softball World Series, Wednesday.

South Bend now is crowned the Central Regional Champ and heads to Roxanna to take on the "World," the rest of the teams in the World Series. It won't be the first time either. The Girls from South Bend came close to playing in the final game last year.

The 2007 Senior Softball World Series kicks off Sunday, August 5th, with opening ceremonies at 3:30 and the first games at 5:30 at the Lower Sussex Little League complex in Roxanna Delaware.

The ASOFEM Little League of Maunabo, Puerto Rico, representing Latin American, beat last year's Latin American Champ Curacao 5-0 to advance to the Senior Softball World Series. We'll have their names posted in the next couple of days, along with coaches' names.

Congrats to the 2007 Puerto Rican team. Another team from that island was the first international team to win the Softball World Series back in 2004.

That team featured some outstanding pitching - we'll all get to see how this team plays starting August 5th.

They will join the team from the Santa Cruz LL, Santa Cruz, Philippines as another one of the international teams competing for the title in Lower Sussex in August.

Its year #4 and the Sussex County Little Leagues are again hosting the Little League's Senior Softball World Series.

Our web sites are being updated, and we've added a new web address: for our earlier 3 year World Series and 4 year Regional Tournament archives .

At the kick off last Saturday, Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner congratulated Sussex County for their support . The World Series tradition will continue at Roxanna for the forseeable future. Here's a link a to one of the stories about the series from Bill Mitchell and the Leader.


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For the 3rd time in 4 years, the young women from the Laurel Little League will represent Host - District 3 in the Senior Softball World Series.

Last year, the Host team, Nanticoke, wound up losing the final game by one run in the top of the 7th, but Laurel has also been here before. Maybe the 3rd time is the charm?

We'll have more on how Laurel got to the series and how they won District 3, but for now, there are 3 teams in the Series, with several regional tournaments starting this week. The next team announcement should come from Europe this coming Sunday. Stay tuned...