New York’s Little League Champs
August 30, 2016
On Sunday, August 28, an all-star baseball team from Maine-Endwell, New York, won the Little League World Series by defeating a team from Seoul, South Korea, 2-1. The Little League World Series is a competition played each year in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, among kids aged 11 to 13. The tournament, first played in 1947, includes 16 Little League teams from the United States and the rest of the world. Little League Baseball is the world’s largest organized youth-sports program with nearly 180,000 teams. Endwell’s Little League title was the first for a U.S. team since 2011, and the first for a New York team since Staten Island won in 1964.
On Aug. 28, 2016, New York’s Ryan Harlost scores on a passed ball in the fourth inning of the Little League World Series title game against South Korea in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. New York defeated South Korea 2-1. Credit: © Rob Carr, Getty Images
Pitching and defense dominated the title game at South Williamsport’s Howard J. Lamade Stadium. Endwell’s Ryan Harlost and Seoul’s Junho Jeong mowed down hitters and both teams made sparkling defensive plays to help keep the game scoreless through three innings. New York’s first hits came in the decisive fourth as the team pushed two runs across on three singles and a passed ball. South Korea’s Yoomin Lee homered in the fifth, narrowing the score to 2-1. The Seoul Little Leaguers kept the pressure on in the sixth and final frame, putting two runners aboard with two outs. Harlost fanned young Minho Choi to end the game, however, and Endwell hats and gloves flew into the air before a miniature team pile formed near home plate. A raucous and happy home crowd cheered the New York champions, who gathered with the gracious South Koreans for a group jog and wave around the ball field. U.S. President Barack Obama took a few minutes from his busy schedule to place a congratulatory phone call to the champs after the game.
The Seoul all-stars rolled through the international bracket of the tournament, downing a tough Panama team 7-2 to advance to the World Series title game. The undefeated Endwell ball club won the U.S. championship 4-2 over the all-stars of Goodlettsville, Tennessee. The tournament’s 32 games drew a total of nearly 500,000 fans.
