2006 Little League World Series

The 2006 Little League World Series, held in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, took place between August 18 and August 28, one day later than originally scheduled. Inclement weather forced the cancellation of the third-place game on August 27 and the postponement of the championship game also scheduled for that date. The Northern Little League of Columbus, Georgia, defeated Kawaguchi City Little League of Kawaguchi, Japan, in the championship game of the 60th Little League World Series.

2006 Little League World Series
Tournament details
DatesAugust 18–August 28
Teams16
Final positions
ChampionsNorthern Little League
United StatesGeorgia (U.S. state) Columbus, Georgia
Runner-upKawaguchi City Little League
Japan Kawaguchi, Saitama, Japan
← 2005
2007 →

The event was broadcast in the United States on ABC Sports, ESPN and ESPN2 in both analog and high-definition. The U.S. Championship game was the last ABC Sports telecast. Games were held in the two stadiums located at Little League headquarters in South Williamsport:

  • Howard J. Lamade Stadium — the main stadium, opened in 1959, with seating for 10,000 in the stands and hillside terrace seating for up to 30,000 more
  • Little League Volunteer Stadium — a newer facility, opened in 2001, that seats slightly over 5,000, primarily in the stands

Teams

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Between five and twelve teams take part in 16 regional qualification tournaments, which vary in format depending on region. In the United States, the qualification tournaments are in the same format as the Little League World Series itself: a round-robin tournament followed by an elimination round to determine the regional champion.

Pool A Pool B Pool C Pool D
  Staten Island, New York
Mid-Atlantic Region
Mid-Island Little League
  Portsmouth, New Hampshire
New England Region
Portsmouth Little League
  Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands
Pacific Region
Saipan Little League
  Matamoros, Tamaulipas
  Mexico Region
Matamoros Little League
  Lemont, Illinois
Great Lakes Region
Lemont Little League
  Beaverton, Oregon
Northwest Region
Murrayhill Little League
  Barquisimeto, Venezuela
Latin America Region
Cardenales Little League
    Kawaguchi, Saitama
Asia Region
Kawaguchi City Little League
  Phoenix, Arizona
West Region
Ahwatukee American Little League
  Columbia, Missouri
Midwest Region
Daniel Boone National Little League
  Surrey, British Columbia
  Canada Region
Whalley Little League
  Moscow, Russia
Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Region
Brateevo Little League
  Columbus, Georgia
Southeast Region
Northern Little League
  Lake Charles, Louisiana
Southwest Region
South Lake Charles Little League
  Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
Transatlantic Region
Arabian-American Little League
  Willemstad, Curaçao
Caribbean Region
Pabao Little League

Results

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Pool play

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The top two teams in each pool moved on to their respective semifinals. The winners of each met on August 27 to play for the Little League World Championship. Teams marked in green qualified to the knockout stage. Ties are broken based on records in head-to-head competition among tied teams. If a clear winner cannot be determined from head-to-head results, the tie is broken by calculating the ratio of runs allowed to defensive innings played for all teams involved in the tie. The team with the lowest runs-per-defensive-inning ratio advances.

United States

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Pool A
Rank Region Record Runs Allowed Run Ratio
1   Great Lakes 2–1 1 0.056
2   Southeast 2–1 5 0.263
3   West 2–1 5 0.278
4   Mid-Atlantic 0–3 8 0.421
  • Great Lakes wins pool based on defensive run ratio. Southeast is the runner-up based on win against West.
Pool B
Rank Region Record Runs Allowed Run Ratio
1   New England 2–1 15 0.833
2   Northwest 2–1 8 0.444
3   Midwest 1–2 6 0.381
4   Southwest 1–2 14 0.737
  • New England wins Pool B based on head-to-head tiebreaker.

All times US EDT

Pool Away Score Home Score Time (Venue)
August 18
B   New England 6   Northwest 1 4:00 pm (Lamade Stadium)
B   Southwest 1 (F/9)   Midwest 0 8:00 pm (Lamade Stadium)
August 19
A   Mid-Atlantic 2   Southeast 3 (F/7) 1:00 pm (Lamade Stadium)
A   West 1   Great Lakes 0 3:00 pm (Volunteer Stadium)
August 20
B   New England 5   Midwest 14 Noon (Volunteer Stadium)
A   Southeast 4   West 1 1:00 pm (Lamade Stadium)
B   Southwest 1   Northwest 9 3:00 pm (Volunteer Stadium)
A   Mid-Atlantic 0   Great Lakes 1 8:00 pm (Lamade Stadium)
August 21
B   Southwest 0   New England 5 3:00 pm (Lamade Stadium)
B   Northwest 2   Midwest 1 8:00 pm (Lamade Stadium)
August 22
A   West 4   Mid-Atlantic 1 3:00 pm (Lamade Stadium)
A   Southeast 0   Great Lakes 2 8:00 pm (Lamade Stadium)
  • The New England vs. Midwest game was postponed due to a rain delay and was played on August 20.

International

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Pool C
Rank Region Record Runs Allowed Run Ratio
1   Latin America 3–0 2 0.136
2   Transatlantic 2–1 2 0.100
3   Canada 1–2 9 0.500
4   Pacific 0–3 12 0.600
Pool D
Rank Region Record Runs Allowed Run Ratio
1   Asia 3–0 3 0.176
2   Mexico 2–1 9 0.529
3   Caribbean 1–2 10 0.556
4   EMEA 0–3 30 1.875

All times US EDT

Pool Away Score Home Score Time (Venue)
August 18
C   Transatlantic 5   Canada 0 6:00 pm (Volunteer Stadium)
August 19
D   EMEA 0   Asia* 11 (F/5) 11:00 am (Lamade Stadium)
D   Caribbean 2   Mexico 3 4:00 pm (Lamade Stadium)
C   Pacific 0   Latin America 1 (F/8) 6:00 pm (Volunteer Stadium)
August 20
C   Pacific 1   Transatlantic 9 5:00 pm (Lamade Stadium)
D   EMEA 1   Mexico 11 (F/5) 7:00 pm (Volunteer Stadium)
August 21
D   EMEA 0   Caribbean 8 11:00 am (Lamade Stadium)
D   Asia 6   Mexico 1 1:00 pm (Volunteer Stadium)
C   Canada 2   Latin America 3 6:00 pm (Volunteer Stadium)
August 22
D   Asia 7   Caribbean 2 11:00 am (Lamade Stadium)
C   Canada 2   Pacific 1 1:00 pm (Volunteer Stadium)
C   Transatlantic 0   Latin America 1 (F/8) 6:00 pm (Volunteer Stadium)
  • Asterisk (*) denotes no-hitter thrown
  • The Pacific vs. Latin America game was suspended in the 8th inning due to a rain delay and was completed on August 21.

Elimination round

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Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
August 24 – 3:00 pm - Lamade
 
 
  Transatlantic1
 
August 26 – 7:30 pm - Lamade
 
  Asia4
 
  Asia3
 
August 23 – 3:00 pm - Lamade (F/4)
 
  Mexico0
 
  Latin America0
 
August 28 – 5:00 pm - Lamade
 
  Mexico11
 
  Asia1
 
August 24 – 7:30 pm - Lamade
 
   Southeast 2
 
  Southeast8
 
August 27 – 3:30 pm - Lamade
 
  New England0
 
  Southeast7
 
August 23 – 7:30 pm - Lamade
 
  Northwest3
 
  Great Lakes3
 
 
  Northwest4
 

The consolation game between Matamoros, Mexico and Beaverton, Oregon, scheduled for August 27 at Volunteer Stadium, was cancelled due to rain, and both teams share third place. The championship game was originally scheduled for 3:30 pm US EDT on August 27, but was postponed due to rain. The game was originally rescheduled for 8:00 pm on August 28, but changed because of weather concerns.

2006 Little League World Series Champions
   
Northern Little League
Columbus, Georgia

Notable players

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Champion's path

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President George W. Bush meeting the Columbus Northern team

The Columbus Northern LL went undefeated on their road to the LLWS, winning all eleven of their matches.[2][3] Their total record was 16–1, their only loss coming against Lemont LL (from Illinois).

Round Opposition Result
Georgia State Tournament
Group Stage   Cartersville LL 9–0
Group Stage   Decatur Belvedere LL 15–0
Group Stage   Toccoa American LL 12–2
Group Stage   Masters City LL 17–2
Semifinals   Masters City LL 15–5
Championship   Buckhead 4–0
Southeast Regional
Group Stage   Bridgeport American LL 16–0 (4 inn.)
Group Stage   Columbia American LL 8–0
Group Stage   Greater Dunedin LL 10–6
Semifinals   Cottage Hill LL 11–0 (4 inn.)
Southeast Region Championship   Greater Dunedin LL 5–0

Mid-Island incident

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Television coverage aired throughout the United States on ABC Sports and ESPN. At first, there was no delay on its broadcasts, despite the fact that all managers and coaches were equipped with miniature microphones. That changed after two incidents; one in a preliminary game where an unidentified California pitcher told his coach that "[the umpire] ain't giving me shit" in reference to a tight strike zone, but the other, more important incident took place late in a preliminary-round game in which a player for Mid-Island Little League of Staten Island, New York, who was not publicly identified, told his teammates to just score "one fucking run" that was broadcast live on ESPN. In response, the team's manager, Nick Doscher, slapped the player, a violation of a Little League policy against physical contact targeting players. Both the player and manager were reprimanded, and ESPN and ABC imposed a five-second delay on future telecasts. The incident was part of the continuing legacy of the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Phillies' Kingery enjoyed early success".
  2. ^ "Georgia State Tournament Results". Unpage.com. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
  3. ^ "Southeastern Region Tournament". Unpage.com. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
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