1 To Win Little League Ryan Clark Elite Jersey World Series Championship


SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. An American flag draped around his shoulders, Braydon Salzman couldn't contain his glee when he found California teammate Nick Pratto to give him a postgame hug.


The boys from Huntington Beach are headed home with a Little League World Series championship.


Pratto singled in the winning run with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of sixth inning, and Salzman pitched a completegame threehitter in a 21 victory Sunday over Hamamatsu City, Japan, and the tournament title.


"USA! USA," yelled fans before Pratto's single.


"I was just thinking. 'Oh God, Oh God,' Before I was getting in the box," the 12yearold Pratto said. "But once I got into the box, I calmed myself by telling myself to just look for a good pitch."


Pratto's clutch hit returned the World Series title to the United States with the type of victory even the big leaguers dream about. team has now won six out of the last seven World Series, with Japan's win last year the exception.


Pratto tossed his helmet into the air after rounding Ryan Clark Black Jersey first before his teammates mobbed him in the infield. The teams exchanged handshakes at the plate before California's giddy players posed at the mound with their new championship banner.


"My team is physically smaller than most of the teams. We didn't think we would get to this stage," Japan manager Akihiro Suzuki, who fought back tears after the game, said through interpreter Kotaro Omori. "All of the players did such a wonderful job to get to this stage."


With runners on first and second, an error by Japan shortstop Gaishi Iguchi on what could have been an inningending double play loaded the bases for California. After a force play at the plate, Pratto smacked a solid liner to center off reliever Kazuto Takakura that brought pinchrunner Eric Anderson home with the winning run.


Pratto did his father, manager Jeff Pratto, proud. Nick Pratto said it was great to have his father as his coach, "but he kind of gets on my nerves sometimes."


It was a fitting end to a tense game marked by excellent pitching and timely defense.


Japan starter Shoto Totsuka struck out five over 4 13 innings, giving up a homer to right to California slugger Hagen Danner.


First pitch was delayed more than three hours after the outer bands of Hurricane Irene brought more rain than expected to the Williamsport area.


"The result was bad, but they really tried their best," Suzuki said. "Today's weather was difficult for us to get used too. If the weather was like this in Japan, we wouldn't have played."


The clouds finally started parting midway through the game, and sunshine draped the complex by the time the California players left the stadium to cheers by friends and family.


Neither team could convert on several chances to break open the pitcher's duel earlier in the game.


With runners on first and second in the top of the sixth, third baseman Dylan Palmer blocked the bag Ryan Clark Limited Jersey from sliding Japan runner Ken Igeta on a bunt play to help get California get out the inning.


California put runners on first and second with two outs in the fifth, but Takakura got a flyout to end the inning.


Playing right field in the second, Takakura also made a running catch on fly down the line to save an extrabase hit with a runner on second.


It was Japan running all over the place in the third, flashing trademark hustle to scratch out the game's first run after Seiya Fujita's solid single to left. Pinchrunner Kaito Suzuki moved to second on a bunt and raced toward third with no one covering. The throw bounced into foul territory, allowing Suzuki to score easily.


In a gracious postgame gesture, Japan's players and coaches lined up and exchanged highfives with the California kids after Huntington Beach did the traditional victory lap around the stadium warning track.


"It's just a dream come true," Danner said. "I never thought we would be in that spot, let alone winning it."


This is what being an American is all about, the Team is comprised of many different cultures, and that is what got things done, working together hand in hand, white, brown, yellow, black, doesnt matter, if we set goals and get out mind straight then great things will happen to this country, This is the future of American and it doesn't involve one culture or ethnic background, it involves many colors, of www.officialsteelersfootball.com the rainbow, made me smile and proud to live In OC a few mins from HB, LOVE IT!!! GO USA!!!


It is often a combination of several factors. Great coaching is essential. Sometimes it is a convergence of talent. Sometimes it is the strength of the program. When you see an area like Huntington Beach appear multiple times, you know it is the strength of the programs in an area. When an area gets known for having good teams in a particular sport, it is common for parents to start their kids out early in that sport, often from the time they start to walk. That kind of preparation makes for a much better pool of players. At the same time, an area being known for a sport can lead parents to seek out that area if they have talented children.