West Side set for regional semifinals

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By Jay Morrison, Staff Writer 11:19 PM Tuesday, August 9, 2011

INDIANAPOLIS — The Hamilton West Side Little League team hasn’t played its best baseball during the Great Lakes Regional, but none of that will matter when the TV cameras turn on at 3 p.m. today in Indianapolis.

“This is where we wanted to be all along,” West Side coach Josh Sams said, referring to the nationally televised single-elimination semifinals.

West Side, the No. 4 seed with a 2-2 record in pool play, will face top seed Indiana (4-0) following the 11 a.m. semifinal between No. 2 Kentucky (3-1) and No. 3 Michigan (2-2). Both games will be carried on ESPN2.

“Everybody was pretty calm (Tuesday),” Sams said. “I didn’t sense any nerves at all. We had a couple of meetings with ESPN, took batting practice, swam a little bit, practiced after dinner and then hit in the cages.

“I really have a lot of confidence in these kids,” Sams continued. “They’re going to be ready to play.”

Indiana was the only team West Side didn’t face in pool play, but Sams and assistant coaches Dick Plemmons and Gary Grabel have a thorough scouting report on the team that outscored its opponents 34-7.

“They hit the ball very well, and their pitching is all right,” Sams said. “We’ll see what they’ve got on Wednesday.”

Indiana has all of its pitcher available and likely will throw right-hander Trey Klemczewski for 50 pitches and left-hander Elijah Dunham for 50 pitches in order to keep both eligible for Saturday’s 11 a.m. championship game.

West Side will counter with a combination of left-hander Ryan Kellum, who threw a three-hit shutout Friday against Illinois, and left-hander Korren Thompson.

Indiana has yet to face a lefty in the regional.

“Kellum is more of a finesse pitcher while Korren is more of a strikeout pitcher,” Sams said. “I don’t have any set pitch counts in mind. If we get in a jam where we really need a strikeout, we’ll go to Korren.”

Thompson has 47 strikeouts in 22 1/3 postseason innings. Kellum has allowed just five hits and no runs in 10 innings, with 11 strikeouts and no walks.

Dunham is the biggest offensive threat for the team from Golfmoor Little League in Evansville, Ind. He’s hitting .778 in the regional and owns four of his team’s five home runs.

“They’re very top heavy in their lineup,” Sams said. “They have four or five really good hitters, but the other ones haven’t done much. We’re not going to let that kid (Dunham) beat us.”

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2193 or jmorrison@coxohio.com.

What: Great Lakes Regional semifinal

Who: West Side vs. Indiana

When: 3 p.m.

Where: Central Region Headquarters, Indianapolis

At stake: The winner will face the Michigan-Kentucky winner at 11 a.m. Saturday for the right to go to the Little League World Series

TV: ESPN2

Radio: WMOH-AM (1450)

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