East (West Cumberland LL) overcame a  5 inning no-hitter pitched by Asia Pacific (Bacalod LL, Phillipines) Friday night to take one of the positions in the final Championship game Saturday afternoon in the Senior Softball World Series.

Deseree Rivera drew a walk to open the bottom of the 6th inning, and Kylie Kristovich sacrificed Nichole Larro, a pinch runner, to second. Three pitches later, Arielle Bruno smashed a line drive to the fence scoring Larro for what turned out to be the winning run.

Earlier, Latin America (ASOFEM LL, Puerto Rico) rolled over USA Central (Indiana District 11, South Bend) in a slugfest that was surprisingly close. Central got 2 runs early, on an Ashleigh Bousquet walk, followed by a 2 out single from Amanda Chamblee. Santana Bozman drove Chamblee in and Central was up 2-0 in the first inning.

Latin America finally added a run in the 3rd, then jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the fifth on a series of walks and singles capped off by a double from Kiara Nazario that scored 3 runs.

Alex Bousquet led off the bottom of the fifth with a triple, and scored on an infield out by Kayley Brewer, but that was where Central's scoring ended - the powerful Central team was shut down by Latin America's Annette Cruz who allowed 10 hits, but only 4 runs.

The final is set - Latin America vs USA East. 4 PM Eastern on ESPN 2.

In the runner up game, Central will face Asia Pacific at 11 AM.

Its all at the Little League Senior Softball World Series held at the Lower Sussex Little League complex in Roxanna, Delaware.

This is quite a matchup...Latin America vs USA East

Latin America has been in the final before, winning the first World Series ever won by an International team in 2004. The Latin American representative, the ASOFEM Little League was here last year and many of the players are back for a second try at the Little League World title.

Leading the ASOFEM team in batting are Quetsy Colon and Alexandra Berrios, both batting well over .400. Berrios also boasts an .800 sugging average - 6 Singles, a double, a triple and homer in 15 at bats. Leading off, Colon is batting .444.

But when you compare the two teams, USA East's lead off hitter Arielle Bruno is one to get out. A .455 batting average (5 for 11), a 1.000 slugging average, and 4 RBIs. She reaches base 65% of the time and has struck out only once.

But its in the circle where the West Cumberland LL girls show their abilities. Kylie Kristovich is 2-0 with a perfect .000 Earned Run Average. Liane Drastal is also 1-0, with a respectable 2.33 ERA. Over on the Latin American side, two pitchers without decisions - Magdaly Arroyo and Yashira Pinto have perfect ERAs in relief, but  Annette Cruz and Nemesis Vega have 2 wins each, even though they've allowed most of Puerto Rico's runs given up.

Softball coaches will tell you that titles are won on Pitching and Defense.

Today's Little League Senior Softball World Series Championship game, broadcast live on ESPN 2, is going to give you all that, and more starting at 4 PM Eastern Daylight Time.

The ball is smaller, but the excitement level couldn't have been higher as 3 teams had to play their way into the final round of the Senior Softball Little League World Series Thursday night.

Watching it all with some interest was the Pool A winner, USA Central. They were off last night, but was sitting on their well earned 4-0 record, waiting to see who finished 2nd in Pool B, their next opponent.

It came down to tie breakers, as the USA East team scored 7 runs in the first inning to down Canada 9-2 and finish pool play at 3-1 and secure the top spot in Pool B.

Latin America had a slightly tougher time with the Host team from Laurel Delaware. In the 2nd inning the teams traded 2 run home runs, but in the top of the fifth, the Latin American team brought in 2 more to lead 4-2. It took a bottom of the 7th, bases loaded, no out triple play for Latin America to end the District III last inning rally and secure the second spot in Pool B.

The last team to qualify for the final four had beaten everyone below them in the pool. With a 2-1 record, Asia-Pacific only had to play the up and down Southwest team to finish a respectable 3-1, but Southwest got up early up, and was ahead 3-1 in the 6th. It didn't matter, Asia Pacific came back with 3 runs in the 7th , then held on to win the game, and the 2nd spot in Pool B.

So the final Four is set - Tonight on Ebbets Field:
5:30 PM, Pool A winner Central puts their 4-0 record on the line against Pool B runner-up Latin America.

8:00 PM, Pool A runner up Asia-Pacific will match their fielding and power against the Pool B winner East team that gave Latin America their only loss of the Series.

In other games, Europe plays Canada (3:00 PM), District III plays South (5:30 PM) and West plays Southwest (8 PM) on Connie Mack.

Check out the Pool Standings.

Even after 3 days of World Series Competition, there are usually two or three teams undefeated. Not in 2008.

Only one team - Pool A's USA Central (Indiana District 11) - has zeros in the loss column, and tonight at 5:30 the face their last Pool opponent, the 0-2 South team before their night off.

But there are some real opponents lurking in Pool B.

Both West and Latin America are 2-1, West boasts a win over the very powerful Host team, and Latin America has shown they can score runs in bursts.

Then there's the Host team, smarting on their day off Tuesday with a 1-1 record due to a loss to West on Monday night. Laurel has a history of also being able to score lots of runs, and to come up with pitching that can stop the other team cold. Thursday's matchup of Latin America vs the Host team could decide Pool B, although West holds the head-to-head tie-breaker.

The big games for Wednesday should be East vs West at Ebbets and the South vs Central on Connie Mack at 5:30. EMEA could also give Southwest some trouble on Ebbets at 8, and Canada should give the Host team a game over on Connie Mack.

Its been some Series so far, its only going to get better.

The 4-0 Central team has Thursday off, as the rest of the pool battles for the 2nd place spot.

Asia-Pacific at 2-1 plays 1-2 Southwest, which if they win, will lock up the 2nd spot for them.

Meanwhile in Pool B, three teams, Latin America, East and the Host District III team are all at 2-1 with games scheduled Thursday. District 3 draws the potent Latin American Team at 5:30 at Ebbets Field, while  the East will face off with Canada at 8 PM on Connie Mack. Nobody owns a clear tie-breaker, this one may come down to runs allowed before we know who plays where on Friday.

The Action starts at 5:30 PM at the Lower Sussex Little League complex as the Little League Senior Softball World Series continues.

With a second victory over Georgetown/Millsboro last weekend, the Laurel Little League Senior Softball team advanced to their 2nd straight Senior Softball World Series and their 4th as Host in the past 5 years.

The Laurel team returns all of the players from last year's 3rd place team, and features several All-Conference players from lower Delaware's Henlopen Conference. This year the team also boasts an Delaware All State outfielder, Alexis Oliphant.

More on Laurel's return to the World Series from the Coastal Press.
Laurel gets a Second Chance

The Little League Senior Softball World Series, with the Laurel team as the hosts, begins August 3rd at the Lower Sussex Little League complex in Roxanna Delaware.

The last two days at the Western Regional in Missoula, Montana almost seemed like the same game, over and over, something like "Groundhog Day."

The Ken Hubbs Memorial Little League, representing Southern California had to defeat the All City Softball Little League team representing Northern California twice to advance to the World Series.

When they lost the first West Region Championship game to the northerners 4-2, they faced elimination in a second game scheduled for later that afternoon. When the Southern Californians won the second game 2-0, they forced a third Championship game for Wednesday morning.

The Ken Hubbs Memorial Little League, representing Southern California won the final game 5-3, and will join the lineup at the Little League Senior Softball World Series on Sunday afternoon. Bill Murray is not expected to be there, however.

{June 2008) Laurel's Alexis Oliphant was selected as one of four Delaware All State Softball outfielders by Delaware's Head Softball Coaches this week.

Oliphant, playing on the District 3 Host Team with her two sisters (Kelsey and Taylor), anchored the outfield for Laurel on last year's quarter final team, scoring 4 runs, and blasting a home run during the five game series.

Playing for her home town Laurel High School, Alexis was also selected first team All-Henlopen Conference last month.

Laurel Little League is probably the favorite to return to the Little League Senior Softball World Series in Roxanna, Delaware in August.

A team from Laurel has been the Host team for 3 of the last 4 years in the August classic.

(May 2008) The Little League Senior Softball World Series keeps turning out Cape Henlopen All Conference Selections.

This year, five members of the 2007 District III Champion Laurel Little League also earned recognition for their play in Sussex County High School Softball.

Earning First Team All Conference honors from Laurel were Alexis and Kelsey Oliphant, Alexis as an outfielder and Kelsey as an at-large selection.

Second Team members were Jenna Allen [2nd base - Sussex Tech], Jenna Cahall [3rd base - Laurel] and Stephanie Wheatley [At-large Laurel].

Also on the list were 3 players from the 2006 Nanticoke Little League team that played in the final game. Jenna Adkins of Seaford, Kelsey Riggleman at-large from Seaford, and Amanda Swift, Outfield, Seaford HS.

That is eight World Series "alumae" on the Henlopen All-Conference team, once again proving the Series' value as a great showcase for Sussex County Softball talent.

The 2008 Series starts August 3rd at the Lower Sussex Little League complex in Roxanna, Delaware.

By Roy Lamberton - LLWS Media Director

There was a lot of interest in the World Series Champion Southwest team's switch hitting this year.

If you watched the game, you noticed that some of the girls came to bat as lefties, then moved to their natural right handed position once they had 2 strikes.

The truth is that the girls of San Antonio were not a team of switch hitters, they were in position to slap bunt - something that is a big part of American Women's Softball but usually seen at much higher levels of play.

The idea is to come to bat as a lefty, and flip the end of the bat at the softball as it crosses the plate while stepping out towards first base. The batter "slaps" the ball to make it roll slowly down the 3rd base line.

If you do it right, the ball barely trickles down the line towards 3rd, while the batter, with a 3 step head start, cruises into first with an infield single. Swinging from the first base side of the plate, the batter is usually well down the line before any infielders can get to the ball.

Once a right handed batter has 2 strikes, however, they have to turn around and bat normally, since bunting a foul ball with 2 strikes is an automatic strike out. The batter also has to call time to change sides since she cannot step over the plate with the bat in her hand - its also an automatic out. The Southwest girls switched sides once they got 2 strikes.

If you watch the college Softball World Series, you see many more  leadoff batters who are skilled in slap bunting. Not sure how you pitch to those athletes, but the technique is almost as unnerving to a team as that first pitch home run is in baseball.

And that's the real reason why those ladies from San Antonio kept switching sides of the plate. They were "Slap Bunting."

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.]