This Greenville County Little League team could advance to Little League World Series
TAYLORS — On a dusty Sunday afternoon at Corey Burns Park in Taylors, the Northwood Little League baseball team is molding into Team South Carolina – a band of 12-year-olds who won the South Carolina Little League State Championship.
They've grown up together … a bunch of friends who just love baseball. This team is from Greenville County and will be representing the state at the Southeast Regional this week in Warner Robins, Georgia.
In their last year of Little League, this group of young kids has a final shot at making it to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. In July, the team defeated Irmo 6-1 to win the Little League Baseball State Tournament.
"It was great," Cash Conner, 12, said about winning the state tournament. "Because we personally we've never gone to regionals because 11U was COVID and all that. We won state (that year) but never got the opportunity. But this year is going to be it."
From here, they'll be known as Team South Carolina. They'll open their path to the LLWS this week on Thursday, Aug. 4 at 10 a.m. EST against Team Florida. The matchup will be broadcasted live on ESPN's streaming platform, ESPN+.
Bracket: See the full Southeast Regional bracket in Georgia
From USA Today: For Little League World Series' Ella Bruning and family, baseball is just 'part of our DNA'
From 2015: Northwood returns home after historic World Series run
But for Northwood Little League it is just about having fun with this ride.
"We've played a lot of baseball (as a group) the last few years," the team's coach, Nate Ward, said.
"We've played a lot of teams, mostly from North and South Carolina over the years. But to be able to go and play the regional tournament ... COVID got in the way of their 10-year-old season, 11-year-old season COVID got in the way again. Now, finally, we're able to go play some of these kids from other states in the Southeast."
"I'm really excited because we've never been," Conner said. "We're great ... in my opinion. Because we've only let up one run through districts and state – that's pretty impressive."
Team South Carolina, if they win Thursday, will play the winner of Tennessee and Alabama. The team will have to win four games to advance to the LLWS, which is set to begin on Aug. 17 at the Little League International Complex in Williamsport.
Joe Dandron covers high school sports and more for The Greenville News.
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Greenville County little league team could head to Williamsport, LLWS
