JEDDAH, 26 July 2006 — Saudi Arabia has gotten off to yet another formidable start in the Little League regional tournaments, the run up to the Little League World Series.
The Arabian-American Little League team trounced Ramstein 14-1 on Monday. The German team’s only run was the first the Saudi team has given up in four games since the tournament began on Saturday. Ramstein was the last team to win the Trans-Atlantic Regional Tournament, in 1999; the Saudi team has dominated the path to the Little League World Series ever since.
Pitcher Michael Knight has managed brilliantly in preventing his opponents’ ability to make any bat-to-ball contact. On Friday, the team routed the Belgians 13-0 in a pre-tournament match, a charge led by Nathan Barnett, Matthew Timoney and the six-foot-four-inch 13-year-old Aaron Durley, son of coach James Durley.
In the first official game of the tournament, London beat Dubai 10-0. Today begins the semifinals of the regional tournament. The championship game will be held tomorrow. The winner will head to the Little League World Series in Pennsylvania in August.
The Arab-American team failed to win a game in the International Pool of the 2005 Little League World Series when they were beat by Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America.
But when it comes to European Little League action, nobody seems to come close to the boys from Dhahran.
The Arabian-American Little League team members are: Ryan Bumstead, Matt Timoney, Kyle Al-Sughaiyer, Alec Dahlseide, Nate Barnett, Connor Clark, DeRon Horton, George Luo, Alexander Robinett, Michael Knight, Aaron Durley, Andrew Holden and Paul Kelsch.
