LLWS- Pennsylvania 18 , Missouri 0. Final
- Thread starter psu00
- Start date
Yeah, I stuck a post in today's Pirate thread. Very impressive team. The big kid Wagner who is playing 1st base and apparently is an excellent pitcher, hit a home run about 320' to dead center. Don't think I've ever seen a young kid hit one that far.
I was there. The Wagner kid didn't even hit the longest bomb of the day. The kid from SC hit one an estimated 380 feet. Unbelievable for a 12 year old. I just don't remember ever seeing a kid 6 foot and 180 at 12 when I was growing up. Each team now has one....
Some very impressive hits throughout regionals and the start of the series. But the baseballs they use are like golf balls, wound very tight. A few years ago they moved the fence back from 200 to 225 feet and home runs have increased. Hmm. The big boys used to hit home runs in the LLWS, now 80 pound kids are doing it with check swings.
...How soon do the ballpark dimensions change again? If the shot Wager hit up the hill had been a liner at the pitcher's head, a bit of a little guy,...not good. The physical change in many of the players today really needs to be addressed relative to the size of the field. That being said, those kids from Lewisberry can really play.
Ok, a little perspective on Lewisberry, which is really Redland. ESPN wanted a town's name and Redland is an area so they chose Lewisberry. Anyway, the Asst. Coach is Bret Wagner who makes his living giving batting lessons...what do you think he's been doing twice a day for last 8 weeks. If you haven't seen what batting lessons, by someone who knows what they are doing, stop into one near your home and check it out. The kids that get real instruction can hit the ball like no others. The problem is that the lessons are very expensive, a problem which was solved for this Redland team.
They also happen to have a couple of really good pitchers, which is also taught at GoWags.
BTW, there are two real good instructors near where I live and if you take the list of hitting stats for the local HS players essentially everyone of them goes to one of the two places.
Here is the GoWags staff: http://www.gowagsteams.com/teams/Info/GoWagsStaff.aspx
They also happen to have a couple of really good pitchers, which is also taught at GoWags.
BTW, there are two real good instructors near where I live and if you take the list of hitting stats for the local HS players essentially everyone of them goes to one of the two places.
Here is the GoWags staff: http://www.gowagsteams.com/teams/Info/GoWagsStaff.aspx
They also don't have to use the bats we had to use. I umpire high school baseball and whenever I check out the bats before a game and am just in awe. If I had that kind of equipment when I played, I might have batted over .200.
The losing team from Mo. handled it pretty well. Their coach basically tried to keep them upbeat and try to
win little things within the game. The funniest moment was the pitcher's reaction to the second bomb the PA.
kid hit to centerfield. Big smile and a "wow".
