Little League State tournament in Naperville?

Keep us posted ClassAFan...thanks!

Ah you can not beat old Little League Baseball!! I remember my sons playing back in the 80's. The game is so pure. No pressure whatsoever. Do not have to worry about what round you will be drafted. Where you are going to college. Opposing coaches getting along all the time not trying to one up each other. Opposing fans always getting along. Coaches working together with volunteer umpires. I long for the good old days. Do the kids still share one bat per team? How about the position players sharing gloves like the rightfielder simply leaving his glove out there for the opponent to use? Who won?

A strange weekend in which it seemed the best team (Lemont) will advance to the regional in Indy. It appeared the best two teams were Lemont and Kankakee, but Kankakee had their best pitcher ejected for sliding too hard after each team was warned and the coach was also ejected for arguing. Was a mess that ended up with a call to Little League HQ's and a partial inning replayed. After all of this it seemed the sail was out of Kankakee and they folded their tent. Not taking a thing away from Lemont, they might be the best team to come from Illinois in the last 10 years, better than the Kankakee team that came within a run of the World Series last year.

Ah, you can't beat fun at good ole little league baseball! Don't look for to much to change over the next 8-10 years. lol

Is this Lemont Little League team actually the Homer Heat travel team?

What even stranger is from what I gather the team from Lemont is actually the Homer Heat Travel team that somehow came up with a way to participate in Lemont Little League and gain entry into the tournament. I'm not sure of all the details on how this can happened but I did read in the local paper that this is the Homer Heat travel team. Non the less..... Congrats to them and hopefully they advance to PA. It would be great to see some local kids on TV and in the LLWS.

ripcord51:

That all sounds so idyllic, so peaceable, so laid back. Your sons played back in the '80's...1880's?

Just kidding of course...things have changed mightily in the last 20 or 30 years...it's tough on us old school type guys trying to raise kids by our old standards, but surrounded by today's much, much looser standards.

What age bracket are these kids?

These would be the 12U.

What is so bad about these Lemont kids attempting to better themselves by playing for the Homer travel team?

quote:

Originally posted by Gamer:
What even stranger is from what I gather the team from Lemont is actually the Homer Heat Travel team that somehow came up with a way to participate in Lemont Little League and gain entry into the tournament. I'm not sure of all the details on how this can happened but I did read in the local paper that this is the Homer Heat travel team. Non the less..... Congrats to them and hopefully they advance to PA. It would be great to see some local kids on TV and in the LLWS.

They could participate IF:

**ALL the kids lived within Lemont Little League's defined geographical area

**NONE of the kids may be 13 or older before April 30, 2006. (the date changed this year from August 1)

**ALL players must have officially PLAYED in 50% of ALL Little League regularly scheduled season games (allowances for rainouts, forfeits, etc.)

**the travel team did not play in ANY Little League International unsanctioned tournaments during the Little League tournament time frame--

**the Little League All-Star team was not named before June 15

**they did not hold any practices before June 15


IF they complied with all of this, they are legal. If not, then there could be trouble....

I'm just saying it's not really a Lemont Little League All-Star team, as usually would be the case in a Little League World Series. Of the players on the team 10 are from Homer and 3 are from Lemont. I'm not saying anything negative just saying it's a out of the norm from a typical Lemont Little League All Star team. I wish them the best.

Lemont was a dinky little town until about 10 years ago.

Good for them that the kids are getting some publicity for the town...even though many more of them might be from Homer Glen or Homer Township.

Which one of those few criteria did these Lemont players break to allow for such a controversial accusation against their success?

Ripcord51 and the rest, I would hope that no one thinks I am accusing them of anything. I simply stated that this was the Homer Heat Travel Team. So may hats of the Homer Heat Team and Lemont. This is normally a little different for the Heat teams as usually they enter the team into the Pony Nationals and have done quite well over the past years. It sounds like this group went the Little League route instead and are doing well. Again.... Best of luck to them and I hope to watch them on tv in the coming weeks.

I asked the question about the team because there was a Homer Heat Travel Team in Cooperstown the same week of my sons team.

Information from posts on this site in the past:

* Top Tier plays a Pony League schedule on top of their 18U travel play (for reference, see the whole discussion about how last year's team played with wood bats and a skeleton crew and lost to Burr Ridge ... there may even be talk of poor weather in that thread)

* Humboldt Travellers play in 18U tournaments throught the summer but also find time to compete in enough Big League games to be eligible to compete in the playoffs for the BLWS

* The population limit for a Little League organization is 20,000 - so Lemont's little league might include those kids that are part of the Homer Heat.

* Somebody might know a little more than me, but is it possible that the Heat is equivalent to the Travellers and Berwyn Bulldogs - travel teams that play under the umbrella of a little league organization?

quote:

Originally posted by Ratboy:
Information from posts on this site in the past:

* Somebody might know a little more than me, but is it possible that the Heat is equivalent to the Travellers and Berwyn Bulldogs - travel teams that play under the umbrella of a little league organization?

A "little league organization" may not be an actual "Little League International" organization, with very specific rules...

This year the rules for LL International tournaments are slightly different than in the past...This year they have allowed the Junior League and Senior League age groups--13/14, and 15/16 to play in other tournaments, i.e., high school summer leagues. They have NOT ALLOWED tournaments other than "sanctioned Little League" tournaments for the true "Little League"--age 12 and under...This is the group that travels to Williamsport.

I've been told that the 18U Berwyn Bulldog team played a "little league" schedule. The younger Bulldog teams are not Little League teams, because they accept players from outside of Berwyn's Little League boundaries.

Anybody know any of the names of the kids on the team?

Here's a link from the Joliet Herald where I got my info from:
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/sports/4_...02_LEMONT_S10802.asp

The travelers and bulldogs do play under little league but I believe they add on players from out of district here and there for weekend tournaments. To qualify for the little league tournament I think you have to play 5 games win or loss you are in.

heat31:

quote:

Originally posted by heat31:
Anybody know any of the names of the kids on the team?

I don't know any of their names...do you?

Check out the link above...they're all listed.

Much success to this killer team!

IL is off to an 0-2 start, so they are going to have to win their next 2 to have a shot at the semifinals.

Game Results

They're in the championship game, 2:00 Sunday -- ESPN (Indy is EST, right?)

I think they are EDT.