SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. -- A bit of advice for the Little
League team from Oceanside, Calif., that will face an outstanding
young pitcher.
Bunt early, and bunt often.
Oceanside (2-1) meets the Rolando Paulino (3-0) team from the
Bronx, N.Y., in the U.S. semifinals of the Little League World
Series Thursday.
Pitching for the Bronx will be Danny Almonte, the hard-throwing
left-hander who threw a perfect game in the opener against Apopka,
Fla., and who hasn't given up a run all year.
So how do you play a team that has thrown two shutouts in three
games? With its ace on the mound?
"If that left-hander's pitching, I'd be bunting right away,
except maybe your top couple players," said Matt Kolar, manager of
Davenport (Iowa) East, the only team so far to score on the Bronx.
Davenport didn't face Almonte, who threw a no-hitter in the
regional final, and struck out 16 against Apopka in the first
perfect game at the Little League World Series in 44 years.
Amonte's pitches have been clocked at more than 70 mph.
Bunting is a strategy that didn't work for Apopka. In the sixth
inning, after its first 15 batters had struck out, two Apopka
batters bunted in a last-ditch effort to get on base, but both were
thrown out.
"We just have to be patient, make him throw strikes,"
Oceanside coach Matt Cerda.
Even if they hit against Almonte, Oceanside will have to face
one of the best defenses in the series. The Bronx players are
quick, smart and unafraid to take chances. In their last game, a
5-0 win against Bainbridge Island, Wash., the defense preserved the
shutout with some soild play.
Still, even with Almonte on the mound, Cerda said he doesn't
expect his team to bunt any more than usual.
"I don't know if bunting is an answer," Cerda said. "I think
a lot of people are bunting because they don't want 17 or 18
strikeouts against them. We didn't come here bunting. We came here
swinging."
That's something Oceanside has done well. The team is averaging
.333, with five batters at .500 or better.
"They all can bat," said Bronx manager Alberto Gonzalez, who
calls Oceanside perhaps the best team in the series. "They've got
great pitching, they've got great defense."
And they're not afraid of the Bronx -- at least they say they
aren't. Johnny Jimenez, who is batting .400 for Oceanside, said
they're even looking forward to facing Almonte.
"We'd rather face their ace than their second, because we'd
rather beat their ace," Jimenez said. "We're good fastball
hitters."
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