We’re about to enter into a nine-month odyssey of virtually non-stop college sports. And thanks to the proliferation of larger conferences and renewed interest in women’s and secondary sports virtually a waking hour of any day won’t go by without some live event airing on at least a platform, and more than likely on some linear channel to boot.
Which is wht I’m personally savoring the leisurely pace and focus on the Little League World Series, which has been providing its uniquely comforting brand of white noise while I’m been working and ailing from home over the last few days.
Once again, ESPN has given these ardent youngsters representing ten different regions of the U.S. and ten different regions of the rest of the world major league treatment. They’ve assigned their Sunday Night Baseball crew plus a couple of other standout reporters to the task of covering daily quadrupleheaders conveniently staged at twin stadia in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania that allow for virtually non-stop coverage for at least eleven hours a day. And that’s despite the fact that these games are scheduled for six regulation innings. Today is the last four-pack of the Series, meaning we’re now down to the Elite Eight.
And in their hometowns, the survivors are big news. Witness the attention being paid the AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN’s Tyler J. Davis:
So far, 2024 Little League World Series competition has been no match for the Texas team.
In their first game Thursday, the boys from Boerne, Texas pounded Pennsylvania, 9-0. Then, in Monday’s matchup vs. the Southeast Region champs from Florida, the Southwest Region champs came back from an early 1-0 hole to win 4-1. Next up, Nevada. Paseo Verde Little League, out of Henderson, defeated a talented Hawai’i team on Monday. The winner of Wednesday’s game is just two victories from a Little League World Series title.
And in Seminole County, Florida, last time a team from their area scored a pretty impressive victory of their own, enough to merit a story on the Orlando CBS6 website authored by “digital journalist” Anthony Talcott:
Lake Mary on Tuesday triumphed over Staten Island, New York, by a score of 6-1 at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
In Tuesday’s game, Lake Mary started out the game at 1-0, keeping a close lead over Staten Island for most of the night. Lake Mary’s D.J. Miesis helped turn things around when he hit a three-run home run in the top of the sixth inning, creating a huge cushion and bringing the scoreboard firmly in their favor.
In addition, Lake Mary got RBIs from Christopher Cikodroff and pitching ace J.J. Feliciano, the latter of whom was integral for the team’s win over South Dakota. Garrett Rohozen and Lathan Norton also combined to pitch the 5-hitter, ending the game with Lake Mary’s overwhelming victory. 
But aside from the results themselves, the storylines and the profiles are especially engaging. The Henderson team that is taking on Bourne as this is being written features the son of former major leaguer Chad Gaudin, who naturally calls him his favorite player (unlike his teammates, who mostly choose current major leaguers). The Hawai’i team had never had strawberries until their trip to Williamsport. The Venezuelan team has a double-threat, Luis Yepez,who was intentionally walked as a potential winning run last night. His manager is one Domingo Carrasquel, whose great-uncle Chico was one of the first major leaguers from his country.
The fact that I can rattle these factoids off with little need to open up additional browsers is a tribute to how closely I’ve been paying attention. How enjoyable this has been. And how much I wish I might have had a reason to be there myself.
Thanks for these small memories, ESPN.
Courage…