For the 20th time in Hamilton West Side Little League history, the 12-and-under team has won the Ohio Little League Majors state championship, with a 6-1 win over New Albany on July 25.
On Thursday Aug. 1, the team hopped in a van and headed to Whitestown, Ind. for the Great Lakes Region Tournament. They will first play in the two-losses-and-you're out tournament on Sunday at 4 p.m. on ESPN+ against the winner of the opening game between the Kentucky and Michigan state champions.
Indiana and Illinois are the other teams in the Great Lakes Region.
If Hamilton team wins three games in a row, it's headed to Williamsport, Pa. It can afford one loss, but then would have to win four games to make the Little League World Series. Two losses, and the season is over.
If Hamilton West Side makes it to Williamsport, they'll play on ESPN and in front of thousands of fans at the vaunted Howard J. Lamade Stadium (seating for 10,000 spectators, including outfield berm capacity for 40,000) and Little League Volunteer Stadium , which can hold up to 5,000 fans.
Last season, according to ESPN , the tournament's 38 games averaged more than a million viewers. The broadcast for the championship game, which was on ABC, averaged nearly three million viewers and peaked at over four million. In 2021, West Side Little League advanced to the championship game but lost to the team from Michigan 5-2. (No international teams participated that year because of the COVID pandemic.)
"It's unbelievable," said Preston Baker, a player on the team. "It's been one of my dreams to go play there and we're three games away. We want to follow in the footsteps of the teams before us."
The players on the team chalk up West Side's perennial success to great coaches. The coaches say otherwise. But both agree that the way they practice plays a large part in the quality of their play.
Manager Ken Coomer said that it's impossible to fully prepare his team for what will happen if they make it to Williamsport. Still, the coaches try to put them in pressure situations in practice. They get the players a lot of reps. They talk openly about the fanfare and circumstance that come with the Little League World Series, and even with playing on ESPN+ this weekend.
At their last practice before getting on the bus to Indiana Thursday morning, the team spent most of its time on batting practice. Coomer said hitting is the main strength of this year's team.
The coaches set up the pitching machine in front of the mound, about 40 (it looked like fewer) feet from home plate, and cranked it up to 74 miles per hour. According to Pocket Radar , a 74-mph pitch from 40 feet away gets on the hitter equivalent to a 103-mph major league fastball. There were not a lot of swings and misses from the boys of Hamilton. Coomer said that if his players are used to seeing 74-mph at practice, when they face a pitcher throwing 70-mph (usually about the top end for Little Leaguers), it won't be overwhelming.
The 2024 Little League Baseball World Series takes places from Aug. 14-25. A few more wins, and you'll be seeing Hamilton West Side Little League on your screens later this month.
"We're just out here having fun," said player Zaydan Anderson. "It's been a great summer."
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Headed to regionals, Hamilton West Side Little League is three games from Williamsport
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