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History Made at the Little League World Series

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT — Little League officials say history is being made because it is the first time all 16 teams are playing on the same day. Even though ...

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT -- Little League officials say history is being made because it is the first time all 16 teams are playing on the same day.

Even though it is a day later than scheduled, it was a beautiful day in South Williamsport Friday and the kids are playing baseball.

The first game of the Little League World Series started at 10 a.m. at Volunteer Stadium.

The stands were full at both Volunteer and Lamade Stadiums as fans tried to get in as much baseball as possible after all the rain Thursday canceled both the opening ceremonies and the games.

All four games were postponed on opening day and moved to Friday. Little League officials said this is Little League history.

"We've never played eight games before. We've never had 16 teams on the field before," said Brian McClintock.

That means all teams play and most of the teams practiced. Australian coach David White said all of those games in one day limits his pitching options, but all of the teams are in the same boat.

"It's a shame that opening day was banned because of the weather, but that's one thing you can't control," said White. "You've gotta do what you've gotta do. If you've gotta squeeze them in, you've gotta squeeze them in. You can't keep everyone waiting."

With games being held almost every hour, fans are lucky enough to just be able to walk back and forth between the two stadiums so they hardly miss a minute of baseball. League officials said the overlapping schedule is to make sure all eight games get played.

Little League expanded to 16 teams in 2001 and officials said this is the first time all the teams played in one day.

As for Little League, officials say they are doing their best to keep things running smoothly. That includes keeping the players moving. Terrance Gist of the Southeast team from South Carolina said the players woke up early and took batting and pitching practice right after breakfast.

"Then when we get done with hitting after this we might watch a little bit of the games and rest a little bit before ours," Gist said.

League officials said if the games run over, they have a plan for that as well.

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