Cheerleaders in ceremonial topcoats waved ornate fans. Between innings, spectators danced in unison to music from artists as varied as Elvis Presley, Pharrell Williams and the Ramones. The players also danced beforehand, but they quickly grew serious in purpose.

After an absence of 29 years from the youth Series, South Korea defeated Jackie Robinson West of Chicago, 8-4, for its third title, each coming without a defeat in the tournament.

South Korea took an 8-1 lead into the bottom of the sixth and final inning, when Chicago finally hit the ball out of the infield. Starting pitcher Hwang Jae-yeong retired the first six batters he faced — four by strikeout — but then felt a twinge in his elbow and was relieved after allowing an infield single. Still, the Koreans did not lack for depth.

Choi Hae-chan moved from first base to the mound, bringing along an explosive fastball and a powerful swing. He and his teammate Sin Dong-wan homered as South Korea put the game beyond reach in the late innings. Chicago had been resilient through the Series and rallied in the bottom of the sixth on Sunday, but there were too many runs to make up against a poised and skilled opponent.

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The 5-4, 13-year-old pitcher has made headlines across the nation for breaking down barriers. She has become just the 18th girl to play in the Little League World Series since its founding 57 years ago. After throwing a shutout game for her underdog team, the Philadelphia Taney Dragons, and becoming the very first Little Leaguer to land on the cover of Sports Illustrated, the nation has done more than take notice at her incredible abilities; it has turned her into a hero.

However, as many have pointed out, Davis’ achievements reach far beyond those of just the sporting world. Similar to many Olympic athletes who suddenly find themselves in the spotlight, often also at a young age and often excelling in unconventional ways, Davis has captured the attention of so many because she doesn’t look or speak like your typical Little Leaguer. This in turn has helped to battle stereotypes – both athletic and educational – and opens the door for young women in more ways than one. Some have drawn comparisons to Mia Hamm’s performance in the 1999 World Cup.

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If the Yankees continue to play as they have the last week, their hopes will have disintegrated long before Tanaka is ready to pitch again.

The latest fiasco came in the form of a 5-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday. It was the Yankees’ fifth straight loss and their second shutout in that stretch, during which they have scored a total of seven runs. If not for a solo home run by Jacoby Ellsbury in the ninth inning Sunday, the Yankees would have been shut out three times.

“Morale’s down a little bit,” the team’s hitting coach, Kevin Long, said, “but it’s our job to try to keep it up and try to keep guys as positive as we can during a time like this. That’s one of our toughest challenges.”

Getting timely hits is another. In five of nine innings Friday, the Yankees’ leadoff batter reached base but did not score. The Yankees even loaded the bases with one out in the eighth, but reliever Brad Boxberger struck out Ellsbury and Mark Teixeira, Teixeira going down looking.

Some of the pitchers the Yankees have faced, like Rays starter Alex Cobb on Friday, make hitting difficult for anyone. But Long acknowledged that the Yankees’ hitters were pressing, and in some cases — against the Baltimore Orioles’ Chris Tillman, for instance, who did not have his best stuff on Wednesday — the blame is on the batters.

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Matthew Adams stuck out seven in 4 2-3 innings to lead Pearland.

Landon Donley earned a save in the opener for both teams, allowing a run on a fielder’s choice before getting Addison Kopack to fly out to deep right center.

Michael Groover had a two-run single for Pearland in the top of the sixth.

Pearland catcher Joshua Gabino left in the bottom of the first with an injured left hand.

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Mostly seen as a utility player on the bench, Campbell has been a pleasant surprise for the Mets since being called up from Class AAA Las Vegas, compiling a .298 batting average entering Friday, a mark that ranked second on the team. Collins believed Campbell, a 27-year-old rookie who is not considered a top prospect, had done enough to earn more playing time.

Collins’s hunch paid off Friday as Campbell hit a decisive three-run homer in the fourth inning of the Mets’ 3-2 win over the Chicago Cubs at Citi Field.

“I’m learning how to go about it,” Campbell said of his utility role. “I’m getting better every day with the situation I’m in.”

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The fourth inning began with Travis Wood, the Cubs’ left-handed starter, walking David Wright and Lucas Duda. After a Travis d’Arnaud flyout, Campbell launched a ball over the left-field fence.

Mets starter Zack Wheeler shut down the Cubs’ offense, which had struck out 77 times in the team’s last seven games. Wheeler struck out 10 more in six and two-thirds innings to improve to 8-8. The Cubs struck out 14 times in all.

Chicago scored its only runs in the third inning against Wheeler, on a groundout from Anthony Rizzo and on a single by Starlin Castro.

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“It’s truly amazing. I’m very happy to see girls playing,” said Massar, 78, of Yuba City, California.

Canada’s Emma March and Philadelphia’s Mo’Ne Davis became the 17th and 18th girls to play in the tournament Friday. It is only the third time in the event’s 68-year history that two girls are playing in the same series.

Davis threw a two-hitter to help Philadelphia beat Nashville 4-0. She had eight strikeouts and didn’t walk a batter.

Davis, who received a noticeably louder reception than any other player during introductions, said she noticed plenty of girls younger than her in the audience. The applause heightened significantly when Davis struck out the final batter, becoming the first girl to throw a shutout in Little League World Series history.

“It’s very unreal. I never thought at the age of 13 I would be a role model,” Davis said. “Hopefully, more girls play Little League.”

March did not fare as well.

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What he does not have, is a left arm.

But that hasn’t slowed the 12-year-old from North Carolina, who turned heads at the Baseball Youth NYBC All-Star Challenge over the weekend.

Batts went deep in the home run derby — he bats lefty, swinging with his lead hand — and pitched in the East’s 8-4 win over the West at Baseball Heaven in Suffolk County.

“He adapts well,” his mother, Erica Batts, told MLB.com. “As long as he wants to play, we’ll do it.”

“If he can’t play ball, he’s miserable,” his grandmother, Susan, said. “But as long as he’s out there playing, he’s happy go lucky. That’s his life: the ballfield.

Batts was born without his left arm but was hitting balls off of a tee by the time he was 3-years-old. His mother doesn’t like when he pitches — “it just gets me nervous,” she said — but he manages to do it anyway, keeping his glove behind him on the mound and barehanding throws back from the catcher. If he needs to make a throw while manning first base, he tucks his glove under his chin, yanks his hand out of the glove, then grabs the ball and makes the toss.

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A year to the day after 13 professional ballplayers were suspended in the biggest doping scandal in baseball history, federal DEA agents arrested nine people, seven of them for being part of an illegal network that provided major leaguers with steroids and supplied performance-enhancing drugs to teenagers, both in the United States and the Dominican Republic.

Anthony “Tony” Bosch, 50, founder of the now-defunct Biogenesis anti-aging clinic in Coral Gables; Yuri Sucart, cousin of Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez; and Lazaro “Lazer” Collazo, a former University of Miami pitching coach, were among those charged in the PED case.

Collazo, who has operated baseball clinics and camps for young people for several decades, is accused of recruiting young baseball hopefuls for Bosch’s clinic. Some 18 of them paid $240 to $600 for steroid concoctions, prosecutors said. The teenagers attended public and private schools in the United States and a baseball camp in the Dominican Republic.

The kids, ages 15-17, were never examined by licensed medical professionals in connection with the treatment they obtained from Bosch, authorities said.

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That’s where he grew up, and it’s there that baseball meshed with his heart and mind, leading to his current job as Baseball Canada’s director general. Today, hanging on Baba’s basement wall, is a picture of Ross Wells Park – the pretty and iconic Moose Jaw baseball diamond that’s spawned a million stories.

“My dad was a baseball nut,” Baba – in Saskatoon for this week’s Baseball Canada Cup – says of Farris Baba, a well-known Moose Jaw baseball figure.

“He loved the sport. Mom liked scorekeeping … the whole family was involved. That passion rubbed off on me.

“Any weekend in Moose Jaw, there’s a tournament on. We were there, it seemed, 24 hours – your parents were working at the booth, or umpiring, or something else, and you hung around there the whole time.”

Baba became a pretty good player as the years went on, playing on a Moose Jaw Little League senior team that took silver at nationals, winning a Saskatchewan Major Baseball League batting title as a teenager, and playing collegiately in Yakima, Wash. where he also won a batting crown. He competed at nine Canadian senior championships.

He also turned into an elite coach, and he caught the eye of Baseball Canada when he piloted Saskatchewan to a silver medal at the 1989 Jeux Canada Games.

He went on to coach the national senior team before moving into an administrative role.

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Now, with a week to go before team owners are to pick a replacement for Bud Selig as Major League Baseball’s commissioner, Werner has emerged as a formidable challenger to Selig’s longtime deputy and closest adviser, Rob Manfred.

Selig formally announced in September that he would step down in January 2015, and Manfred, baseball’s chief operating officer, has been seen as the favorite to succeed him. But Werner’s candidacy has gained some traction in recent weeks as he has received the backing of a small but influential group of owners who are strongly opposed to Manfred and are trying to block his election.

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Until recently, the owners opposed to Manfred — the Chicago White Sox’ Jerry Reinsdorf, the Red Sox’ John Henry and the Los Angeles Angels’ Arte Moreno — had largely failed to come up with an alternative candidate.

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On the public address system. On the video board. In the second inning.

Surely this would be good news for the home team. David Price? Jon Lester? Cole Hamels?

Better, as it turned out. Way better.

Hyun-Jin Ryu delivered the news in Korean, and there was barely any reaction at Dodger Stadium. Yasiel Puig spoke in Spanish, and there was a little bit of buzz.

Then Justin Turner spoke in English, and the crowd erupted in a deafening roar and a lengthy standing ovation.

In any language, the news was delightful: Vin Scully is coming back next year.

Scully thought long and hard about whether to return for a 66th season, at several points last year telling friends he believed this year might be his last. Scully, widely considered the greatest baseball broadcaster of all time, was inducted into the Hall of Fame 32 years ago. He turns 87 in November.

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