Alvey does it all as Louisville wins LLWS
— -- SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. -- Aaron Alvey homered and set twopitching records as Louisville, Ky., beat Sendai, Japan, 1-0 Sundaynight to win the Little League World Series.
With one out in the top of the first, Alvey sent the first pitchhe saw 250 feet -- the outfield wall is 205 -- to center field to putLouisville in front. He then struck out 11 on his way to settingWorld Series records for strikeouts (44) and scoreless innings(21), and tying the mark for consecutive no-hit innings (12).
Louisville is the first U.S. team to win the title since Tom'sRiver, N.J., beat Kashima, Japan, 12-9 in 1998.
"Me and my teammates worked really hard since it started,"Alvey said. "Me and my teammates are really, really happy thatthis happened."
Alvey experienced shoulder pain midway through the game, andreceived heat treatments in the dugout.
"My shoulder starting hurting a little bit ... then it startedfeeling good," he said. "I went back out there to do my thing."
Alvey walked Yoosuke Katoh with two out in the sixth inning,putting Tatsuhiko Numakura -- who had three home runs in the series-- at the plate. But Numakura's line drive was caught by firstbaseman Casey Jordan to end the game.
When Jordan caught the ball, Alvey blew out a huge sigh ofrelief.
Alvey struck out Yoshinori Satoh in the second to break the31-year-old record for strikeouts. Mu-Hsu Chin of Tainan City,Taiwan, struck out 36 in two games in 1971, including 22 in nineinnings in Tainan City's 12-3 championship victory over Gary, Ind.
Alvey tied the record with 12 consecutive no-hit innings -- oneagainst Clemmons, N.C., nine against Fort Worth, Texas, and thefirst two against Japan. Sean Burroughs also had 12 consecutiveno-hit innings in 1993 for champion Long Beach, Calif.
On Wednesday night, Alvey threw a no-hitter through nine inningsin Louisville's 2-1, 11-inning victory over Fort Worth in the U.S.semifinals. Although Little League rules required that Alvey bereplaced in the 10th inning, his performance was recorded as ano-hitter, the longest no-hitter in Little League history.
