Little League World Series - Canada (Langley) beats Chinese Taipai

[Romeo Delight]

http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/story/?id=374293

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. -- Canada is moving on to the next round at the Little League World Series.

Yi-An Pan pitched five innings and added a home run Monday as the team from Langley, B.C., upset Taiwan 5-3 -- the first time Canada had beaten a team from Taiwan at the tournament in 17 tries.

"Less mistakes today," said Canadian coach Jason Andrews. "We've got two wins so far this tournament, for a Canadian team, that's the most we've had in a while.

"We are starting to get more comfortable with the crowds. The kids seem less nervous. I'm less nervous as coach."

The victory improved Canada's record to 2-1 and earned it a spot in the next round, where it will face either Japan or Saudi Arabia on Tuesday afternoon.

Pan allowed two earned runs on nine hits over five innings of work before leading off the top of the sixth with a homer to give Canada a two-run lead.

"(Pan) is a gem to coach," Andrews said. "I call the pitches for the team. He was hitting his spots really well today. We've been working with Yi An with getting him to drive the ball and he did a pretty good job of it today."

Cole Cantelon recorded the final three outs to get the save.

"I was really nervous," said Cantelon, who went to a 3-1 count on his first batter, but came back to strike him out. "Getting that out really calmed me down."

[Romeo Delight]

Amazing how this Langley team is there every year. Even more amazing is the number of dominant major league players that come from this area.

Debate has raged that the reason for such a concentration despite the population disadvantage compared to Eastern Canada is due to the climate...we can play essentially year-round.

[PETE'S BROTHER]

go billings.......eh

[PETE'S BROTHER]

go billings.......eh

that should be an "ehh" as in not a uper "ay"

[Romeo Delight]

I knew exactly what you meant

[SunisinuS]

Some of the best baseball.

[kwame k]

Some of the best baseball.

I agree....during the last strike we watched the LLWS and those kids play their hearts without any endorsements or huge contracts......amazing, playing for the love of the game!

[mh5150]

These 12-13 year olds throw to many curve balls. They are going to ruin their arms. At that age they should be throwing 3 pitches 2- seam, 4-seam, change-up.

[kwame k]

These 12-13 year olds throw to many curve balls. They are going to ruin their arms. At that age they should be throwing 3 pitches 2- seam, 4-seam, change-up.

We were talking about that the other day.....they're throwing way too hard for their ages. I agree they won't have an arm left to play MLB!

[mh5150]

At this age they all should be throwing from stretch. Keeps it less complicated. You get most of your power from opening up ur hips towards the plate

[Bob_R]

These 12-13 year olds throw to many curve balls. They are going to ruin their arms. At that age they should be throwing 3 pitches 2- seam, 4-seam, change-up.

Give this man a cigar! Nail on the head!

My son throws hard and he is a very, very good pitcher and he does not throw curve balls. Once he's in High school he can and believe me he can't wait. My oldest son has a friend who cannot even pitch any more because he threw too many curve balls when he was in Little League.

I was speaking to a gentleman this summer during the summer league and he was impressed with this 12-13 year-old who pitched 60-70 pitches in a game against his team. About 90 percent of this kids pitches that day were curve balls.

I told him that the child will not be pitching in high school you can bank on that.

[VAiN]

This may sound dumb, but i honestly have no idea... what's so bad about a curve ball?

[Jagermeister]

This may sound dumb, but i honestly have no idea... what's so bad about a curve ball?

If you learn how to throw the shit out of one you can make a career out of it. That's why alot of these kids want to throw um. They can't throw a great fast ball but if they can master a curve ball it really doesn't matter. If thrown properly they are damn near impossible to hit. However if you do get ahold of one it's going a long ways. That's another rpoblem with them.

My son is 10 and he tries to throw one just for fun. So far he hasn't figured it out. If he does i'll let him mix a few in but he's not going to throw a curveball every pitch.

I see so many kids that don't have good form when they pitch. It makes me cringe.

[Bob_R]

This may sound dumb, but i honestly have no idea... what's so bad about a curve ball?

It's an unnatural motion. Actually pitching period causes an unnatural motion that's why pitchers (starters) can only pitch every 5 days. The natural way to throw is the way you see a softball pitcher throw, that's why they can pitch every day.

The curve ball is considered a more advanced pitch and many feel a pitcher shouldn't throw it until 16-18 years of age. It's rough on the shoulder, elbow, and biceps. The tendons and cartilage of the arm need to develop and a 12 year-old does not of that part of his body fully developed.

[Jagermeister]

It's an unnatural motion. Actually pitching period causes an unnatural motion that's why pitchers (starters) can only pitch every 5 days. The natural way to throw is the way you see a softball pitcher throw, that's why they can pitch every day.

The curve ball is considered a more advanced pitch and many feel a pitcher shouldn't throw it until 16-18 years of age. It's rough on the shoulder, elbow, and biceps. The tendons and cartilage of the arm need to develop and a 12 year-old does not of that part of his body fully developed.

Yeah. My doctor even told me they shouldn't do it for those reasons. I think it's ok to let them experiment with it as long as it's just a few tries here and there. Alot of these kids think just because they can throw hard they are a great pitcher. Shit I have spent a shit load of dollars on lessons teaching my kid how to throw a pitch properly and I am not done yet. I hate baseball.