One more win.
That’s what Paseo Verde’s Little League team needs to give Nevada its fourth consecutive Little League World Series appearance.
Eleven boys and one girl from Henderson will take the field at 2 p.m. on Friday at San Bernardino, California, with a chance to punch their ticket to South Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Their opponent will be Montana (2-1), which stunned Utah with a 12-4 win in the losers’ bracket semifinals Thursday. Win and they’re in today, lose and they return home.
Coach Corey Edwards has avoided discussing the possibility that – in all the country – his players could be among the last of 120 standing in the 10-team American-bracket showcase. But now it’s time.
“We try to keep it to a minimum, but there are certain things you have to talk about,” Edwards said. “There’s travel, school, fundraising. I even had to get permission from my boss back in April in case we made it.”
But the next game is the one that matters most to Edwards and his players. His team has not played Montana, but he knows a little about the next opponent.
“They like to swing the bat” Edwards said. “I watched one of their games, but it’s hard to get a grasp just from that.”
The result will be determined by one major factor.
“At the end of the day, they’re 12-year-old kids,” said Edwards, whose squad is 6-0 in the postseason . “You’ve just got to play that team in that moment.”
The Paseo Verde squad (2-0) is shaping up to look much like last year’s team from Summerlin South, the first Nevada squad to win the LLWS American-bracket championship. The players are confident, the bullpen is loaded, and there’s not a weak bat in the lineup.
And the team’s got some personality.
There’s outfielder Carsynn Meyer, the only girl in any region of the postseason.
“I’ve never met a ball player with a better attitude,” Edwards said. “She finds a way to get on base. She hits well and fights off pitches.”
There’s utility player Theo Bingham, son of the UNLV women’s soccer coach Kacey Bingham, who is on the minds of his teammates as he fights off an illness that threatens his ability to play in the LLWS.
“The kids write his name in the dirt by the side of the dugout,” Edwards said.
And there’s pitcher Payton Hinsen, who recently had eye surgery for a depth perception problem and has rebounded to become arguably the most clutch player on the team.
Eight players are batting .400 or better, and three pitchers have ERAs of 2.25 or lower.
Together on Friday, they will represent Nevada, a state that has – considering its population – been overrepresented in recent LLWS play.
“We’ve got the best weather, and we get to play year-round,” Edwards said. “And there are more people signing up. The league has doubled since we came, and the more people that sign up, the better shot you have.”
So Paseo Verde might get another shot. A shot to play on youth baseball’s highest stage. A win on Friday would lift the team into the LLWS, which runs Aug. 19-30. The league made it in 2024 and went 2-2.
This year’s squad hopes to go all the way.
Contact Jeff Wollard at jwollard@reviewjournal.com.
