SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — The Pennsylvania party rolled on at the Little League World Series.
The hometown favorites from Clinton County overcame a rocky start with a six-run first inning then held on for a 7-5 victory Tuesday night over Warner Robins, Ga., before another raucous 32,000-plus crowd under the Lamade Stadium lights.
Brandon Miller got the offense going again with a leadoff single before coming around to score on Landon Breon‘s two-run single. Miller, Pennsylvania’s 12-year-old spark plug, finished the scoring in the frantic first with an RBI infield single.
Georgia had the winning run at the plate with two runners on with two out in the sixth, but reliever Tyler McCloskey got a groundout to end the game.
Earlier, Ken Igeta had an RBI double to start the scoring in a three-run third, and Asuya Otsuka added an RBI triple in Hamamatsu City, Japan’s 4-0 victory over Langley, British Columbia.
Serena’s No. 28 seed at U.S. Open under fire
NEW YORK — Serena Williams was seeded 28th for the U.S. Open, which stuck with its policy of following the rankings instead of taking into account players’ past performances. The decision means Williams, who is ranked 29th, could face one of the Grand Slam tournament’s top eight seeded players as early as the third round.
The 29-year-old American leads active women with 13 major championships, including three at Flushing Meadows — in 1999, 2002 and 2008. She recently won consecutive hardcourt tuneup tournaments at Stanford and Toronto, making her one of the favorites to win the U.S. Open that starts Monday.
Chris Evert, an 18-time major champion, said the tournament erred by not lifting Williams’ seeding.
“It hurts the field, is what it does. It really doesn’t hurt Serena as much as it hurts the other players. One of the top seeds will get her in the third round,” said Evert, who will call U.S. Open matches for ESPN2. “I think they could have made a much better judgment call.”
Adelman interviews with Timberwolves
MINNEAPOLIS — Long believed to be the front-runner if he wants the job, Rick Adelman finally interviewed with the Minnesota Timberwolves about their coaching vacancy.
Three weeks after he told an Oregon newspaper he has no plans “right now” to coach next season, Adelman met with Timberwolves president of basketball operations David Kahn, owner Glen Taylor and CEO Rob Moor before catching an outbound flight home.
He is the seventh and final candidate — Don Nelson, Sam Mitchell, Mike Woodson, Larry Brown, Bernie Bickerstaff and Terry Porter are the others — to interview for a job that became vacant when Kurt Rambis was fired last month after two seasons.
• Detroit Pistons rookie Kyle Singler signed with Spanish club Lucentum Alicante for the upcoming season if a lockout wipes out the NBA season.
Footnotes.
Miami Hurricanes senior forward-center Julian Gamble likely will miss the basketball season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left leg.
• Brad Keselowski will skip the Nationwide Series race this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway because of his broken ankle.
• NASCAR fined crew chief Jerry Baxter $5,000 for pulling Steve Wallace‘s hair after Saturday’s Nationwide race at Montreal.
• Spaniard Daniel Moreno won a mountainous fourth stage of the Spanish Vuelta to move 43 seconds behind new overall leader Sylvain Chavanel.
Denver Post wire services
