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It might not have a broadcast deal to rival the National Rugby League, facilities that come close to Collingwoods Westpac Centre or the following of the Wallabies, but baseball -- specifically Little League -- is one of the fastest growing sports in Australia.The first Little League-affiliated leagues in Australia werent established until 2007, when Little League International and Baseball Australia began working together. But the sport has grown rapidly Down Under. After five years, Australia had more chartered Little League programs than Japan, and the country was granted direct entry to the Little League Baseball World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, starting in 2013, when Little League officially separated Australia from the Asia-Pacific region.Today, more than 4,500 11- and 12-year-old Australian kids are registered participants on one of the countrys 477 teams.Outside of the United States and Canada, we have more participants in Little League than anyone else in the world, says Mathew Sundstrom, the head of Little League and National Championships for Baseball Australia. Our participation in the program has been rapidly growing ever since the introduction of our older divisions, which now allow under-15s and -17s to join the program.As a result, the National Championship has doubled in teams, from 10 to 20, which highlights the growth and retention rate for baseball in this country.Hills Little League from New South Wales won the countrys national championship in June and an automatic berth in the World Series, which will be played Aug. 18-28. Hills defeated another New South Wales team, Central Coast, 7-3 for the title. The champions scored 75 runs in six games during the tournament while allowing only four.?Hills, who are from the northwest region of Sydney, qualified for the nationals and then, in June at the Little League National Championships, went through the tournament undefeated, Sundstrom said.Hills prevailed 7-3 in the final to book its place in Williamsport. That means a team from Australias east coast will appear in the LLWS for the second consecutive year. Hills was just two wins away from reaching the Little League World Series last year but fell to eventual Australia representative Cronulla by two runs in the region semifinals.Despite the rapid growth, some things about baseball are still different Down Under. Hills manager Les Stockdale?allows that the velocity of the pitching in the U.S. is a lot higher than in Australia. Sundstrom acknowledges that Hills -- which will have a 65-day layoff before its first game in Williamsport and will travel farther (9,793 miles) to the Little League World Series than any other team -- faces a daunting task in Williamsport. But he believes this years squad is the best Australian team to ever compete at the World Series.?Its a massive task. Its a very big stage over there, and the biggest crowd this team has played in front of was about 150 people, he said. It will be the first time theyve played in front of 10,000 people -- not to mention the 40,000 walking around the complex.Theyve definitely got the potential to challenge and go deep into the tournament. The furthest weve been the last two years is winning one game before being knocked out.Stockdale says his teams immediate objective is to win two games, starting with the opener. Australia has never won its inaugural game of the tournament. It opens the Little League World Series against Italy at 5 p.m. ET Thursday. That is the first meeting between the teams at the LLWS.Air Jordan 1 Pas Cher France . LOUIS -- St. Acheter Yeezy 350 v2 . PAUL, Minn. http://www.airmaxpaschervente.fr/destockage-air-max-97-france.html . Brandon Morrow allowed five runs on six hits over three innings. He struck out two, walked one and hit a batter. Edwin Encarnacion had a two-out, bases loaded two-RBI double in the third inning. Air Max 270 Pas Cher France .Y. -- Paul Byron and Matt Stajan scored as the Calgary Flames started a five-game road trip with a 2-1 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon. Vente Air Force 1 . Zvonareva, who won the tournament in 2009 and 10, couldnt handle her opponents big groundstrokes in only her third event back after 17 months out with a shoulder injury. Zvonareva made her comeback in January in Shenzhen and played in the Australian Open but lost her first matches at both tournaments.CHICAGO -- Clayton Custer scored 22 points and Loyola Chicago defeated Indiana University Northwest 100-51 on Sunday.Custer, who sat out last season after transferring from Iowa State, followed up a 10-point showing in a 69-44 season-opening win over Alcorn State by going 9 of 11 from the field for the Ramblers (2-0), who shot 57.1 percent, including 13 of 29 3-point tries for 44.8 percent.Milton Doyle added 13 points, Aundre Jackson 11 and Ben Richardson 10. The Ramblers didnt have a rebounder in doouble figures, but dominated the boards 50-27 while turning 21 turnovers into 27 points.ddddddddddddThe Ramblers scored the first 16 points of the game and led by as many as 51 in the second half.This was the first 100-point game since scoring 104 against Indiana State on Jan. 30, 2016.The NAIA RedHawks (1-4) were led by Jovan Jackson and JJ Pennington with 14 points each. ' ' '