Taylor North Becomes Just 11th Michigan Team To Reach LLWS

WHITESTOWN, IN —Taylor North Little League won the championship game of the Great Lakes Region Tournament in Indiana on Saturday and will head to the Little League World Series (LLWS) in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania this weekend.

Taylor North defeated Hamilton (Ohio) West Side 9-1 in Saturday's championship game, though both teams already had clinched a spot in the 16-team LLWS, the annual international baseball tournament involving teams of 12 year olds.

The LLWS was canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic, and additional spots in the tournament were open to American teams this year because international teams are not participating. This season, in-person attendance at the LLWS is being limited to family and friends of participating teams

At 3 p.m. Friday, Taylor North will open up the double-elimination LLWS tournament against Martin County North Little League from Palm City, Florida. The first-round game in the Hank Aaron bracket will be broadcast live on ESPN.

"These kids are living a dream," Taylor North coach Rick Thorning told MLive. "They're only 12, but they have a dream – and it's my dream to get them there."

Thorning added: "You turn on ESPN and they show the flags waving at Williamsport as part of their intro. That's special for me to see. And now there's the realization that we're about to be standing next to those flags."

Taylor North, according to MLive, is only the 11th team from Michigan to compete in the LLWS, the last being Gross Pointe Woods-Shores in 2018. The only Michigan team to win the LLWS title was Hamtramck in 1959, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Taylor North will be entering LLWS play on a high note after its win over Ohio Saturday. Ethan Van Belle went 1-for-2 with three RBIs for Taylor North in the title game, while Max LaForest was 1-for-2 with two runs knocked in. Cameron Thorning and Jackson Surma each had two hits and an RBI and Chauncey Adkins went 1-for-2 with an RBI.

Van Belle also pitched five of the six innings, giving up one hit and one run and striking out nine.

Taylor North booked its ticket to Williamsport last Thursday with a 10-0 win over Hinsdale, Illinois, in a game that lasted just five innings because of the mercy rule.

In that contest, Surma went 1-for-3 with two RBIs, Noah Boren was 1-for-2 with two knocked in and Lucas Farner, Thorning, Jakob Furkas, Van Belle and LaForest also knocked in runs.