Little League World Series : For Northwood, Waiting Is Over Against Dover

Enough of this scouting business, and the charting of opposing pitchers, and the tracking of other teams’ tendencies to bunt or steal.

And no more practices, please .

Bob Garcia, manager of Irvine’s Northwood Little League All-Star team, would just like to get on with the business of today’s Little League World Series game against Dover, N.H.

“I just wish we could start playing baseball,” Garcia said Tuesday night after watching Hua Lian, Taiwan (the Far East champion), and Chesterfield, Ind. (U.S. Central champion), win first-round games in Howard J. Lamade Stadium. “I’m much more calm on the field than off it. I’m more comfortable there than (when I’m) preparing for a game.”

Ever since Northwood defeated Hollister, Calif., 15-0, Saturday night to win the West Regional title and earn a berth in the World Series, Garcia has been a nervous wreck.

When the team arrived in Williamsport late Sunday night, Garcia couldn’t sleep, so he put on a pair of sneakers and walked around the baseball stadium at 2 a.m., looking for sprinklers in the outfield and anything else he could tell his players.

“I was stopped by security guards four times,” he said.

After going to bed at midnight Monday, Garcia was up at 4 a.m. Tuesday, walking around the baseball complex again. Three times, he was questioned by security guards, who allowed him to continue his night-stalking.

And how are Garcia’s players handling this World Series pressure? Like a batting-practice fastball, so far. Nothing to it.

After practicing Monday and Tuesday, the players spent part of Tuesday afternoon joshing around with photographers and reporters from newspapers and television stations. Who’s got time to be nervous?

“I don’t think the big picture has hit them yet,” said Garcia, a loan officer for a Marina del Rey bank. “It’s not in focus that they’re one of the eight best teams in the world. They’re taking it like you’d expect 11- and 12-year-olds to. They’re not nervous--they’re just excited to be here.”

The less they know, the better. Garcia wants them to concentrate only on baseball. Or, more specifically, on Bobby Ball. That’s the brand name for Northwood’s style of play--named after the manager and Coach Bob Jones.

Bobby Ball simply consists of hitting the ball hard, running the bases aggressively and executing the fundamentals, on offense and defense. But lately, Basher Ball has been a more appropriate name for the offense.

In four West Regional games, Northwood outscored its opponents, 49-1.

Aron Garcia, son of the manager, hit .846 in the regionals, including a 4-for-4 performance with four runs scored in the championship game. Ryan Jones, son of the coach, hit .538 and had three hits and six RBIs in the regional final. Geoff Ebdon hit .563 and had four hits against Hollister.

Bob Garcia credits part of the team’s offensive success to his unorthodox strategy of being the visiting team as often as possible. Even if Northwood loses the coin flip, the opponent usually selects the home side, so it’s a virtual no-lose situation for Garcia.

Northwood has been the visiting team in 15 of 16 playoff games and has scored in its first at-bat in 14 of those games.

“I just think it takes the pressure off the kids to hit first,” Garcia said. “That’s more important than having the last at-bat. It’s easier to relax when you’re hitting.”

Aron Garcia, who will start in today’s 2 p.m. (PDT) game, also is the team’s top pitcher with a 9-0 tournament record. He has thrown eight shutouts and has a 0.17 earned-run average. Northwood has allowed one run or fewer in 14 of 16 tournament victories.

“I knew we had the talent,” Bob Garcia said. “When I talked to the parents after our first practice (in early June), I promised them we’d go to Williamsport. I saw something in this team I’ve never seen before. There was a lot of talent, and it jelled into a great baseball team.”

World Series Notes

If Northwood Irvine defeats Dover today, it would play Chesterfield, Ind., in Thursday’s semifinals of the single-elimination tournament at 2 p.m. (PDT). Chesterfield defeated Morristown, Tenn., 4-1, Tuesday, and Hua Lian, Taiwan beat Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, 7-0, in the other first-round game. The championship game is scheduled for 1 p.m. (PDT) Saturday and will be televised nationally by ABC. . . . Northwood Manager Bob Garcia doesn’t think his players will be bothered by the large crowds expected in Howard J. Lamade Stadium, which seats about 25,000 but can accommodate up to 50,000 fans with its vast lawn area that surrounds the field. An estimated 9,000 fans turned out for Northwood’s Saturday night game against Hollister in San Bernardino. “They’re used to that kind of thing,” Garcia said. . . . A team from the United States has failed to reach the championship game only once in the 40 years of series history, when Korea defeated Mexico for the title in 1985. But only two U.S. teams have won the championship, Kirkland, Wash., in 1982 and Marietta, Ga., in 1983. Otherwise, the Far East has dominated the tournament, as Taiwan teams won 9 of 11 titles from 1971-81. Last year’s champion was Tainan, Taiwan.