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Expansion spreads to Gulfport

By BOB PUTNAM

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 3, 2001

Welcome to the new world of Little League baseball.

In the past year, there have been sweeping changes in Williamsport, Pa., with a new stadium, more teams and more television exposure than ever before.

A 5,000-seat stadium has been built north of Howard J. Lamade Stadium, home of the Little League World Series since 1959. The two fields were needed to accommodate the tournament's expansion from eight teams to 16. In addition, ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 will televise 19 games this year, up from last year's total of 11.

The Southern Regional in Gulfport, the last step before making it to the Little League World Series, has gone through changes, too. The tournament has been divided into two brackets -- the Southeast and the Gulf States -- and two teams will advance to the World Series instead of one.

"I think it's a great thing," Southern Regional director Ted Trivigno said. "It enables us a chance to have more children competing for the World Series, not only in the U.S., but around the world."

Under the new format, the teams in the Southeast bracket (Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Virginia) and the teams in the Gulf States bracket (Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas) will each play four games in pool play starting today.

The semifinals are Thursday. The Southeast final will be Aug. 11 at 6 p.m. and the Gulf States final will be Aug. 12 at 8 p.m. Both finals will be televised by ESPN2.

This is the first and only year the format will be used at Gulfport. Next year, the bracket will be split with Texas becoming a host for teams in the Southwest. Gulfport will remain the Southern Regional host, but the number of teams will be reduced from 13 to eight.

"Little League baseball is continuing to grow and expand and this will be a good thing for the tournament," Trivigno said.

With 13 teams and 32 games, the hardest thing for organizers is getting the weather to cooperate. So far, it hasn't.

A tropical depression canceled opening ceremonies Thursday and today's games are in jeopardy of being rained out. Trivigno said the opening ceremonies will be held Sunday.

"It's that time of the year unfortunately," Trivigno said of the weather.

"We do what we can."

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