LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES : Irvine Takes America by Storm, 8-1 : Victory Over Indiana Team Earns Northwood Berth in Title Game

The Northwood Irvine Little League All-Star team conquered America Thursday.

Next stop: The world.

Approximately 6,600 teams from the United States began tournament play on July 11, but Irvine was the lone American survivor after its 8-1 victory over Chesterfield, Ind., in Thursday’s World Series semifinals before an estimated crowd of 8,000 in Howard J. Lamade Stadium.

Led by Aron Garcia’s three-run home run, Irvine scored six runs in the second inning en route to becoming the first Orange County team to reach the championship round in the Series’ 41-year history.

Irvine, with 18 straight victories, will play either Hua Lian, Taiwan, or Moca, Dominican Republic, Saturday at 1 p.m. (PDT) to determine Little League’s world champion. The Taiwan-Dominican Republic semifinal was suspended because of darkness after seven innings of scoreless play Thursday and will be completed today.

“We’ve got the best team in the world and we’re gonna prove it on Saturday,” said Bob Garcia, Irvine manager.

America wasn’t much competition. Irvine shut out East Regional champion Dover, N.H., 13-0, in Wednesday’s first round and then dominated Chesterfield, the Central champion, Thursday.

Regardless of how the team does Saturday, it proved Thursday that it is the undisputed national champion. And that was cause for much celebration afterward.

Outside the stadium, parents were hugging and high-fiving each other. The players were posing for pictures, even signing some autographs.

“This feels so good,” said Steve Mendoza, who scored one run and knocked in another Thursday. “I can’t wait till school starts. I’m gonna be so popular!”

Bob Garcia couldn’t quite get a handle on his emotions.

“I’m ready to cry, I’m ready to laugh,” he said. “I feel great about the whole thing. This is the kind of team that comes along once every 10 or 20 years.”

It has been a dream season, but a harsh reality may be only one game away for Irvine.

Taiwan teams traditionally have dominated World Series competition, winning 9 of 11 titles from 1971-81, and this year’s model, from Hua Lian, looks very good.

But Garcia is confident that his team, which has outscored opponents, 155-23, will make a strong showing Saturday.

“These guys are not intimidated by anyone,” he said. “They’d probably go against the Los Angeles Dodgers as long as they played 60 feet.

“If they play their game, they’ll win. The only way we can lose is if we beat ourselves by making errors and not hitting the ball.”

Irvine had only five hits Thursday, but took advantage of two Chesterfield errors and some wildness on the part of starting pitcher Matt Brown.

After Ryan Jones doubled to open the second, Mendoza walked, and Brown hit the next two batters--Ryan O’Toole in the stomach and Chris Greinke on the left shoulder--to force in one run.

Tom Louie smashed a grounder off first baseman Bryan Gorman’s leg to score the second run on a play that was ruled an error.

David Lambert knocked in the third run on a fielder’s choice, and Aron Garcia, who had four hits and a two-run homer Wednesday, followed with a high fly ball that barely cleared the left-field fence for a three-run home run.

“I didn’t really swing that hard at it,” Garcia said. “I didn’t think it was going.”

Garcia didn’t think he’d even be playing Thursday after he suffered from flu symptoms and dehydration Wednesday night. He had a temperature of 103 but, with medication, got it down to 99.7 Thursday. “I felt fine,” he said.

But Greinke, Irvine’s starting pitcher, wasn’t feeling so well after being hit by the pitch. He couldn’t start the third inning and was taken to a nearby hospital for X-rays, which were negative.

Jones, the catcher, took over on the mound--making only his fourth pitching appearance of the tournament--and gave up only one hit the rest of the way. Chesterfield scored in the sixth when David Cook, who had doubled, came home on a ground out.

“We have 14 kids, and any one of them can do the job,” Bob Garcia said. “We have good depth, hitting and pitching--Ryan Jones showed that today.”

Irvine also has an outstanding defense, which was displayed Thursday. Center fielder Geoff Ebdon made a nice running catch of Cook’s fly ball to deep right-center field in the first inning, and third baseman Loc Tran ranged to his left to turn Gorman’s grounder to the hole into an out in the third.

But the play of the game came in the fifth inning, when Chesterfield threatened with runners on first and second and one out.

Scott Walbridge lined a shot toward O’Toole, but the second baseman leaped to snag the drive and tossed to Garcia at shortstop to complete the double play.

“He’s the best 11-year-old second baseman in the world,” Bob Garcia boasted.

World Series Notes

Tom Seaver, who won more than 300 games during a 20-year career with the New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox, will throw the ceremonial first pitch for Saturday’s championship game. The game will be televised nationally by ABC and shown on a tape-delayed basis on the West Coast, beginning at 4 p.m. Former Baltimore Oriole pitcher Jim Palmer will be the color analyst, with Al Trautwig handling play-by-play. They also worked Thursday’s semifinals for ESPN, along with former USC star basketball player Cheryl Miller, who served as a roving reporter but spent as much time signing autographs here as she did working. Miller also will work on the ABC telecast Saturday. . . . The Taiwan-Dominican Republic game is scheduled to be resumed today at 7 a.m. (PDT). . . . The start of Irvine’s game Thursday was pushed back an hour because of rain, but weather didn’t cause any further delays.