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The Fairfield American Little League received a hero’s welcome on Thursday.

This group of 11 boys went 21-3, and had the best showing of any Connecticut team since the 1989 Trumbull National team won the World Series.

Several politicians, family, press, and fans greeted American at Sherman Green on Thursday afternoon for a welcome-home gathering. The Shack and Colony Grill co-sponsored the event with food, as did Poland Spring water.

American was eliminated from the Little League World Series on Tuesday night, yet stayed in Williamsport Wednesday for a day of relaxation. Fairfield was greeted by police at the Connecticut state line in Greenwich, who escorted its bus back to Sherman Green.

The 150 0r so in attendance carried signs and cheered the returning regional, state, sectional and district champions. Fairfield first selectman Mike Tetreau was the master of ceremonies, also addressing the crowd and team.

“You played some great baseball, which is what got you there,” Tetreau said. “You showed us what’s best about the next generation and our future. Sometimes we lose sight of that and you guys were a great example, not only to kids, but to everyone what we can be and how we should represent our town.”

American manager Bill Meury, his son Ryan, Will Lucas and Biagio Paoletta each addressed the attendees. Several politicians other than Tetreau also were in attendance to show their support.

“Thank you for the voicemails, emails and text messages. The boys looked forward to them every day we were away,” Bill Meury said.

Fairfield National’s 11-year-old state championship squad was also recognized, as was the Fairfield Little League softball championship team.

Bill Meury unnecessarily singled out our Fairfield American coverage.

He also named Rich Pittera and Mary Albl for their coverage, as well as myself saying “Their coverage of the games was complimentary and candid, which is not an easy balance to strike. They chronicled the achievement of these 11 boys over the past three years and as the memory of this fades– and unfortunately it will fade to a certain extent– we will always be able to look back at their work to remember how special the summer of 2012 was.”

Touching. It also resulted in applause, which given my track record is stunning in some ways.

Meury also cited a story we wrote about American’s Little League success, saying “Fairfield American about more than these 11 boys, it’s about 1,000 other players who work as hard as the boys in front of you.”

Bill also singled out each team member for his contribution to the team.

“Guys, you can play,” he said. “You’re one of the four best Little League teams in the United States– and there are over 8,000 — and one of the eight best in the world.”

Contrary to the Dan Patrick show Tuesday, Will Lucas further confirmed that SportsCenter is his favorite show.

“The guy told me to say my favorite show was The Dan Patrick show,” Lucas said.

In my estimation, Lucas’ no-hitter was the World Series’ ‘feel good moment.’

Ryan Meury loved being a part of it.

“Will threw a terrific game,” he said. “It was amazing.”

Lucas also claimed his phone did not stop ringing after he finished his no-hitter on Monday.

“I think it broke,” Lucas said. “It just keeps buzzing.”

Lucas wasn’t alone, though.

“After the game against Nebraska I got like 60-something (Facebook) friend requests,” Fairfield pitcher/first baseman Matt Kubel said.

Ryan Meury didn’t want to talk about being hit in the face.

Meury did want to talk about three straight Connecticut Little League titles and and East Regional crown in 2010.

“It was a great journey,” Meury said. “It was just like the best experience of my life.”

He did say he’s feeling better, although the cut on his lips is evident.

“It’s getting a lot better,” he said. “It won’t be my lasting memory. I don’t really want to talk about it.”

But spending time with his father was high the list.

“It was a lot of fun,” Meury said. “It was easily the best summer of my life.”

Kubel was in attendance at Fairfield American’s welcome home party in 2010.

Never did he think he’d be honored just two years later.

“I remember coming out in 2010 to support the 2010 team,” he said. “It was a lot like this. It’s amazing.”

Kubel was terrific, winning six consecutive decisions before Tuesday night. Kubel also homered on Monday night in Fairfield’s 4-0 win over New Castle, Ind.

“It was exciting,” he said. “I had no idea it was going to get out. I thought it was going to be a single to the wall because I’m so slow.”

All the kids who spoke appreciated how special meeting kids from other countries.

“We played ping pong against a kid from Uganda, Ronald,” Lucas said. “No one could beat him, he was too good.”

“I loved meeting the kids from Japan,” Kubel said. “Even though they don’t speak the same language as us … it was really fun.”

They also marveled at crowd who attended to cheer them.

“The town’s really supportive,” Kubel said.

They also commented on how great playing at Lamade Stadium was.

“Playing in front of 17,000-plus fans really gets you pumped up,” Kubel said. “It was great playing against some great teams.”

This’ll be the last Fairfield American related blog for a while.

American’s district season is over. We don’t cover the fall league because of the high school sports calendar, so it’ll be the last time we touch on Little League at all, likely until next spring.

I wanted to thank Fairfield’s three coaches Bill Meury, John Lucas and T.J. Paoletta. Also big thanks to John Sohigian, Steve Schwartz, Larry Klein, Chris Daley, Brian McGrath and the rest of the American board members and former coaches who helped me this summer. If I’m missing anyone, my sincerest apologies. I owe you all.

Thanks and congratulations to the 11 kids, who have earned all of this. I told Sohigian the greatest compliment I can offer them is they were the same during the District 2 tournament as they were in the Little League World Series.

Bill Meury touched on composure and modesty all summer and I couldn’t agree more with his description of his team. They were a likable, respectful and cohesive group. I admire their poise on the biggest stage, and how success never changed them. I wish I were that mature.

Oh yeah, and they were stellar baseball players too.

Hope you enjoyed our Little League coverage this summer. On Monday starts the high school– yes already– sports season.

Pat Pickens is the sports editor of the Fairfield Citizen, a Hearst Connecticut Newspaper. Follow him on Twitter here.

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I guess Petaluma, Calif. ended up being Fairfield American’s kryptonite.

This photo pretty much tells the story of Fairfield American's Tuesday night.

Fairfield hadn’t lost twice all summer entering the Little League World Series. Instead, Connecticut lost twice to Petaluma and was eliminated 5-0 at Lamade Stadium.

Fairfield was shut out for the first time this summer. American finished 21-3.

“You don’t want them to walk off the field feeling like failures,” American manager Bill Meury said. “That’s not what happened at all.”

It seemed as if everything that could’ve gone wrong for Fairfield did on Tuesday night. Every Fairfield defensive error or miscue ended up being a Petaluma run.

Plus, Quinton Gago had everything working.

“You’ve got to give him all the credit in the world,” Meury said. “(Gago) pitched a heck of a game.”

That’s baseball.

Hats off to Fairfield though. American took Fairfield to the greatest Little League run Connecticut’s seen since Trumbull National in 1989, and the greatest World Series run in Fairfield history.

“They’re disappointed tonight,” Meury said. “I said to them ‘You better walk off this field with your head held high, because you gave the town of Fairfield one of the best summers its probably ever had.’”

Neither manager believed Fairfield starter Matt Kubel was bad.

“I thought Matty Kubel pitched a decent game,” Meury said. “He scattered seven hits … you can’t win with a zero.”

Petaluma manager Eric Smith shared Meury’s sentiment.

“(Kubel) pitched a great game,” Smith said. “He really threw well.”

Smith also was happy that he didn’t have to face Mr. No-no, Will Lucas.

“The best news was we knew we didn’t have to face (Lucas),” Smith said. “He threw a great game yesterday.”

Meury believes Petaluma can win the United States bracket.

“They’ve got a good squad,” he said. “They won three close ballgames. That’s not by chance.”

California, which has come from the loser’s bracket to the finals, is one more win from a date with either Goodlettsville, Tenn. or San Antonio. They’ll play on Thursday at 8 p.m. at Lamade.

I think it’s San Antonio’s to lose, a sentiment that Meury’s heard about.

“I’ve heard an awful lot about that San Antonio team,” he said. “But I don’t know it first hand.”

What do you think?

Fairfield struggled in Williamsport because its lineup struggled.

It’s not unexpected, and Meury knows it and so do I. In series, some hitters struggle, others do well. That’s the nature of the beast.

“If you watch a big league team going into a World Series, there’s 4 or 5 guys who get hot, and 4 or 5 guys who get cold,” Meury said. “I think that’s the way 3-, 4-, 5-game tournaments work … we didn’t put the ball in play enough.

Henry Prestegaard had a really tough night.

After his sac bunt attempt in the second rolled right to Cole Tomei that became a game-altering, 5-6-3 double play, he could not reel in a pop up in the bottom of the frame, which led to a run.

“That was a big league fly ball,” Meury said. “The ball looks like a golf ball when it is coming in from that far away. I’m not surprised it dropped at all.”

Prestegaard had a pretty good World Series, in my estimation, but was the victim of some lousy luck. He hit a ball hard against Petaluma on Thursday that became a double play. His bunt would’ve been good enough if Tomei wasn’t charging hard or if it had been three feet to the left or right.

But again, those are the breaks.

Meury did not regret asking Prestegaard to bunt in the second inning.

Fairfield American manager Bill Meury did not regret the decision to have Henry Prestegaard, pictured above, bunt.

For the record, I agreed with the decision to bunt with his No. 8 hitter with runners on first and second and no outs. The only reason I brought it up in the press conference was a commenter in our live blog brought it up.

“With the top of the lineup coming up, we were going to try to get those runners over,” Meury said. “The ball was bunted … harder than we wanted it to be … that ball is bunted a little softer, they don’t even think about going to third.

I pressed Fairfield’s manager, and he was adamant about the decision.

“Definitely not,” Meury said when asked if he regretted it. ” No regrets… I wouldn’t second-guess that one.”

That play ended up being the turning point, as Gago settled in.

“I thought (Gago) got stronger and stronger as the game went on,” Meury said. “He was better in the third and fourth innings than he was in innings one and two.”

Fairfield’s manager also set the record straight involving Lucas’ appearance on the Dan Patrick Show.

Evidently, Patrick talked Lucas into claiming his favorite show was the Dan Patrick Show and not SportsCenter as he originally claimed.

“For the record, (Lucas) loves Dan Patrick,” Meury said. “But he loves ESPN more.”

Meury also stated he loves ESPN, and appreciated how the World Wide Leader treated his team during the World Series.

“We love ESPN,” Meury said. “The boys loved everything that ESPN did.”

To each his own.

As I tweeted earlier, Fairfield American was invited by the Mets to a game at Citi Field later this season.

Meury told me after the game he and his team intended to go. I will be traveling to Citi Field for that as well — assuming it doesn’t conflict with say, a football game.

I’ll let everyone know– and certainly will tag along– if the Yankees make a similar offer.

Meury said the team will not come home Wednesday.

He said he and the boys wanted to get some down time in Williamsport, and thought they might watch games tomorrow. He said they’d all likely be home on Thursday.

“They want to hang out and let Williamsport wash over you,” Meury said. “We’ll watch a couple of ball games … we haven’t had a quiet moment in two or three months.”

He also said that Fairfield would not be playing any exhibition friendship games in Williamsport– which happens sometimes after teams are eliminated.

“I think they’re done,” Meury said.

I told Meury if his team played in any exhibition games, I was not covering them.

Unlike Fairfield American, I will be coming home on Wednesday.

I’d like to thank the kids, coaches and parents. They have been terrific to me all summer. It’s a shame the boys will simply go back to being 8th graders, but such are the breaks.

“The kids have been together for almost three years,” Meury said. “You’re with these kids a lot, and we love these kids, they’re terrific.”

All the players and coaches dealt with my questions, which certainly weren’t softballs (ask anyone who had to listen to

Thank you.

them). Bill Meury gave me access, dealt with all the questions, requests — during wins and losses — and I greatly thank him for being a tremendous sport this whole summer.

In the end, what I’ll remember is Will Lucas’ no-hitter, Matt Kubel’s cut-fastball, Ryan Meury’s guts, Biagio Paoletta’s home runs, Kevin Oricoli’s smile and the rest of the team’s enthusiasm and perseverance. There were times, all summer, when Fairfield could’ve been eliminated. Yet that “never give up” motto that American so proudly wears on the back of its t-shirts stands out.

Plus, all the kids got better at answering questions as the summer went on. I hope that continues as they get closer to high school. Kubel actually improved the most.

I’d like to thank you all for your support, readership and kind words throughout the summer. I also appreciate everyone who challenged me with questions, comments and letters. I hope I provided everyone fair and extensive coverage of Fairfield Little League– mostly American– this summer. That was my aim.

It’s time to go home, I guess.

So long Williamsport.

Pat Pickens is the sports editor of the Fairfield Citizen, a Hearst Connecticut Newspaper. Follow him on Twitter here.

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The pressure is beginning to mount as we are now down to four teams on the U.S. side of the Little League World Series.

Thanks to Will Lucas’ no-hitter from last night, one of those teams is Fairfield American.

Fairfield American continues to fight for its LLWS life tonight when it takes on a familiar foe: Petaluma, Calif.

It was California, remember, that knocked Fairfield into the loser’s bracket on Day 1 of the tournament.

Will Fairfield get revenge and advance to the USA semifinals?

Follow Pat Pickens blogging live from Williamsport, Pa. tonight. We start at 7:45 p.m.

Previews

• No-hitter makes Lucas an instant media darling
• Fairfield gets rematch with California, must win to reach US semis
• Weston Little League coach honored at World Series
• Replay: Lucas throws no-hitter, Fairfield Advances at World Series

Live Blog

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It’s safe to say that the Little League World Series has never seen a day like Monday before.

In five games there was the biggest-inning in World Series history, an extra inning classic, — completed by a walkoff homerun– a stunning upset, rain and breaking news tonight of a suspended manager.

Oh yeah, and Will Lucas happened to have a pretty good outing too.

Pile on, boys. It's not every day you see a no-hitter.

Everyone I spoke with said Lucas’ bullpen session was a sign of things to come.

“Once I saw him in the bullpen, I knew it would be a good night,” Fairfield catcher Biagio Paoletta said. “He struck out the first two batters and I knew it would be something special.”

But no one could’ve dreamed that the 5-8, 121-pound righty would throw the 47th no-hitter in Little League World Series history, keeping Fairfield alive for World Series contention.

“It felt really good,” Lucas said. “I was just trying to throw strikes.”

Those of you who followed our live-blog, or who follow me on Twitter, know I thought Lucas was stunningly sharp early. His fastball was dominant, but not even his best pitch in my estimation. He threw his No. 1 for strikes, but his curveball was his out pitch.

Not that either pitch was bad. He only threw 19 balls in 76 pitches. Lucas K’d 13, 12 of which were actual outs. Cayden Smekens reached on a wild pitch after Lucas’ seventh strikeout.

“He threw mostly fastballs today,” Fairfield manager Bill Meury said. “He showed (his curveball) to every hitter at least once … and it was slower than his fastball. He had everything tonight. He was terrific.”

Lucas’ was his first no-hitter, it also is the first of any Fairfield American pitcher at the World Series.

If you missed the last out, here it is, from my vantage point.

Lucas got ahead 0-2 against Janson Anderson, and Fairfield had a meeting at the mound.

Will Lucas threw the 47th no-hitter in Little League World Series history.

What was said in this meeting?

“(Fairfield third baseman) Kevin Oricoli told me ‘I dare you to throw a knuckleball,’” Lucas said.

I asked Meury what he would’ve done if Lucas had thrown a knuckleball, and Lucas took command and said: “If it was a hit, he’d probably run out to the mound and tackle me to the ground.”

Apparently Lucas threw a knuckleball in Fairfield’s 14-0 win in the New England regional final and Meury was not pleased about that.

Kubel admitted that he told Lucas he had a no-hitter in the fifth inning in the dugout.

“In the fifth inning after the last out, I told him ‘you’re throwing a no-hitter,’” Kubel said. “But he just ignored me.”

Meury, in proper Little League fashion, taught his pitcher/first-baseman, Kubel, that this was bad form.

“You’re really not supposed to do that,” Meury told Kubel.

Lost amid this no-hitter hoopla is that Fairfield staved off elimination, yet again.

American is now 5-0 when facing elimination this summer, and has given up a grand total of five runs in those five games.

Fairfield also set a new league record for wins at a World Series, surpassing 2010′s one win.

Fairfield will play Petaluma, Calif. on Tuesday at 8 p.m., we’ll be live-blogging the game again.

You might remember that Petaluma beat Fairfield 6-4 on Thursday in each club’s opening game. California won the extra-inning classic against Parsippany, N.J. 5-4 in eight innings at Lamade.

Members of the Oakland A’s, — who have taken to Twitter in support of Petaluma– as well as Mike Trout, B.J. Raji and Candace Parker were among the people who watched the late-afternoon game. Danny Marzo’s walkoff homer kept Petaluma alive.

I asked Petaluma manager Eric Smith about playing Fairfield a second time.

“They’re a good team,” he said. “That’d be a challenge for us, and I think the kids look forward to the challenge.”

I pressed Bill Meury to name a starter for his team’s game Tuesday against California and he wouldn’t.

Kubel and Ryan Meury are both available. Meury has been Fairfield’s ace all season, but Petaluma beat him on Thursday. Kubel’s Fairfield’s hottest starter, having won six straight decisions.

“We’ve got two lefties, they’re both available,” Meury said. “They’ve seen one, they may get to see the other.”

Either way, it’s their game. Meury told me he would waste them both if he had to to advance.

“We’re not going to be saving pitchers at this point,” he said. “We’d like to, but we can’t.”

The minute I find out, I’ll tweet it. And don’t worry, I’ll press him in the morning on Tuesday too.

Smith wouldn’t name a starter either, but did narrow it down to either Quinton Gago or Andrew White. Fairfield scored two runs off White on Thursday, but did not see Gago.

Kubel admitted hitting against either will be a challenge.

“It’s definitely a different look,” he said. “(White) had a cutter, I think, that was really nasty. We’re just going to have to put the bat on the ball.”

Meanwhile in other action, Kearney, Neb. scored the most runs ever in an inning at the World Series.

I didn’t watch any of Nebraska’s 17-1, mercy-rule win over Ramstein Airforce Base in a consolation game Monday, but Kearney’s 15-spot in the second bettered Asia’s 14-run frame on Aug. 21, 2004.

That game was delayed by rain, as was Curacao’s 4-3, come-from-behind-win that eliminated Vancouver, B.C. I enjoyed the Canadian squad and will be sad to see it go.

Meanwhile, the team Canada beat pulled off a stunner today. Mexico defeated Chinese-Taipei 4-3. Just 24 hours after it was in extra innings with Japan, the Asia-Pacific champions are done.

And the, after Lucas finished off his no-hitter, came the stunning news that Mexico’s manager Fernando Rios was suspended for two games for violating Mandatory Play Rule in the team’s 4-3 win over Chinese-Taipei.

The statement declares that “The manager is not permitted to be at the game site for these games although he still may participate in team practices, he is not permitted to take part in pre-game warm-ups.”

Rios will be eligible for Mexico’s International championship game if it reaches that far. Mexico will play Curacao Tuesday at 4 at Lamade.

New Castle, Ind. manager Tim Porter had the understatement of the night.

“We had a hard time hitting (Lucas),” he said.

Yeah, no joke.

Henry Prestegaard is not known for his bat.

But his offense seems to be coming around.

Prestegaard had a great at-bat before grounding into a double play on Thursday against Petaluma. He drove in a run with an RBI single, after being thoroughly embarrassed by a 1-0 curveball.

“His curveball was nasty,” Prestegaard said. “He threw a curveball at my head and it ended up at the plate.”

But Prestegaard got the last laugh, driving in his first run in Williamsport.

Fairfield is one of the final four American teams left.

Did you ever think you’d say that after Fairfield lost its opener on Thursday?

That was the first no-hitter I’ve ever seen in person.

I saw Hiroki Kuroda throw 6 no-hit innings last Tuesday at Yankee Stadium. That was as close as I’ve come.

That’s why you go to baseball games. There’s always the chance to see something special.

Reminder, live blog  will start at 7:45 tomorrow with Sean Patrick Bowley and myself. Look forward to a good night of that again.

Until tomorrow.

Pat Pickens is the sports editor of the Fairfield Citizen, a Hearst Connecticut Newspaper. Follow him on Twitter here.

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Fairfield American marches onward in the Little League World Series loser’s bracket tonight at 8 p.m.

Join Pat Pickens live from Williamsport, Pa. as Fairfield tries to keep its world championship dreams alive. We’ll start at 7:45 p.m.

Previews:

• Great Lakes champ up next for Fairfield American
• Little League World Series a family affair for Oricolis
• You can watch the game live online at ESPN3

Live Blog

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It was 2:40 p.m. and I was sitting in the press box at Volunteer Stadium waiting out a brief rain delay during the field’s first game between Caribbean and Canada.

Curacao and Canada had played a half-inning. Five minutes later, Curacao re-took the field, the rain slowed and re-started play after an 18 minute delay.

I’d venture to guess that’ll be the story of the day.

I hope that’s not the case. But weather out here is very finnicky. The forecast and radar could tell you it’s sunny when it’s pouring. There’s a good chance that there will be several delays as the day goes on.

The bad news is, Lamade Stadium — where Fairfield is supposed to play at 8 p.m. tonight — is presently behind schedule of three games. The consolation game between Europe and Nebraska– which started at noon– is only in the 3rd inning, as of 3 p.m. The good news is, if Nebraska stops scoring, it’ll be over in four innings.

It appeared as though Kearney did stop scoring. As of 3:20, Nebraska’s taken its four at-bats and leads 17-1 after 3 1/2.

California and New Jersey will play an elimination game, shortly after 4 p.m. The winner of that game will play either Fairfield or Indiana Tuesday at 8 p.m. at Lamade.

Fairfield won the toss and will be the home team tonight. Will Lucas will be Fairfield’s starting pitcher tonight.

That is, again, assuming play gets completed today with the impending weather.

As always, follow Twitter and I’ll keep offering you updates of play as they come to me.

The popular chant for fans this week has been “De-fense!” when their team is playing the field.

“Two-out ral-ly” has also been a popular one, especially amongst the Canadian fans here.

It’s amazing how many born again Pittsburgh Pirate fans there are out here. Yankee fans would be amazed by the number of them who are wearing A.J. Burnett t-shirts and jerseys.

I bumped into Ryan Meury in the World Series gift shop earlier this afternoon.

Fairfield’s diminutive outfielder and pitcher was shopping for clothes for himself with his mother. He ended up getting a black wind-breaker, which is a good choice considering it won’t get above the 70 here today.

I left my windbreakers and jackets at home, and may be purchasing something if we’re here past tomorrow.

For those of you in the coverage area, I’ll be jumping on “The Press Box” on WGCH-1490 tonight at 7:15 p.m. with my good buddy Rob Adams to talk Little League World Series.

I’ll also be sure to update the weather and game scenarios then.

Immediately after getting off the phone with them, our live blog will start. I believe it’ll still start at 7:45, even if the game is delayed, just to give weather and other game updates.

Pat Pickens is the sports editor of the Fairfield Citizen, a Hearst Connecticut Newspaper. Follow him on Twitter here.

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According to the Bible, every man, woman and child is supposed to take Sunday as a day of rest.

Now, I’m no Bible-thumper by any means, but I took that to mean I was entitled to — at least part of — a day in South Williamsport to myself.

I slept-in, drank some coffee, took my time getting ready, I even snacked on kettle corn and funnel cake. It’s Sunday, no day for a diet.

Don’t get me wrong. I still wrote two stories and went over to Lamade and Volunteer for parts of three games, including Texas’ 13-3 white-washing of Indiana.

Because of that result, we now know Fairfield will play the Great Lakes champion Monday at 8 p.m. in an elimination game at Lamade on ESPN2. Expect first pitch to be about 8:07.

Remember, we’ll be live-blogging the contest, starting at 7:45 Monday. Hope you’ll all hop on and join us.

If Fairfield wins, it’ll play the winner of Petaluma, Calif. and Parsippany, N.J. Tuesday at 8 p.m. at Lamade. If it loses, it is done and will, likely, go home on Tuesday.

I think if Fairfield can find a way to win Monday, it can win the U.S. bracket.

American is a little short on pitching for Monday. Only Will Lucas, Matt Kubel and Michael Ghiorzi — who hasn’t pitched all summer — are available. Fairfield’s not been this short on pitching in weeks; if at all this summer.

But if Fairfield can win, it’ll have Ryan Meury and Matt Kubel available Tuesday against Petaluma or Parsippany. Meury had a below average start, for him, and was bit by a couple of unexecuted defensive plays.

And Fairfield still nearly beat Petaluma. I know American’s looking for California again and thinks the result will be different if they play.

The U.S. side of the bracket — except perhaps Texas — seems wide open, and I think Fairfield belongs here as much as any other squad.

I’m kind of getting the vibe Fairfield will win too Monday.

In my preview, I forgot to bring up the potential for bad weather on Monday.

As it stands now, there appears to be a 40 percent chance of scattered thunderstorms for South Williamsport for tomorrow.

I think Fairfield and Indiana will play, but there are five games that need to be completed tomorrow — lousy consolation games.

The weather here has been impeccable; a real shock for this time of the year. It’s only rained once since games started Thursday, and only one game has even been delayed so far, let alone postponed.

It’s only a matter of time until all that changes.

But I guess we’ll all cross that bridge when we come to it. I’ll keep everyone up to date on Twitter as the day goes by.

The game of the tournament thus far was played tonight.

Japan and Chinese-Taipei played 8 1/2 scoreless innings. I watched the 6-8 innings from the hill at Lamade, and the level of play was incredible.

Hajime Motegi’s ninth-inning, walk-off homer proved the difference in Japan’s 2-0 win. It was fitting that Japan won, considering it had chances to score in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.

I left the game early though, deciding to watch the game on ESPN2 in the hotel. I had atrocious allergies and spent most of the day sneezing. The folks who saw me can attest to that.

I think these teams will play again, likely in the International final Saturday. If they do, we’re all in luck.

The coolest thing about the Little League World Series is how it personifies what sports are supposed to be.

The World Series is uber-fan friendly. If you park at the complex, you can do so for free. Food prices are relatively low, it’s like a carnival atmosphere, with baseball games played — seemingly — endlessly from Thursday through Tuesday.

Professional sports have been bombarded with fanaticism and commercialism. Fans are biased in their support or condemnation of their favorite pro athletes. College athletics have a tendency, especially in the south and midwest, to have the same problem.

The Jets vs. Giants game Saturday night reportedly had $50 parking for a preseason game. Tickets for that contest were full price too.

Don’t get me wrong, I love pro sports. College sports atmospheres are great as well. But there’s just something so awesome about watching a baseball game at an old stadium with an old grandstand where fans cheer good plays for both sides.

Consider that there are at least 7,000 fans for every game and very few have a biased tie to the team they are watching. They’re cheering for good defense, stellar pitching, home runs and overall exciting play.

Vanderbilt University baseball coach Tim Corbin told ESPN’s Jenn Brown that he thought Williamsport was like the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. If that’s true, I’ve got to get out to Omaha.

The other interesting aspect of the World Series is, what I like to call, the “Middle School Dance” effect.

Hundreds, nay, thousands of adolescents are around Lamade and Volunteer at all times. They meet and branch off in cliques. Boys and girls awkwardly meet in groups and punch each others arms and run away.

It’s funny to watch.

I do also love watching families who come out to Williamsport for vacation. Dads and moms and their sons or daughters. They buy hats and t-shirts and food and just have a nice, fun, exciting day at the ballpark.

Fan-friendliness lends itself to that.

I’d like to thank everyone who offered kind words about the Uganda story I did.

Uganda will get one more game Tuesday at 1 p.m. against Gresham, Ore. If you’ve not seen the Africans play, try to do so.

Among the other stories posted from this week are profiles on Biagio Paoletta and Kevin Oricoli, Sunday’s newsy feature about Williamsport’s “melting pot,” and a preview of Fairfield’s upcoming contest against New Castle, Ind.

I thank you all for reading the blogs and tweets and liking all the pictures on Instagram I’ve been posting. I’m trying to bring this event’s greatness back to Connecticut as best as I can.

If there’s something you’ve seen on ESPN or know about you feel I haven’t covered well enough. By all means let me know.

Until tomorrow.

Pat Pickens is the sports editor of the Fairfield Citizen, a Hearst Connecticut Newspaper. Follow him on Twitter here.

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Today was a great day for Fairfield American Little League.

The team suffered no injuries, there’s no controversy to report and the New England champions are still alive at the Little League World Series.

Matt Kubel dominated for 4 2/3 innings, allowing just two hits and American routed Kearney, Neb. 12-0.

“From my perspective, they were very composed,” Fairfield American manager Bill Meury said. “They seem to be handling it extremely well.”

The win snapped Fairfield American’s three game Little League World Series losing streak– and three-game Lamade Stadium losing streak.

Fairfield will play Monday against either New Castle, Ind. or San Antonio in an elimination game at 8 p.m. at Lamade Stadium. Those teams will meet Sunday at 5 p.m. at Volunteer Stadium. The winner advances to Wednesday’s U.S. semifinal at 8 p.m. The loser plays Fairfield.

Remember, every Fairfield game from here on out is an elimination game.

Thanks to everyone who participated in our live blog again today. I hope you’ll all join us again at 7:45 Monday.

The only thing Kubel did not do today was hit.

Fairfield pitcher Matt Kubel was dominant in American's 12-0 win over Kearney, Neb. on Saturday in South Williamsport, Pa.

The lefty was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, including a third-inning punchout with the bases loaded.

“He made me look really bad,” Kubel said.

But Kubel’s pitching more than made up for it. Of his 49 pitches, a whopping 36 were strikes. That means 73 percent of his pitches were strikes.

“His key to success, the key for any pitcher, is first pitch strikes,” Meury said. “He threw far more fastballs today than he threw breaking balls and that’s because in the bullpen today, he looked great. His velocity was as good as it’s been.”

Kubel struck out six, and seemed to settle in as the game went on. He didn’t allow a hit after the second inning and his only two base runners after the second were his fifth-inning hit by pitch — one that barely nicked Matt Masker — and Michael Ghiorzi’s error that followed the hit by pitch.

“I was just trying to hit the spots Biagio put up and get our team back to the dugout,” Kubel said.

Kubel’s been Fairfield’s best pitcher, winning six straight decisions. He’s thrown 15 consecutive scoreless innings dating back to Aug. 6.

Meury used the term “aiming small and missing small” which means he was trying to pick corners and when he missed, he hardly did.

“I saw they were getting aggressive, so I tried to nibble the plate,” Kubel said.

Meury told me he considered pulling Kubel in the fourth inning.

Fairfield was ahead 9-0, Kubel had thrown just 28 pitches through three innings and American had just gotten Will Lucas up in its bullpen.

“At 9-0, anything can happen,” Meury said. “You look up at the board and it’s 9-5 and it doesn’t feel so comfortable. Also I don’t love the fact that he’d have to go out there on one day’s rest and throw a very tough game.”

Because Meury did not make the move, Kubel is unavailable for Fairfield’s game Monday as is Ryan Meury. Both will be eligible to throw Tuesday if Fairfield wins.

Bill Meury will start Lucas Monday and will have Matty Clarkin and Michael Ghiorzi available in the bullpen.

“Will throws the ball extremely well,” Meury said. “We’ve always thrown a rotation, we haven’t played the pitch count game, and we intended to do that again. We weren’t going to underestimate Nebraska.”

Bill Meury told me his son, just two days removed from being hit in the face with a pitch, was fine.

“He was OK physically,” Bill said. “He can’t smile, it’s a little awkward, he’s not eating a whole lot.”

Ryan wore No. 7 because his No. 5 uniform was soiled by blood. He was 0-for-2 with two walks and two runs scored. Ryan also squared to bunt in the fourth inning, a good sign according to Bill.

“You underestimate what that might be like for a kid who took a ball in the face, but I think he feels good,” Bill said.

Lucas is dominating at the plate in Williamsport.

He’s batting .800, with a home run and six RBIs in two games. Lucas was 2-for-2 with a home run and five driven in in Fairfield’s win Saturday.

“He’s locked in,” Meury said of Lucas. “He’s staying back and he’s got a good sense of the strike zone right now.”

Lucas also drove in two runs with a fifth-inning single and Fairfield’s first run with third-inning, bases-loaded walk.

“I’m just trying to put the ball in play,” he said.

Biagio Paoletta, who is batting a paltry .571 (sarcasm people) through two games, was 2-for-4 with three RBIs.

But he did strike out with the bases loaded in the third inning, a rare occurrence for the guy they call “Mr. Clutch.”

“We’re not used to seeing pitchers like that who mix speeds that well,” Paoletta said. “I guess we were caught unaware in the beginning of the game.”

Paoletta and the rest of Fairfield’s team we spoke with spoke highly of The Grove’s food.

Fairfield American's fans had a lot to cheer about on Saturday.

“The food is just like, really good food,” Paoletta said.

Paoletta said his favorite dish to date has been spaghetti and meatballs and even stated “it’s better than mom’s.”

I spoke with Mrs. Paoletta no more than five minutes after speaking with Biagio, and she said “that’s his favorite meal.”

Fairfield is one of the last six United States teams remaining, and one of the final 12 teams left in the world.

Nebraska was eliminated. Parsippany, N.J. held off Gresham, Ore. 10-4, eliminating the Northwest champs.

Europe was routed by Caribbean 14-2. I’m sad to report that Uganda was no-hit, 12-0 today in a mercy-rule-shortened, four-inning game.

There was a nice moment at the end of Uganda’s loss where Mexico and the Middle East & Africa champions posed for pictures and danced for the ESPN camera. The 6,735 fans– many of whom were rooting for Uganda– chanted “U-Gan-Da!” to show support for the poor, African nation.

There’ll be a story about Uganda in Sunday’s Connecticut Post. Uganda gets one more game in Williamsport, Tuesday at 1 p.m. against Gresham, Ore. at Lamade.

ESPN’s Dick Vitale and Southwest Airlines executive Ron Ricks were inducted in the Peter J. McGovern Little League Hall of Excellence on Saturday night.

Vitale gave a moving motivational speech. Ross was a former Little Leaguer in Texas and reached the World Series for Val Verde Little League in 1962.

I’ll be around the complex tomorrow posting pictures and tweeting updates.

I’m very interested to see if Canada can make it two straight wins, when it plays noon against Panama. I’ll be watching Texas vs. Indiana intently at 5.

The weather’s supposed to be good again tomorrow. It’s been cool here, so if you’re coming out, especially at night, bring a jacket.

Pat Pickens is the sports editor of the Fairfield Citizen, a Hearst Connecticut Newspaper. Follow him on Twitter here.