Listen, we know it’s tough to catch up on everything happening in the baseball world each morning. There are all kinds of stories, rumors, game coverage and Vines of dudes getting hit in the beans every day. Trying to find all of it while on your way to work or sitting at your desk just isn’t easy. It’s okay, though, we’re going to do the heavy lifting for you each morning, and find the things you need to see from within the SB Nation baseball network, as well as from elsewhere. Please hold your applause until the end, or at least until after you subscribe to the newsletter.
Get excited for the Little League World Series finals today
Sunday’s Say Hey, Baseball is excited about the Little League World Series finals, and a doozy of a little league home run, too.
Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
* * *
All but the final game has been played in the 2016 Little League World Series, and just two teams are left standing. To win the United States Championship on Saturday the team from the Mid-Atlantic region, Maine-Endwell Little League from Endwell, New York, survived a late rally to beat out the Southeast region team from Goodlettsville, Tennessee. No team from New York has won the United States title since 1964, when the winners were Staten Island. Over at the International Championship, East Seoul Little League, the Asia-Pacific team from South Korea, was triumphant over Panama’s Aguadulce Cabezera Little League. South Korea scored five runs in the second inning (and would end up hitting three home runs overall), and Panama never recovered.
New York enters today with a perfect record of 4-0. They spent their first two games scoring run after run — they won their first game 7-2 and their second game 12-10 — but their last two games were close contests. The South Korean team is almost perfect. They’ve played five games, and won all but one, their only loss coming against the team from Panama, which just happens to be the same team they beat yesterday to make it to today’s final game.
There’s no rest for these Little Leaguers, because after their wins yesterday, they play for all the marbles today. You should watch it, if only because you might catch the South Korean team’s amazing Usain Bolt lightning bolt celebration. But there’s a better reason than that: it’s kids awesomely playing baseball better than most adults can. Plus, it’s baseball! If any of that interests you, catch the game live at 3 p.m. ET on ABC.
- Drake tweeted a video of support for Maine-Endwell Little League just hours before they beat Tennessee. So maybe Drake was the difference maker there. (Yeah, probably not.)
- With Dioner Navarro traded to the Blue Jays, South Side Sox says the White Sox are ready to move right past that pretty regretful signing.
- In light of the renaming of The Cell, Royals Review says it’s only a matter of time before the Royals sells the naming rights to the K.
- Melvin Upton hit quite the Little League home run to help the Blue Jays win yesterday.
- Gary Sanchez is having one helluva start for the Yankees.
- But of course that hot start is bringing back memories of Kevin Maas, which Yankees fans just can’t seem to forget.
- Bryce Harper argued balls and strikes with umpire Mike Winters, and then Harper spent the rest of the game in the locker room. He had a pretty compelling reason to argue, though.
- Vin Scully had more visitors in his broadcast booth, and these guys gave him the flag from Wrigley.
See More:
