A group of Little League baseball players from Chula Vista will capture the attention of people all across San Diego County as they play for a shot at the U.S. Championship.
The Eastlake All-Stars will face Westport, Conn. in a semifinal game that will be televised on ESPN beginning at 5 p.m. PT.
Eastlake pitcher Grant Holman, the same player who pitched a no-hitter against Michigan Friday, was expected to start.
“Probably the least healthy at this point are the coaches,” said Doug Holman. “Our arms are hanging off from throwing balls since June 15 and other little maladies but the kids are all good.”
Holman spoke with NBC 7 News Today from Williamsport, Penn as the team finished up breakfast in the mess hall.
The players got together in a group and hollered “hello” into the phone for their fans in San Diego.
Signs have popped up all over Eastlake as businesses rally behind the team that traveled to San Bernardino to win the West Regional tournament and qualified them for the Little League World Series.
The Eastlake Little League is selling West Regional hats, T-shirts and other gear to help raise money for the team’s travel to the World Series.
Local
The parents and families have accompanied the 12-year-olds on the trip east. The mother of player Michah Wiggs said the boys appear to be handling the stress and nerves better than some of the families.
“It’s really exciting. Us moms and some of the dads get real nervous before the games,” said Ronne Pietila-Wiggs.
As the team prepares to face Westport, some analysts are predicting a low-scoring game Wednesday night.
The Connecticut team has played 21 games to get to Williamsport and in 16 of those games, they’ve held their opposition to three runs or less, Coach Holman said.
“If you look on paper it looks like yeah, great pitching,” said Holman.
Check statistical game summary from Westport’s Sunday win here.
On Tuesday, Washington won 6-5 over Tennessee in an elimination game. So the team that loses tonight’s game will meet Washington.
The team that wins in that matchup will face the winner of the Westport v. Eastlake game for the U.S. Championship.
