There is so much information and ways to follow the 2009 Little League Softball World Series, both here in Portland or online around the world, that I thought I would provide some tips:
Some General Info
The ten teams are divided into two pools; pool play begins today and continues through Monday. Each team will play the others one time with a bye day thrown in...
All the teams are mixed together, unlike the LL Baseball WS where there is an international winner and a U.S. winner.
At the end of pool play, the top two teams will play in the semifinals on ESPN2 on Tuesday.
Complete schedules and bracket info can be found here.
Following Online
The volunteer staff is able to televise only the games taking place on the main field at Alpenrose. You can watch FOR FREE via webcast. Go to the Brackets page and click on the game you are interested in. A screen will pop up: click on "Video Webcast."
You can also follow LIVE SCORING. What is that? Real-time scoring -- all the games use electronic scorebooks that are uploaded to the website. Here is the page for Game 1, East vs. Latin America: http://www.softballworldseries.com/photos2009/photos01.htm As each game is played, you can watch the webcast and/or the live scoring. Pictures will be taken during the game and posted on that page, also.
Twitter and/or Textmark
I will do my best to provide updates via text if you sign up for either Twitter or Textmarks. I Tweeted from a Regional Babe Ruth tournament last week and the hometown parents were very grateful, so I am getting the hang of it :)
Sign up for either on the right-hand column of this blog. Twitter will be updated more often and is very simple to use. I will continue to update both, but am starting to prefer Twitter.
In-Person
If you are in the area, and can make time to visit Alpenrose this week, you will not be disappointed... The all-volunteer crew does an amazing job!
The event is (always!) free of charge. The site is very family friendly and the games filled with competition and music and fans from all over the world. This Saturday you can enjoy the Schutt Skills Competition, Home Run Derby and Challenger game.
As we get closer to the championship, you can view a working ESPN broadcast, "up-close and personal," which is both educational and fun.
A barbeque is always going with better-than average choices and of course, lots of Baskin-Robbins ice cream, which is produced by Alpenrose Dairy in our area. Oh yeah, it is a working dairy (and smells like it, too, on some days :) and there is a bicycle velodrome and midget-car track.
Alpenrose is located on SW Shattuck Road, between SW Vermont and SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy.
Come on down, it is a week-long celebration of softball, sportsmanship, culture, and kids.
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