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Tonight at 7:30 ET in Williamsport, PA (broadcast on ESPN), two teams play for the final spot in the 2014 Little League World Series' Final Four: Philadelphia's own Taney Dragons (Mid-Atlantic), and Jackie Robinson West (Great Lakes). The winner will take on Mountain Ridge (Las Vegas) on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. for the U.S. Championship, which in turn will play the winner of the International Bracket, Asia-Pacific or Japan. The loser will be eliminated.
Behold the bracket.
After Taney's 8-1 loss last night to the desert-grown sluggers of Nevada, they'll find themselves unable to use their star pitcher Mo'ne Davis because of pitch count rules. Instead, Jared Sprague-Lott will likely get the start. He'll face an imposing Jackie Robinson West lineup that includes sluggers Pierce Jones, Joshua Huston and Darion Radcliff. Here's some more preview.
Most likely Taney will have to hit their way through to victory, and they've had some trouble recently scoring runs. Good pitching can do that to a lot of teams, amirite, Ruben Amaro Jr.? Here's hoping this wonderful ride continues for this wildly interesting baseball team from Philadelphia (::cough, cough, looks at Phillies). We all could use another few days off from meaningless late-season baseball.
It's now or never, Taney Dragons (and please spare us the indignity of tuning into preseason football)! Let's win this!