USA wins Little League world series

...and after the game, the USA team continued to show the kind of character we can all be proud of.

"No moment was crazier than the game-ending home run Dalton delivered, the first walk-off he has ever hit, he said. Before the at-bat, Dalton said he knelt in prayer for the strength "to just get a hit and help my team out."

He hit a 2-1 curveball over the right-field fence, his fourth home run in 16 World Series at-bats. He tore around the bases.

"My adrenaline was about to go crazy," Dalton said. "My legs were about to fall off. I really thought I was flying, like Peter Pan."

In the stands above, where parents, siblings and other supporters among the 31,400 in attendance had variously clasped their hands, anxiously twitched their legs and simply sat without a word, bedlam broke out.

High-fives. Sobbing. Hugs. Screaming. Pointing and waving at jubilant sons. Chants of "USA! USA!"

The Warner Robins coaches and players gathered on the mound with the Tokyo team, trying to console the Japanese boys who Lay said were the first of the 16 teams to greet his team when Warner Robins arrived in Williamsport two weeks ago.

"I don't believe we'll ever forget this moment," Lay said. "The sadness on their faces, the joy in ours. We're trying to let them know there's no shame in what happened today. They need to hold their heads high."

Via www.ajc.com

When the Japanese team began crying after losing the game, the USA team went over to hug their opponents. Now that's sportsmanship.

[visual description: Dalton Carriker runs the bases, his arms in the air, after hitting the winning homer in the series championship game.]