Published: July 07, 2008 11:04 am            

Rolling along ...

Well, we’ve survived a week and a half of All Star play and we’re fortunate to still have some teams remaining.

But before I begin to ramble, I want to give a big thanks to both Corbin 11-year-old coach Bob O’Neil and South London 11-year-old coach Jeff Neal for calling and/or e-mailing their game information in.

Both of these guys have been a tremendous help and I just want to say how much I really appreciate it.

We’re going to need help again this and next week.

With many of our tournaments being played out of town, it will be hard to be everywhere, so coaches and parents, once again, we need your help.

So with that said, let’s ramble a bit ...

• Best All Star comeback

So far, the best All Star comeback has to be Wayne Willis’ Corbin All Stars’ 14-12 win over North Laurel.

After being down by as much as seven runs, Corbin stunned North Laurel to advance to the District Tournament in Harlan.

After the game, Willis thought he had seen everything in his 32 years as a coach, but his team’s comeback win will stay with him for a long time.

“This is my 32nd year and it seems like you’ve seen everything and you will see this in Little League during the season some, but it is definitely a game we will remember for a long time,” Willis said. “Both teams played hard.”

• Best All Star coach quote

It comes from North Laurel’s Jeff North, whose team dropped a 14-12 decision to Corbin after leading by as many as seven runs in the game.

“It was very tough to lose and hard to swallow,” North said. “Two of our pitchers couldn’t pitch at all because they had ran out of pitches. We were on our last pitcher. I asked him (Zachary Hurley) if he was getting tired and he said ‘yes’. He said his arm wasn’t getting tired, but his legs and feet were getting tired. It was a long game.

“I think we were physically and mentally tired,” he added. “What you have to remember is that these are 12-year-old kids. I think us, as coaches, sometimes, we forget. I know I do. These are 12-year-old kids and they make mistakes. You watch the Major-Leaguers, they make mistakes, too.”

I agree with everything he said.

These are just kids and everyone needs to remember that.

• State bound

Congrats goes to Steve Elkins’ Laurel County 11/12-year-old All Stars and Tim Bell’s South London 9/10-year-old All Stars.

Elkins’ squad will try to capture another state crown beginning Saturday in Russell, while South London is looking to do the same thing.

It’s going to be hard for Laurel County, though.

Russell/Flatwoods is the team to beat after upending Grayson, 31-0, in the District 6 finals. The same group of girls won the 9/10-year-old state championship two years ago.

Russell/Flatwoods pounded out 35 hits in the win.

Laurel County picked up wins over Corbin, Tri-Cities and Burnside (twice) to win the District 4 title, while South London reeled off five straight wins after losing its opener against North Laurel.

The kids from South London showed their toughness by defeating North Laurel twice in a row in the championship game.

• Little League preview

Scott Gaines’ South London All Stars look to be the favorite on paper to clinch a spot in the state tournament, but you can’t count out Corbin.

Willis’ squad proved during their come-from-behind win against North Laurel that they have the talent to make a deep run.

Jerry Croley’s Williamsburg All Stars will also be tough to beat. Williamsburg enters the tournament unbeaten, while outscoring its opponents 24-6 during the process.

Knox County earned a berth into the district tournament after outlasting Middlesboro, 4-3, in the runner-up game.

Tri-Cities is another team to look out for. They won the Area 4 championship with a 21-3 win over Leslie County and a 10-0 win over Hazard in the finals, while Hazard secured a spot in the tournament with a win against Harlan.

Wayne County captured the Area 1 title with a 5-3 win over Pulaski County, while Pulaski County upended Burnside 34-4, but reportedly will not participate in the district tournament.

• Today’s outlook

Jeff Neal’s South London All Stars will face-off against North Laurel’s best in the 11-year-old winner’s bracket finals, while Bob O’Neil’s Corbin All Stars will try to remain alive against Clay County at 8 p.m.

“We have six different kids that we can put on the mound (today) against Clay County,” O’Neil said. “The only pitcher that is ineligible, due to pitch count regulations, is Trevor Hill.

We will be bringing John Bridges into the lineup after a weeks vacation, which will be a solid addition to the team,” he added. “Clay County played Middlesboro a good game on Thursday with a 13-12 win. They had to use a couple of pitchers to get by Middlesboro, but I'm not sure how deep Clay County is with pitchers.”

Mike Broughton’s North Laurel Blue team will play Pulaski County in the first round of the 9/10-year-old District 4 Tournament in Burnside, while Corbin will play Tri-Cities in the first round of the Junior League Tournament at South London.

        

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