Eastlake, Tijuana get a little R&R

Tijuana Municipal Little League has feasted on opposing pitching thus far in the Little League World Series — beating Australia and Panama a combined 25-0 in games that were both shortened by the mercy rule.

On Monday, Team Mexico’s first of two days off before playing Japan for a spot in the International Championship game (1 p.m. Wednesday, ESPN), players, coaches, families and friends spent their afternoon feasting on carne asada and horchata and a whole host of other goodies.

Jose Hernandez, of Elizabethville, Pa., about an hour and a half from Williamsport, provided the picnic for Tijuana’s team — they would have otherwise been hard-pressed to find some home cooking in an area desperate for restaurants that can dish out authentic Mexican cuisine.

“Last night we were talking, and we said, ‘Let’s bring up the grill and cook for them,’ ” Hernandez said. “We come up every year, but we’ve never done this before.”

After a win, Tijuana manager Francisco Fimbres and his staff always ask their players what they want as a gift — a meal with the family, a trip to the recreation room, ice cream, that sort of thing.

The picnic, along with a rain-shortened morning practice, was their gift for beating a solid Panama team, which stayed alive Monday with a 12-0 mercy rule win over Team Canada.

“We didn’t think we’d make a lot of runs against Latin American,” pitcher Luis Manzo said.

The Tijuana players spent their laid-back afternoon Monday sharing funny videos on their smartphones, eating and drinking Fantas and Cokes, and having team mothers cajole them into doing the “bee dance” and singing, over and over, for a bevy of handheld camcorders.

In the Eastlake Little League camp, manager Rick Tibbett tries to keep his kids to a fairly regular practice schedule.

“I don’t give them days off if I don’t have to right now,” Tibbett said. “They play 75 to 110 games a year at least. They’re used to playing. Some of the tournaments they play, there’s five games in two days. Some of these teams here don’t get to play around the year.”

Most of the Eastlake players should have returned to school by now, and they’ve been assigned homework to keep up with as they continue their quest for a World Series title.

Next up: Westport, Conn. (5 p.m., Wednesday, ESPN), the New England champion, which took a nine-run lead Sunday against Sammamish, Wash., before hanging on for a 9-7 win.

For Eastlake outfielder Dominic Haley, the journey has already been beyond his wildest expectations.

“I never imagined going that far with this group of kids,” Haley said. “I always dreamed of it, but didn’t know how much fun getting here was going to be.”