No matter what happens today, Michael Rando and his Walpole teammates will always have the memory of a spectacular catch and an exciting win Friday, the opening day of the Little League World Series. After "the catch" saved their 3-2 win over Hamilton, Ohio, the squad representing New England lost 1-0 yesterday to Lake Oswego, Oregon. Today, at 6 p.m., Walpole faces a do-or-die situation when they square off against a team from Georgia. [The game has been postponed to tomorrow because of rain.]I take a bit more interest in the LLWS now because I was at the 2005 edition, covering the team from Westbrook, Maine, as a sports reporter for that community's weekly newspaper, the American Journal. Me, another reporter and a photographer hastily made plans to head down to central Pennsylvania from southern Maine in the aftermath of Westbrook's improbable come-from-behind wins at the state and regional tournaments, which the other reporter had been covering.
It was a long ride, but we found the Williamsport area relatively uncrowded and the Little League facilities were quite nice, with free admission for fans and modestly priced food and souvenirs. Of course, as part of the working media, I never paid to attend sporting events. In fact, the media room had complimentary sandwiches for lunch and hot food for dinner. Pretty sweet.
Westbrook went 1-2, and headed home after the "pool play" round. We beat them back to Maine, ready to capture the heroes' welcome they received, and we had some excellent stories and photos in that week's paper, as well as a special section the following week. It was a fun story to cover, and we were able to go above and beyond what the Portland daily did -- a testament to what community weeklies can and should do for their readers.
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