Little League baseball is where kids go to dream, but those dreams don’t always come true.
Only one team can win the national championship, and that’s what Summerlin South did last year at the Little League World Series. But there will be no repeat next month, as the team was eliminated from postseason play July 17 with a 2-0 loss to Spring Valley in the District 4 region championship game at Mountain Ridge Park.
“Everybody is bummed out, but there is no dishonor or shame,” said league president TJ Fechser, who coached last year’s champions. “We’re going to be supporting Spring Valley. You’ve got to support your D4 comrades.”
With three returning players from last season, Summerlin South cruised through last week’s district tourney, outscoring opponents 50-0 before falling in the title game.
“This was a very competitive team,” said Fechser, whose squad defeated Connecticut’s Fairfield Little League for the American championship before falling to Chinese Taipei in the international final last August. “But (Spring Valley) were also great competitors, and they put hits together when they needed to.”
Only one team (Long Beach, California/1992-93) has repeated as the U.S. champion in the tourney’s 79-year history, so the odds were never great. Fechser knew that going in.
“There are so many coin tosses along the way,” Fechser said, noting that 6,000 teams vie for one of 10 American spots in the LLWS each year.
Spring Valley worked through last week’s losers bracket to earn a trip to the state championship tourney, and will open state action against Paseo Verde at 8 p.m. Thursday at Grand Park in Las Vegas. Reno National and Elko will represent Northern Nevada, with play culminating in an 8:30 a.m. title game Sunday.
The winner will advance to the Mountain Region tournament, to begin Aug. 8 in San Bernardino, California. That champion will advance to the LLWS in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where the tournament runs from Aug. 19-25.
Spring Valley has never qualified for the LLWS. Paseo Verde made it to the American semifinals in 2024.
Contact Jeff Wollard at jwollard@reviewjournal.com.
