“It’s too long of a break, but it is what it is,” Hamilton coach Ken Coomer said. “We don’t take a day off from practice. I don’t think we’ve had a day off since we started. Even when it rains, we’ve got an indoor facility we go to.”
The six-team regional field only has three teams at this point. West Side, Grosse Pointe Woods-Shores (Mich.) and Lexington Eastern (Ky.) have qualified, while state tournaments in Wisconsin, Indiana and Illinois are ongoing.
Hamilton will play the Wisconsin champion at 4 p.m. on Aug. 6.
Coomer and assistant coach Tim Nichting are regional veterans, but digging up information on Wisconsin’s representative likely won’t be easy.
“Tim and I have no connections in Wisconsin,” Coomer said. “We have some connections in Kentucky and Indiana, but outside of that, we don’t know anybody in the other regions.”
This will be the 17th regional appearance for West Side, which advanced to the World Series in 1991, 1993, 2007 and 2010.
This year’s crew didn’t lose at the district and state levels, winning eight games by a combined score of 95-17.
“We’re very happy with our kids as far as swinging the bats,” Coomer said. “We get a lot of reps in and try to put the kids in the right positions with hitting. We seem to come through in a lot of situations, even with two outs. The negative side is we still need to work on our defense.”
Hamilton hit .424 as a team during its four-game swing through the state tournament. Seven players hit .333 or better.
Cleanup hitter Lake Cundiff delivered four of West Side’s 11 home runs and drove in a team-high 12 runs at state. Braedyn Moore, Katelyn Polido and Blake Detherage all had three doubles, Moore and Polido scored eight runs apiece, Moore collected seven RBIs, and Casey Parsons and Moore each added two homers.
“We’re confident in our lineup 1 through 13,” Coomer said. “Our subs have done a very good job. The way our rules are set up, we can have some good sticks on the bench while our best defense is out playing defense.”
Pitching-wise, West Side fashioned a team earned run average of 3.13 in Maumee, with Moore and Cundiff getting two wins apiece. Moore had 16 strikeouts in 7.1 innings … Cundiff had 15 strikeouts in eight innings.
“I’m happy with our pitching,” Coomer said. “Cundiff finished strong two games in a row, so that’s a positive. And B-Moore is B-Moore. Every time he pitches, he’s just getting better and better. It was late in the season before he got pitching because he had a little arm problem, so he’s getting close to his peak now.”
The regional will once again have a modified double-elimination format. Two teams (Michigan and Illinois) have first-round byes, and the championship will be decided with a winner-take-all matchup of an unbeaten team and a one-loss squad.
The Little League Central Regional facility in Indianapolis has been sold, leading to the usage of Grand Park as a temporary site for the regional. Numerous fields in the complex have artificial turf, though the Little Leaguers will play on a grass field.
The World Series is set for Aug. 17-27 in South Williamsport, Pa.
Great Lakes Regional
Here is the schedule for the Great Lakes Regional at the Grand Park Sports Campus, 711 E. 191st St., Westfield, Ind. Games will be played on Diamond 17 and the format will be modified double elimination:
Sunday, Aug. 6
Game 1 — Ohio vs. Wisconsin, 4 p.m.
Game 2 — Indiana vs. Kentucky, 7 p.m.
Monday, Aug. 7
Game 3 — Game 1 winner vs. Michigan, 10 a.m.
Game 4 — Game 2 winner vs. Illinois, 1 p.m.
Tuesday, Aug. 8
Game 5 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 4 loser, 10 a.m.
Game 6 — Game 2 loser vs. Game 3 loser, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Aug. 9
Game 7 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 2 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 10
Game 8 — Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 5 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 11
Game 9 — Game 7 loser vs. Game 8 winner, 5 p.m.
Championship
Saturday, Aug. 12
Game 10 — Game 7 winner vs. Game 9 winner, 5 p.m.
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