Tuesday, August 27, 2002
Great games erase memory of eligibility questions
By DAN LEWERENZ
Associated Press Writer
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — There's good news from Little League land — the best pitcher at the World Series really is 12 years old.
One year after Danny Almonte and his Bronx team turned the series upside down, and two weeks after rumors surfaced about another New York City team, Louisville pitcher Aaron Alvey led his team to Little League World Series championship in impressive style.
“Me and him faced each other in the regular season,” said teammate Zach Osborne. “We had a hard time hitting him, too.”
Who wouldn't?
Alvey — born Dec. 27, 1989 — started rewriting Little League's record books during the U.S. semifinals. Pitching against Fort Worth, Texas, Alvey threw a no-hitter through nine innings in a game Louisville eventually won 2-1. Although rules required that Alvey be replaced in the 10th inning (Osborne was credited with the win), Little League gave Alvey the no-hitter, the first nine-inning no-hitter in Little League history.
In Sunday's championship game against Sendai, Japan, Alvey picked up where he left off, striking out 11 and hitting the game-winning home run in Louisville's 1-0 victory. When it was over, Alvey had set series records for strikeouts (44) and scoreless innings (21) and tied the mark for consecutive no-hit innings (12).
“He's got a great breaking ball, a real good fastball,” Osborne said.
Japan's manager, Kazutomo Takahashi, said his players weren't used to a fastball like Alvey's.
“I think he is just an all-around wonderful kid,” Takahashi said of Alvey.
When the series started, the talk was about the team from Harlem, and allegations that it was using ineligible players from outside the district's boundaries. It looked to become a repeat of the scandal that rocked Little League last year, but an investigation by Little League showed that all of Harlem's players were eligible.
Instead of scandal, fans got a show of parity on the field and the sportsmanship off it.
With a runner on first and Tatsuhiko Numakura, who had three home runs in the series, at the plate, Japan was just one homerun from winning it all. Louisville scored all of its runs in a single inning in beating Worcester, Mass., for the U.S. championship. Worcester advanced with a bottom-of-the-sixth home run to beat Harlem.
Even Alvey was nearly matched in his nine-inning no-hitter by Fort Worth's Walker Kelly, who struck out 21 and pitched nine scoreless innings.
“I think if we played this tournament again, we could have any number of different outcomes, the field was so balanced,” Little League spokesman Lance Van Auken said.
Even the losing teams were competitive. Clemmons, N.C., finished 0-3, but was the only team in the field to score two runs against Louisville. Webb City, Mo., also went 0-3 despite allowing only five runs.
“We very well could have been 3-0,” Webb City manager Craig Powell said after his team's final loss.
And both winners and losers were dignified on and off the field.
Harlem's Andrew Diaz did high-step down the third-base line after hitting a home run against Aptos, Calif., but the reaction was far greater outside South Williamsport than it was at the series. Aptos manager Dave Anderson said he had no problem with Diaz' behavior. The Harlem team addressed the showboating — Harlem manager Morris McWilliams admonished his players during the game and Diaz later apologized — and quickly moved on.
Fort Worth didn't get down after losing the 11-inning marathon against Louisville — they sang the theme from “Rawhide” in the dugout, just like they'd always done.
Louisville's players invited Japan to join them on their victory lap around the field.
“That was the coaches' idea, and we all thought it was a good idea,” Alvey said.
Teammate Casey Jordan added, “I feel sad for the Japan team. Somebody had to lose, but they played a great game.”
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Great games erase memory of eligibility questions
