Warner Robins warms up for Little League World Series

By Ken Sugiura

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Randy Jones wasn’t hopeful for decorum.

Jones, manager of the Warner Robins American Little League all-star team, wanted to put his team through a second practice of the day.

With the boys showing the giddy euphoria of having reached the Little League World Series — the second time in three years that Warner Robins has reached youth baseball’s mecca — he put a carrot in front of them.

If they behaved in practice, he told them, they could go swimming at the players’ dormitory in Williamsport, Pa. What made that so enticing?

Said Jones, “There’s a real attractive lifeguard out there that they keep talking about.”

So begins the experience of a lifetime for 13 boys, ages 12 and 13, from Warner Robins. They could become the fourth team from Georgia to end the summer as the best Little League outfit in the world.

The first three Georgia teams to advance to Williamsport — East Marietta National (1983), Columbus Northern (2006) and Warner Robins American (2007) — came home winners.

“Based on what I’ve seen, if we play our game, we’re going to be tough,” said Jones, who has been catching as many of the regional championship games, televised by ESPN, as he can.

Only one U.S. Little League program, Long Beach, Calif., has won two world titles. Mickey Lay, who coached the 2007 team to the title, said that Warner Robins’ league has benefited from starting kids in T-ball at 5 years old and from dedicated parents and coaches.

Warner Robins’ softball team is in its World Series final after beating Greensburg, Pa., 6-0 in Portland, Ore., Tuesday. The girls play Crawford, Texas, today for the title (7 p.m., ESPN2).

“We try to develop kids and teach them how to play ball early,” Lay said.

There are no holdovers from the 2007 baseball team, or any younger siblings. The coaches are different as well. Where the 2007 team had narrow escapes at the state and regional level, this year’s Warner Robins team has won several games handily. It beat Chantilly, Va., 6-3 in the Southeast Region final last Friday, then boarded a bus Sunday for Williamsport.

Jones said his team, the nucleus of which has won its age group’s state title four years in a row, is deep with plenty of power, and six players can pitch.

Jones said the experience has been surreal since arriving in Williamsport. The first thing the boys did, Jones said, was run from their dorm to get a look at Lamade Stadium, where two years ago Dalton Carriker hit a walk-off homer in extra innings in the title game. A handful of the boys, including Jones’ son, Justin, saw it in person.

Said Jones, “I would say the kids look up to him, but they’re at a point now where they realize they can etch their own names in granite.”