Summerlin South relishes chance to represent Nevada in LLWS

If air hockey and cornhole are any sort of an indicator, Summerlin South is in good shape heading into the Little League World Series.

Coach TJ Fechser watched his players compete among themselves during their recreational time between games last week in San Bernardino, California, and he was impressed by the level of intensity. The team took that same aggression onto the field Friday and defeated Utah 6-3 in the Mountain Region final to become the fourth Nevada team to qualify for the LLWS.

Fechser said there had been minimal pregame discussion about a trip to Williamsport, Pennsylvania. But he admitted it was a relief to make it through the regional tournament, where his team went 3-0 with two wins over Utah and one over Colorado.

“The players have come to the reality that this is their last Little League season,” said Fechser, whose team has outscored opponents 89-31 in postseason competition. “This is the year for their dream.”

But there will be more to this road trip than just baseball, as Summerlin South opens the 12-day tournament against Clarendon Hills, Illinois, the Great Lakes Region champion, at noon Wednesday.

The team also will be representing Nevada, a source of pride to the players and their coach.

“My family has been in Nevada for 80 years,” Fechser said. “So this is a big deal for me. We’re Nevadans, and we want people to see that baseball is burgeoning here.”

Three straight appearances for Nevada

Mountain Ridge became the first Nevada team to qualify for the LLWS in 2014. That squad reached the U.S. championship game, losing to Chicago’s Jackie Robinson West Little League. The Nevada squad was awarded the U.S championship six months later after officials determined that the team from Illinois had used ineligible players.

By that time, South Korea already had claimed the international championship, as there are no do-overs in baseball. Though Mountain Ridge was awarded the American bracket title by default, no Nevada team has actually played in the international championship game.

Henderson got Nevada back into the LLWS in 2023, going 2-2. Paseo Verde looked strong in winning its first two LLWS games last season before being snuffed out by Boerne, Texas (Southwest Region) and eventual champion Lake Mary, Florida (Southeast).

Nevada’s recent success might be partly attributable to the fact that the state switched from the West Region to the newly created Mountain Region in 2022 when the LLWS expanded from 16 to 20 teams. The change helped Nevada avoid West Region powerhouses California and Hawaii.

California holds the record for Little League World Series championships with eight. Hawaii, Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania have won four apiece, and Georgia and New York have each won three.

Thirty-five states have never won the title, and six states plus Washington, D.C., have never appeared in a LLWS.

The tournament dates to 1947, when the Maynard Midgets of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, won the title.

This year’s World Series again will be played in a modified double-elimination format, meaning a team is eliminated after two losses except in the championship round, where one loss ends a team’s season.

Contact Jeff Wollard at jwollard@reviewjournal.com.