Jun. 18—POTTSVILLE — Kevin Shellhammer was heading out the door on the first of many nights at a Little League diamond.
“The most important thing is seeing the smiles on those kids’ faces,” the District 24 Little League administrator said Wednesday before he went to Game 1 of the Major Division softball title series in Saint Clair.
After a 2020 campaign in which the Little League postseason ladder, including the Little League World Series in South Williamsport itself, was torn away by the coronavirus pandemic, local Little Leagues are sending their All-Star baseball squads back into competition this weekend.
“The parents are happy,” Shellhammer said. “They’re happy to get out of hibernation and enjoy their kids having fun.”
It also means a busy schedule for Shellhammer until district champions are crowned. He figures he will see two games each on Saturdays and Sundays and probably a game each weeknight. It’s nothing new for Shellhammer, who has been involved with Little League for 44 years and is in his third term as district administrator.
“I have a grandson that plays T-ball,” he said. “So I’m over in Saint Clair seeing T-ball games every week.”
The stakes of the baseball games he will start seeing Saturday are considerably higher. Teams of players aged 10-12, 9-11 and 8-10 will battle for district crowns that launch them into Section 3 tournaments in July.
For the Major Division teams vying for District 24 supremacy, a district banner is the first step in the dream of a berth in the Little League World Series. This year, the World Series will consist only of United States teams as the international organization limits travel from overseas to stem the spread of coronavirus.
Yet that is a small hindrance in 2021 after the elimination of the entire 2020 postseason.
“We did have some kind of season last year,” Shellhammer said about District 24. “There were 18 of the 21 leagues that actually had a season, even if it was a shortened season.”
Two leagues, Line Mountain and Halifax, dropped from the all-star tournament this spring because of low enrollment. That same factor led other leagues to combine all-star squads. Those now number 12 for the District 24 Major Division tournament, five for ages 9-11 and 10 for the Minor Division ages 8-10.
“It cuts our teams down, but at least the kids from the smaller leagues are experiencing districts,” Shellhammer said of the all-stars.
With Orwigsburg as defending champion from the 2019 season, the Major Division baseball tournament consists of four pools of three teams. The top two teams in each pool advance to the July 2 quarterfinals. Those winners square off in the semifinals July 5, with the final scheduled July 8. The winning team gets a trip to Athens for the section tournament on July 16-20.
The ages 9-11 tournament’s five teams will play a round-robin schedule to eliminate one from the semifinals, scheduled July 3. Those winners meet for the title July 9. The champion won’t have to travel far for the section tournament because Cressona will host that event July 16-20. The 2019 champion was Millersburg, which has now combined with Upper Dauphin.
The Minor Division (ages 8-10) will have two pools with five teams each. The top two teams in each pool will play semifinal games July 3 with the winners meeting July 7 for the district title and a berth in the section tournament July 16-20 in District 12. Cressona last won the district in 2019.
By mid-July, Shellhammer will have traveled many miles to see many games. For now, there is the anticipation of another Little League postseason.
“I still get butterflies,” he said.
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