Philly Has Taney Dragons Fever
https://twitter.com/phillybprs/status/498651730222284800
It’s official: Philly is Dragon-crazy.
The Taney Dragons beat Delaware’s Newark National team on Sunday, 8-0, giving them a trip to the Little League World Series that starts Friday. They were led, again, by Mo’Ne Davis, who threw six strikeouts during the victory.
Philadelphia’s Twitter exploded in delight Sunday evening.
Congratulations to Mo'ne Davis and Philadelphia's Taney Dragons as Pennsylvania advances to the #LLWS! http://t.co/zsstupdsOi
— Senator Bob Casey (@SenBobCasey) August 11, 2014
Congratulations to the Taney Dragons baseball team, the first EVER from Philadelphia to make it to the Little League World Series.
— Dan J Kroll (@DanJKroll) August 11, 2014
#TaneyDragons are so Philadelphia… the beauty of sports!!! Thank you for reminding us of the power of belief!!!
— Penn Men's Basketball (@PennMBB) August 11, 2014
https://twitter.com/jtownley12/status/498690108162592768
Mo'ne Davis fires a dominant complete game shutout and Pennsylvania advances to the #LLWS. She was lights out.
— Cut4 (@Cut4) August 10, 2014
KYW:
The Dragons, in only their second year of Little League play, had a 4-0 lead after the 1st inning and never looked back.
Fans gathered at Milkboy in Center City for a watch party and cheered every run scored and out made, never giving up hope for their team.
“I just want to root for the Taney Dragons, we’re a tiny league and we got so far, so I’m really proud of them,” this fan tells KYW Newsradio.
NBC Philadelphia on Mo’Ne Davis’s budding celebrity:
The Taney Dragons’ star pitcher has received plenty of attention and was featured on the Today Show Sunday morning. The 13-year-old girl, who throws a 70 mph fast ball, says she initially tried to play softball when she was younger but decided to play with the boys and switch to baseball. Davis says her skills quickly earned her the respect of her male peers.
“I end up striking them out and I look at my teammates and they’re laughing,” Davis said. “So I just laugh with them.”
Davis says her baseball dreams won’t end at the LLWS.
“I’ll probably either be the first female in the MLB or in the NBA,” Davis said.
The Good Phight brings a tear to our eye:
A team from Philadelphia that was playing in the official Little League tournament for the first time wasn’t supposed to become state champs against veteran powerhouses from other parts of the state.
A big city team wasn’t supposed to dominate against mostly well-funded and well-oiled suburban machines in the regional tournament.
A 12-year-old girl wasn’t supposed to look like the second coming of Roy Halladay (or, her favorite player, Clayton Kershaw) in the finals against a team that was in the World Series last year.
And baseball fans from Philadelphia weren’t supposed to be going to bars and house parties on a Sunday night in August to watch 12-year-olds they don’t know play baseball.
But all of these things happened, and it was beyond glorious.
Taney’s first game is 3 p.m. Friday against Tennessee.
Previously: My Daughter Wants to Throw Like Mo’Ne Davis
