Little League Series Starts Without Taiwan
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — The most dominant team of Little League baseball was nowhere to be found Sunday on the eve of the tournament’s 51st series.
Youth baseball officials in Taiwan, whose teams have won seven of the last 11 series championship games, withdrew from qualifying play this spring after leagues on the island were found to have drawn players from school systems with three times as many pupils as the total allowed under league rules.
“It doesn’t matter that Taiwan isn’t here,†said Bradenton, Fla., manager Mike Kennedy.
But, he added, “It would make the experience more memorable.â€
Replacing Taiwan is Japan, the Far East champion.
Taiwan could return next year, Little League president Stephen Keener said.
The series for 11- and 12-year-olds begins today with Arabian American, a team from Saudi Arabia primarily composed of U.S. children of oil workers and military personnel, playing Nuevo Leon of Mexico.
Later, Pottsville, Pa., begins play in the U.S. bracket against Dyer, Ind. South Mission Viejo will face Bradenton (Fla.) at 5 p.m. PDT.
The Dyer team has drawn inspiration from one of its players, Mike Helfen, who after the series will resume chemotherapy for leukemia.
South Mission Viejo plays Dyer Tuesday at 11 a.m. PDT.
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