Johnston All-Stars Begin World Series Run Today

Three days after they won back-to-back games to win the Junior Little League Eastern Regional tounament, Johnston's 13-to- 14-year-old All Star team is scheduled to play the first game of the League's World Series at noon Central time (1 p.m. Eastern), today, August 14, in Taylor, MI.

Johnston is set to play Canton, OH, who defeated Taylor, MI, in the Central Division on August 10 to earn a berth in the World Series.

The local squad played its way out of the consolation bracket in the Eastern Regionals, squeaking out a 14-13 win over Pennridge, PA, then defeating the Pennsylvannia team, 18-7, in a second game that same afternoon to win the title.

Manager Ed Bedrosian, in an e-mail message on August 14, wrote that after winning the first game on Gian Martellini's walk-off two-run homer, the Johnston team seemed energized going into the afternoon match-up.

"After we won the first game on Thursday, you could just feel that the team was ready to win the second game — we had all the momentum," Bedrosian wrote.

Pennridge was the only team to beat Johnston (6-1) in the Regionals.

"We wanted PA — and we got them — and it was sweet coming out of the [consolation] bracket and beating them twice," Bedrosian explained.

Going into today's contest against Ohio — who started off the Central Regionals with a 16-0 blanking of Taylor and lost, 11-1, to Indiana, before reeling off four straight wins, including two on the last day of regionals competition — Bedrosian wrote that the Johnston team is taking the same approach as it did going into the Eastern tournament.

"We will just play our game and see what happens," Bedrosian explained.

In its last two games against Pennridge, Johnston posted a team .426 batting average (26-for-61), scoring 32 runs and gathering 12 walks against 12 strikeouts — including just three in the title-clinching game.

"We are really hitting the ball well and hopefully it will continue at [the] World Series," Bedrosian wrote.

Get e-mail updates about the Johnston Junior Little League's performance in the World Series by clicking the "Keep me posted!" link below.

Correction: The time reference for this game was changed after first publication.