Disappointing Day for Red Land at the Little League World Series!

Ken and I woke to 7 AM alarm, made a cooked breakfast, and packed drinks and our lunch to go to the Little League Finals today!  We loaded our "special chairs" and food and were on our way to the stadium in Gregory's CRV by 8:30.  

There was lots of traffic as we got close to the stadium, so we decided to go through South Williamsport and park behind the stadium.  The lines to get in were so short at the back entrance compared to the front - there were hundreds of people at that one.  We had found a great spot for seeing the game, but going up the steep hill was a challenge.  Because of all the young folks coming down the hills on pieces of cardboard, there were lots of "bald" spots on the hill and they were extremely slippery.  It was rather comical watching people try to sit on a blanket that kept sliding with them on it!  

It was another crowded day at the ballpark!

People, people, and more people - around 40,000 to be exact!

Mighty Casey with the Mudville Team!

The blimp "hung around" today for the games!

We watched the 1st game with Texas vs. Mexico and it was an exciting one with Texas being victorious and ending in 2nd place place for the National Championship and 3rd place in the Little League World Series.  That game had started at 10 and ended around 12:30.

Texas takes a "victory lap"!

Then they run back to greet their coaches!

Then they all did a slide!

We went back to the car to get our lunches and ate at a picnic table in a park adjacent to the parking lot.  By 1:45 we were back in the stadium to await the beginning of the 3:00 game with Red Land vs. Japan for the championship game of the Little League World Series.  By then it was sunny and very hot and our seats were totally in the sun.  

We passed the Red Land Team warming up outside the stadium and then followed the players and their coaches at they walked through the gate and onto the field.

Batting practice time!

Heading into the stadium for their final game!

Wow, the 1st inning was an exciting one.  Japan scored 2 runs and Red Land ended the inning with 10 runs.  Looked like a good outcome for their team.  Not to be!!!!!!!  Japan came back at the top of the 2nd inning and got 7 more runs to make the score 10 to 9.  The rest of the game was great for Japan, but not very good for Red Land who only scored 1 additional run and the game ended with Japan winning 18 to 11.  Still a great honor for Red Land to be the National Champions, but I am sure they were very disappointed to lose to Japan.

Introducing the Red Land and Japanese Teams!

The end of the game and a celebration for Japan!

Lots of hits and runs in the final game.  

By the time we left the stadium around 6:30, we were hot, tired, and hungry. We decided to stop for groceries on the way back to the CG since we are heading to Rickets Glen tomorrow and we aren't sure if we will be close to any stores.  So, it was 8:10 when we got back to the CG and the 4 of us were ready to eat and shower.  We decided to relax tonight and not play any games.  We will see each other in the morning and hope to leave this area around 10 AM tomorrow morning.

We have certainly enjoyed our time at the Little League World Series.  It really is a 1st class operation and event.