Fairfield American Departs For Williamsport On Monday

The Fairfield American 12-year-old All-Stars returned home briefly Saturday night after winning the New England Regionals,  but now it's on to Williamsport, Pa., for the final leg of their remarkable summer journey.

The team went back to Bristol on Sunday afternoon and departed for the Little League World Series on Monday morning. It traveled in a bus paid for by Little League Baseball.

Before leaving, Fairfield American coach Chris Daley received a call from Governor M. Jodi Rell, who wished he and his players good luck.  Rell also told Daley how proud Connecticut residents are of the team.

Fairfield American became the 15th Connecticut team to earn a spot in the LLWS with a 1-0 win over Rhode Island before a crowd of more than 7,800 at Breen Field.

The traveling party was allowed to come back to Fairfield for a few hours Saturday night because it is close to home.

According to FALL president Steve Schwartz, it is Little League policy to have all the participating teams leave from the site of their regional championship and to get out to Williamsport by Monday evening.

All the spots in the 16-team tournament have been filled except for one. New Jersey and Pennsylvania will meet for the Mid-Atlantic title Monday evening in Bristol.

"They want the kids to get out there and enjoy the experience with kids around the world," Schwartz said. "From what I understand, they made a lot of friends (in Bristol) and interestingly enough, most of them were from Rhode Island."

Fairfield American will practice every day and then just soak up the experience leading to the annual Little League parade on Thursday and the opening ceremonies on Friday at 11 a.m.

"It's worked for the Little League World Series for many years," Schwartz added. "Why mess with the formula? It's just been an incredible experience for the boys."

In a scheduling twist, Fairfield American will play the first game of the tournament on Friday at 1 p.m. on ESPN against the Northwest champion, which is Auburn, Washington. It has been known well in advance that the New England champion would help kick off the 64th Little League World Series.

Auburn punched its ticket to Williamsport with a 13-3 victory over Boise, Idaho on Saturday night.

Win or loss, Fairfield American will play its second game in prime time on ESPN on the weekend. A victory sends  Fairfield American into the winners' bracket final in its group Sunday at 8 p.m. If the team loses the opener, it will be back in action on Saturday at 8.

Fairfield American is in pool B that also includes the Midwest Region (Plymouth/New Hope Little League, Plymouth, Minnesota and the Southwest Region (Pearland White Little League, Pearland, Texas).

The winners of the four groups advance to the semifinals. The United States and International championship games will be played on August 28, with those two winners squaring off for the world championship on August 29.