The Warwick North Little League team steps up to the plate in the Little League World Series, which kicked off Thursday in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
The Warwick North team won the New England Championships last Saturday. In the next ten days, the regional champs will compete against 15 teams from around the country and abroad. Warwick North Little League President David Palumbo says the team worked for years toward the World Series.
“That team’s been training for the last three years,” said Palumbo. “They’ve been in the park since 10 year olds, so they’ve played in 10’s, 11’s, and 12’s. They do weight lifting, they do cardiac training. So basically, that team, baseball-wise, they’re playing 12 months a year.”
The players will face Mid-Atlantic champions, New York’s Maine-Endwell team. Depending on Thursday’s outcome, Warwick North will play again over the weekend. Palumbo said the team is especially strong this year, thanks in part to one new player, 12 year-old Colin Lemieux, who towers over his teammates at 5’11”.
“I’ve been involved in Little League baseball for 20 years,” said Palumbo. “He’s the best Little League player I’ve ever seen hands down. He could probably play on a high school freshman baseball team right now, as a 12 year old.”
Palumno said Lemieux has a strong swing — so strong in fact, the League had to adjust their rules last year.
“We had to pass some rules, which we’ve never done before,” said Palumbo. “He had to hit with a wooden bat, he had to bat left handed, and the pitcher had to wear a mask. Because when Colin hits one up the middle, he could kill a kid with the way he hits the ball that hard.”
The team’s regional victory marks the third straight year a Rhode Island little league team has made it to the World Series. Last year, Cranston Western had the honor. Cumberland American went in 2014. Rhode Island has only sent nine teams since the World Series began in 1947.
