Final thoughts from the Western Regional

It has taken me several days to decompress from 11 consecutive days of nearly non-stop Little League Western Regional coverage, but I wanted to share my final thoughts from the tourney.

BEST COMEBACK

Hawaii's Tanner Tokunaga was asked to come in and relieve starter Khade Paris in the West Regional final and the first thing he did was give up back-to-back home runs to Nevada that tied the game at 3-3. However, Tokunaga bounced back, started getting outs and was dominating in his final effort, including striking out Nevada stud Michael Blasko.

WEST MVP

Hawaii's Khade Paris was clutch, but how about Pikai Winchester for his two home runs against the tournament's most dominating pithcer? That's exactly what Winchester did in the championship game against Nevada's Blasko, who struck out 29 Hawaii batters in two games.

ANOTHER REMARKABLE RUN

After last season's championship run by Lake Osweego, Ore. we've learned that you can never take any team in the tournament for granted, and that's what Hawaii proved, once again, with its title effort. Hawaii hit about .200 for the tournament, but it got hits when it mattered most and wasn't afraid of Blasko.

GOOD CHOICE TO WIN IT ALL

While you've got to love Hawaii's tenacity, you've got to respect Mill Creek, Washington's lineup as it heads to the Little League World Series. Mill Creek has got great power, size and pitching. That's a heady trio of skills going to Williamsport. It's hard to imagine another U.S. team with as much size, talent and depth as what Mill Creek displayed in San Bernardino.

MOST FEARSOME PLAYER EVER?

There's one thing that can be said about Nevada's Michael Blasko -- ferocious. Blasko is the best player we've seen in round-the-clock coverage of the Western Regional. He played with such fervor that it was hard not to be interested when he took the field. He's a terrfic shortstop, dominating pitcher and his coaches say his best position may be catcher. While he slumped in his last two games offensively, he was dynamite on the mound, especially against Hawaii.

PLAYER WHO WE WOULDN'T BE SURPRISED TO SEE AGAIN

While Blasko and a host of others were outstanding, the player that seems to have the most athletic upside is Washignton's Jason Todd, who at 6-1 has the body and talent to play a wide range of sports. Even though he was the biggest player in the tournament, Todd has great speed and range at shortstop, which indicates that he may be special in other sports as well. That should be fun to see.

MOST IMPROVED TEAM

Wyoming gets the nod here after going 3-2 in the Northwest Regional. Since 2002, Wyoming posted a 2-18 record in regional play it was 1997 when the state had an above .500 finish. Wyoming did it with power and pitching. One of the most memorable moments was shortstop Dylan McWhorter hitting three consecutive home runs during a game.

HEARTFELT MOMENT

Aliso Viejo manager Dave Cole wasn't afraid to show his emotions after his team was eliminated from tournament play by Arizona's stunning walkoff home run in the final day of pool play. Cole handled himself with class and composure, despite his tearful eyes, during the postgame interviews. He was positive, complimentary and appreciative of his opponents and of the experience. You got to like that.

CLASS ACTS

No doubt this was a positive tournament judging by the quality and class of the managers who came by to talk to us. The ones that will certainly remember will be Montana manger Mike Follett , Arizona manager Jim Harte, Southern California manager Dave Cole, Hawaii manager Timo Donahue, Washington manager Scott Mahlum and Nevada manager Mike Kelly. Everyone was great but those guys stood out from the time spent dealing with us and for the work on the field.