Little League teams begin World Series quest
The boys of summer are back on their fields of dreams for the Little League Baseball Inc. international all-star tournament.
In Broward and Palm Beach counties, first-round (district) action is underway as teams in the Major (ages 11-12) and Intermediate 50-70 (ages 11-13) divisions join Junior (ages 13-14), Senior (ages 15-16) and Big (ages 17-19) league squads on the long World Series journey.
“It all begins right here. It’s a tough road but we all saw what East Boynton Beach did (in 2003) so it is possible,” said District 10 (north Broward) Administrator Brian Johnson during a recent Intermediate 50-70 game at the Deerfield Beach Middle School Athletic Complex. The other local districts are 21 (south Broward) and 7 (south Palm Beach).
While the crowned jewel of the World Series tournaments is the Majors level in Williamsport, Pa. each August, the Intermediate 50-70 Division is starting to steal some of that thunder at the grass roots. Several leagues — including Deerfield Beach and Tamarac — have dropped Major all-star squads altogether in favor of Intermediate teams.
“The mound is 50 feet from home plate and the bases are 70 feet apart, which provides a nice transition for kids from the standard Little League (40-60) diamond to the Junior and Senior league (60-90) dimensions,” Johnson said. “There’s leading off, pick-off moves ... all the things to help them develop their careers.”
Intermediate 50-70 teams follow the same district, sectional, state and regional path to the World Series (Livermore, Calif.) as the other age groups. Other World Series sites are in Taylor, Mich. (Juniors), Bangor, Maine (Seniors) and Easley, S.C. (Big League).
Southeast Florida’s Big League Baseball champion won’t have to travel far en route to South Carolina as both the state and southeast U.S. regional tournaments are at Floyd Hull Stadium in Fort Lauderdale next month.
District championship games will be ongoing through early July, after which the competition turns to sectional play.