On Saturday, the Oregon little league team beat Idaho 15-3 to claim the title of Northwest Regional Little League champions. Team Oregon dominated their opponents in the Northwest tournament by outscoring them 48-18 over four games, finishing the tournament undefeated and earning the right to play in the first round of the Little League World Series.
The team from Portland is composed of boys 11-13 years old – boys who just made the hallowed trip to Williamsport for the first time. The whirlwind journey that started in San Bernardino, California made its next stop at the Little League compound Sunday morning.
The excitement only escalated on Monday as the boys of Wilshire-Riverside were treated to a taste of the good life, receiving fitted tournament jerseys and a new bat, helmet, batting gloves, baseball mitt, and pair of cleats courtesy of Easton. And since the tournament airs nationally on ESPN, the boys also sat down for interviews with the network and had one of their workouts filmed.
Wilshire-Riverside manager Matt Farr, however, isn’t getting too caught up in all the festivities. He has his eye on their next game, which will be played against the Texas state champions Pearland West Little League Friday on ESPN. In an interview with the Portland Tribune earlier this week Farr said, “These teams are good and they throw hard and they play really well, so we have our work cut out for us. But there’s a reason why we’re here, too. We didn’t get a free ticket, so we’re ready to compete.”
For those unfamiliar with the format of the Little League World Series, it is a tournament featuring 16 teams composed of each regional champion and eight international champions. These teams are divided into two brackets, separating the regional champions from the international champions. These two brackets are then divided into two pools, which are contested in double-elimination format. The winner of each pool plays a single-elimination game. Finally, the champion of the U.S. bracket faces off against the international bracket champion for the title.
While the team made its way to Williamsport on Sunday, many of the families are still scrambling to get there. The team is running a GoFundMe page in hopes of raising enough money to aid the financial burden on the player’s families and get them to Williamsport to cheer their boys on. To support your local little league team, visit the league’s website at www.wilshireriversidell.org or search Wilshire Riverside Little League on Facebook.
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