Lamar National at the 2004 Little League World Series

Lamar National romps 13-1 to gain U.S. semifinals
Daniels' 2-hitter, 3-run homer pace Richmond all-stars
By MICHAEL MURPHY


SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, PA. - Lamar National has become the darling of the 2004 Little League World Series, drawing raucous, overflow crowds whenever it plays. There is one reason for that ?- offense, and plenty of it.

Everyone wants to see Lamar National's power-hitting, run-scoring machine up close, and that was the case again Tuesday against South Caroline (Md.) in the final game of pool play. Playing before more than 11,000 fans for the third consecutive game, Lamar National again pounded out double-figure runs and hits in a 13-1 defeat of the Mid-Atlantic champions at Lamade Stadium.

But this time, Lamar National threw all those adoring fans a curveball ?- almost literally. The offense, however potent, was forced to take a back seat to pitching.

Matt Daniels, stung after giving up a first-inning homer, responded by pitching a two-hitter, relying on his falling-off-the-table curveball for 12 strikeouts. He also hit a third-inning home run to spark the rout that sent Lamar National into the U.S. semifinals, where it will play Morganton (N.C.) Little League, the Southeast champion, at 7 p.m. today at Lamade Stadium.

"They're fun-loving, but I hope it's pretty obvious that when we come out and hit the field, they're all business," Lamar National manager Jim Michalek said of his players. "Certainly it's an honor (to advance). We came up a little bit short last year (losing in the U.S. semis), but once you get down to this single-elimination format, there's simply no margin for error. It's a new level of challenge."

That would be a new experience for Lamar National in the Little League World Series, actually finding a challenge.

The Richmond all-stars have 43 runs and 40 hits in three games, batting .449 with a .763 slugging percentage and seven homers. Randal Grichuk, who was 3-for-3 on Tuesday, is batting .778 for the series. Daniel Homann, who was 2-for-4, is batting .417 in the three games, and Daniels, who was 3-for-4, is hitting .400.

But pitching was the story Tuesday. After surrendering the home run to South Caroline starting pitcher DaVonta DeShields, Daniels allowed only a fourth-inning single the rest of the way.

"I wanted to show that home runs don't really bother me that much," Daniels said. "That particular one, it was only one hit and one run, so it didn't really hurt that bad, really."

Few South Caroline batters were even close to getting a hit. Daniels struck out seven of the last eight hitters, needing only 29 pitches for the final eight outs.

"At the beginning of the game, I'm trying to get into a groove and find my spot," said Daniels, who is 2-0 in the Little League World Series. "Once I get into the third, fourth and on, I've found my spot and I get my speed and my curveball down. It makes me feel really comfortable knowing it's hard for them to hit it (the curveball)."

DeShields threw 103 pitches but tired near the end, hitting three batters in the sixth inning, during which Lamar National erupted for seven runs.

"We thought we were in the game at the end of the fifth inning," South Caroline manager Curtis Payne said. "We just weren't able to do it. We gave them a window of opportunity, and they took it."

Lamar National wasted no time in dropping the hammer on the Maryland team, scoring three runs in the top of the first inning.

The biggest hit was Tyler Ford's two-out, two-run triple that skipped under the glove of South Caroline's J.T. Nagel and rolled to the wall. Daniels followed with a single that brought home Ford for a 3-0 lead.

"He came out popping leather early, and I thought we needed to respond, and we needed to respond in a hurry," Michalek said of DeShields. "I didn't want him to get in a rhythm because he had tremendous crowd support."

DeShields homered over the left-field wall in the bottom of the first to make it 3-1, but Daniels needed only 21 pitches to mow down the next eight South Caroline batters.

Lamar National scored three runs in the third ?- the highlight being Daniels' two-run homer over the left-field wall. Lamar National broke open the game with a seven-run sixth inning, using five hits and three hit batsmen to take away any South Caroline hopes of a comeback and propel the Richmond stars into the semifinals.

"That's an extremely dangerous team," Michalek said of Morganton. "They've got a lot of power, they've got solid hitting up and down the lineup. From what I can gather, their No. 1 (pitcher) is very polished and a hard thrower. We're honored to get a shot at them, but I think we're going to have to play well to win."

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