3 teams earn spot in SLWS Hawaii, Georgia, Texas gain berths

Three more teams earned their way into this year’s Senior League World Series on Tuesday evening, including 2003 tournament champion Hilo, Hawaii.

The U.S. West champion Hilo American/National Little League is joined as the latest entries in the 10-team field by U.S. South representative Cartersville, Ga., and U.S. Southwest champion Tyler, Texas.

They join Maine District 3 champion Brewer, Asia-Pacific winner Saipan LL of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Europe-Middle-East Africa qualifier Vilnius, Lithuania, and defending SLWS champion Paraguana Little League of Falcon, Venezuela as teams that have played their way into the world championship baseball tournament for 15- and 16-year-olds.

Opening ceremonies for the event are scheduled for Saturday at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor, with five days of pool play set to begin Sunday. The top two teams in each pool advance to the semifinals on Friday, Aug. 17, with the world championship game to be played at 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 18.

Hilo, Hawaii, capped off an unbeaten run in the 10-team U.S. West regional at Salem, Ore., on Tuesday night with an 11-1 victory over the Sunnyside LL of Tucson, Ariz.

Hilo, which defeated the Central Chesterfield LL of Chesterfield, Va., 16-8 in the 2003 SLWS final, went 4-0 in pool play this year before defeating the Granite Peak LL of Columbus, Mont., 15-7 in its semifinal.

This will mark the fourth time in the six years the SLWS has been held in Bangor that a team from Hawaii has qualified for the tournament. In addition to Hilo’s appearances in 2003 and 2007, Pearl City, Hawaii, participated in 2005 and 2006, reaching the championship game each year before falling to Urbandale, Iowa, in 2005 and Falcon, Venezuela, last summer.

Hilo, which outscored its opponents in the West regional by a combined 64-12, will play its first SLWS game at 2:30 p.m. Sunday against CNMI.

Cartersville, Ga., rallied from a 3-0 first-inning deficit to defeat Conway LL of Orlando, Fla., 8-4 in the U.S. South final at Clayton, Ga. The Georgia champions, which lost in the U.S. South final last year, went undefeated in three games of pool play in this year’s eight-team regional, outscoring opponents from Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina by a combined 39-6.

Cartersville then topped Kernersville, N.C., 9-4, in its semifinal.

A Georgia team will compete in the SLWS for the second time in three years.

Clarkesville, Ga., came to Bangor in 2005 and went 2-2 in pool play before falling to eventual champion Urbandale, Iowa, in the semifinals.

Cartersville, Ga., will play Hilo, Hawaii, in its SLWS opener at 8 p.m. Monday.

Texas East representative Rose Capital East American/National LL of Tyler, Texas, won a battle of the Lone Star State over Texas West champion Del Mar LL of Laredo, Texas, scoring six runs in the fifth inning to break open a tie game en route to an 11-8 victory to capture the U.S. Southwest title at Blytheville, Ark.

Texas East finished 3-1 in the seven-team regional, including a 14-3 victory over LaPlace, La., and an earlier 2-1 over Texas West. Texas West had defeated Texas East 14-3 on Monday to force Tuesday evening’s winner-take-all championship game.

Texas will be represented in the SLWS for the fourth time in the last six years, but for the first time since 2004. The Greater Helotes National LL of San Antonio, Texas, went 2-2 in 2004, while the Washington County LL of Brenham, Texas, had the same pool-play record in 2003.

The Northwest 45 LL of Houston went 3-1 in 2002 before losing to U.S. South champion Boynton Beach, Fla., in the semifinals.

Texas East opens play in this year’s SLWS at 10 a.m. Monday against Lithuania.

The final three participants in the 2007 Senior League World Series were to be determined Wednesday and Thursday.

Semifinals and the championship game in the U.S. Central regional at Peru, Illinois, were scheduled for Wednesday, with teams from New Philadelphia, Ohio; Niles, Mich.; Germantown, Wis., and Ankeny, Iowa, still alive.

In the Canadian championships at Vancouver, British Columbia, unbeaten Atlantic qualifier Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, will face the winner of Wednesday’s semifinal between host Whalley LL of Surrey, British Columbia, and British Columbia provincial champion Prince George LL in Thursday’s final.

And in the U.S. East tournament at West Deptford, N.J., 2004 SLWS champion Freehold Township, N.J., has advanced to Thursday’s championship round, where it awaits the survivor of consolation-bracket play Wednesday involving Auburn, Mass.; Fishkill, N.Y.; and Dubois, Pa.

The Maine representative in the U.S. East regional, New Gloucester LL, was ousted in two straight games, falling to host Oak Valley, N.J., 11-6, and to North Haven, Conn., 17-5.