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.

[VAiN]

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.

Interesting... so the ball is actually physically thrown differently than other pitches? Arm movement and such?

[Bob_R]

Interesting... so the ball is actually physically thrown differently than other pitches? Arm movement and such?

Yep. While delivering the pitch you snap your arm and wrist in a downward motion.

Here is something I've had on my hard drive. I find this very interesting and think you may too.

The curveball is gripped much like a cup or drinking glass is held. The pitcher places the middle finger on and parallel to one of the long seams, and the thumb just behind the seam on the opposite side of the ball such that if looking from the top down, the hand should form a "C shape" with the horseshoe pointing in towards the palm following the contour of the thumb. The index finger is placed alongside the middle finger, and the other two extraneous fingers are folded in towards the palm with the knuckle of the ring finger touching the leather. Occasionally some pitchers will flare out these two fingers straight and away from the ball to keep them clear of the throwing motion. The curveball and slider share nearly identical grips and throwing motion.

The delivery of a curveball is entirely different from that of most other pitches. The pitcher at the top of the throwing arc will snap the arm and wrist in a downward motion. The ball first leaves contact with the thumb and tumbles over the index finger thus imparting the forward or "top-spin" characteristic of a curveball. The result is the exact opposite pitch of the four-seam fastball's backspin, but with all four seams rotating in the direction of the flight path with forward-spin, with the axis of rotation perpendicular to the intended flight path much like a reel-type mower or a bowling ball.

The amount of break on the ball depends on how hard the pitcher can snap the throw off, or how much forward spin can be put on the ball. The harder the snap, the more the pitch will break. Curveballs primarily break downwards, but can also break toward the pitcher's off hand to varying degrees. Unlike the fastball, the height of the ball's flight path arc does not necessarily need to occur at the pitcher's release point, and often peaks shortly afterwards. Curveballs are thrown with considerably less velocity than fastballs, because of both the unnatural delivery of the ball and the general rule that pitches thrown with less velocity will break more. A typical curveball in the major collegiate level and above will average between 65 and 80 MPH, with the average MLB curve at 77 MPH.

From a hitter's perspective, the curve ball will start in one location (usually high or at the top of the strike zone) and then dive rapidly as it approaches the plate. The most effective curve balls will start breaking at the height of the arc of the ball flight, and continue to break more and more rapidly as they approach and cross through the strike zone. A curve ball that a pitcher fails to put enough spin on will not break much and is colloquially called a "hanging curve". Hanging curves are usually disastrous for a pitcher because the low velocity, non-breaking pitch is left high in the zone where hitters can wait on it and drive it for power.

The curveball is a popular and effective pitch in professional baseball, but it is not particularly widespread in leagues with players younger than college-level players. This is with regard for the safety of the pitcher - not because of its difficulty - though the pitch is widely considered difficult to learn as it requires some degree of mastery and the ability to pinpoint the thrown ball's location. There is generally greater chance of throwing wild pitches when throwing the curveball.

When thrown correctly, it could have a break from seven to as much as 20 inches in comparison to the same pitcher's fastball.

[VAiN]

Wow, good read, thanks! That sounds insanely difficult to execute!

[mh5150]

I agree kids should not throw curve balls until at least 16. their bones and ligaments are still growing at ages 10-15 . I have a 17 year old who plays select baseball and he just started to throw curves. I also have a 11 year old who is a awesome ball player and has a thick head at his age. Just look at pic below we were fooling around and i was showing him how to hold a knuckle ball and the little ass tries it in a game.

[mh5150]

These kids pitching in this world series 80% will not be pitching for their high school teams because of the curveball.
like i said before 2-seam,4-seam, and changeup is all they need at this age

[PETE'S BROTHER]

http://news.yahoo.com/montana-mexico...021838929.html

billings gettin' it done