Reviewed by: Pat Byington
Coosa Baseball raising standard for Alabama at Little League World Series
Reading time: 4 minutes
It had been six years since a team from Alabama won a game at the Southeast Regional of the Little League World Series (LLWS).
That was until a team from Rainbow City broke the streak earlier this month in Georgia.
Keep reading to find out more about Coosa Baseball’s performances + see how they hope to raise the bar for future Alabama teams in the prestigious youth baseball tournament.
Coosa Baseball
Coosa took down a team from Phenix City in the Alabama Little League State Championship to secure a spot in the Southeast Regional, played in Warner Robbins, Georgia.
It’s the second straight year Coosa has sent a team to the regional after returning to the Little League Baseball association. But after going winless in the 2023 regional, they had bigger goals this year.
This year’s team consisted of players who have played together for many years and will likely be sharing the high school field sometime soon. The team had players from Etowah, Southside-Gadsden and Westbrook Christian schools.
Coach Jason Silvey said the team was better prepared this year after playing in more difficult tournaments leading up to the big event. They even practiced against older local teams to get a closer look at what they could face on the national stage.
“The kids were ready for the baseball part but you get down there and it’s a big deal. You have to get out there and it’s a production. They have big cameras and it looks like a tiny MLB stadium. You kinda get caught up in that when you get there.”
~ Coach Jason Silvey
After a slow start to the regional, they bounced back with a pair of wins, the first for a team from the state since 2018. Here’s a list of the results:
- Tennessee 19, Alabama 3
- Alabama 12, West Virginia 5
- Alabama 4, North Carolina 1
- Georgia 17, Alabama 2
The team had to fight through a long rain delay and late night to take down North Carolina before returning to the field the next morning to take on Georgia.
Silvey said volunteers and staff at the regional were very impressed with the Alabama team. The players surpassed the expectations most outsiders had for them before the competition began.
‘We can play ball’
It has now been 25 years since a team from Alabama made its way to Williamsport for the finals. That’s the sixth longest drought among 44 states to have made an appearance at the LLWS.
And no Alabama team has won the tournament since 1953—the longest drought of the 14 teams with at least one title.
But Silvey is hoping these two simple wins can open the door to eventually end those droughts.
“They’re very proud of themselves. They accomplished their goal of being competitive. They wanted to go there and represent themselves well on the field but they wanted to shake this stigma about Alabama and bad baseball. They wanted to show people that we can play ball.”
~ Coach Jason Silvey
Silvey pointed to the lack of leagues associated with LLWS around the state because of a major shift to travel ball. However, after spending the season with many players who have played both, he knows it’s possible.
“That’s what we’re hoping. That it will inspire others to get back into it. We have a lot of great baseball players in Alabama. We just want to show them it’s possible to do both.”
~ Coach Jason Silvey
2024 LLWS
For fans of the Little League World Series—don’t worry, you have not missed the big event yet.
The winners from each regional will converge on Williamsport, Pennsylvania this week. Check out the complete bracket and keep an eye on ESPN networks for live games before the start of football season.
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