SLWS heading back to Bangor Tourney back for 7th straight year

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – The Senior League World Series will return to Bangor for a seventh consecutive year in August, according to an announcement this week by Stephen D. Keener, president and chief executive officer of the Little League International Board of Directors.

In addition, Dennis Lewin, a summer resident of Toddy Pond in East Orland, is the new chairman of the Little League International Board of Directors.

The board voted Friday to approve sites and dates for the eight World Series tournaments in Little League baseball and softball, including the Senior League World Series baseball tournament for 14- to 16-year-olds that has been held in Bangor since 2002.

The 2008 SLWS will be held at Mansfield Stadium from Aug. 10-16, with the championship game to be televised live on one of the ESPN family of networks.

Last year’s final, in which Cartersville, Ga., defeated Falcon, Venezuela, 9-0, was televised live for the first time on ESPNU and on a tape-delayed basis on ESPN2.

The 10-team SLWS features champions from five U.S. regional tournaments, Canada, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, and Europe-Middle East-Africa (EMEA), as well as the champion of Maine District 3 that serves as the host team.

Five days of pool play involving two five-team pools leads to the top two teams from each pool advancing to the semifinals, with the semifinal survivors playing in the SLWS championship game.

The other seven World Series dates and sites are: Little League Baseball (ages 11-12), at Williamsport, Pa., Aug. 15-24; Junior League Baseball (13-14), at Taylor, Mich., Aug. 10-16; Big League Baseball (16-18), at Easley, S.C., July 26-Aug. 2; Little League Softball (girls 11-12) at Portland, Ore., Aug. 7-13; Junior League Softball (girls 13-14), at Kirkland, Wash., Aug. 10-16; Senior League Softball (girls 14-16), at Lower Sussex, Del., Aug. 3-9; and Big League Softball (girls 14-18), at Kalamazoo, Mich., Aug. 11-16.

Specific times and dates for all games, including games to be televised, will be announced in June.

Lewin, the former senior vice president of production for ABC Sports and later the senior vice president of broadcasting for the National Football League, has been a member of the Little League International Board of Directors for the past 11 years, and as chairman-elect since 1984.

During his 30-year tenure with ABC Sports, including 15 years as coordinating producer of “Wide World of Sports,” he won 13 Emmy Awards and helped ABC Sports garner 64 Emmys overall.

Lewin joined the NFL in March 1997 and retired from that post in September 2003, though he stayed on as a scheduling consultant until September 2006.

“I have a genuine respect for the role and responsibility of chairman and it is an honor to lead the Little League International Board of Directors,” said Lewin, a graduate of the Forest Hills (N.Y.) Little League. I have been a part of the Little League program for many yeears, and I am proud to be associated with an organization that plays such a relevant role in the lives of so many children. I see my time as chairman as an opportunity to continue to nurture, and help expand, the program.”

Lewin also is the first Little League graduate to serve as a trustee to the Little League Foundation. The Little League Foundation is a nonprofit, tax-exempt agency established to insure Little League’s future, protect its ideals and extend its benefits.