How does Stella Weaver handle Little League World Series pressure? It starts with practice

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Black socks pulled to her knees, bright yellow Little League World Series Southeast Region jersey tucked tidily into her bright white baseball pants, Stella Weaver sprinted to the pitcher's mound at Howard J. Lamade Stadium at 3:16 p.m. Monday.

Pigtails protruding from the back of her black and yellow cap, Weaver retrieved a brand-new white baseball and began to warm up. Her Nolensville Little League teammates did the same.

"On the mound, number 12, Stella Weaver," the public address announcer informed the 7,808 witnesses in the stands.

Like they didn't already know.

"I'm not nervous," her father, Matt Weaver, told The Tennessean before the game. "This is so much fun."

He looked around, pointing at all of the Nolensville supporters in his sight.

"I'll let her be nervous," he said.

Stella Weaver told The Tennessean on Sunday that she probably would be bursting with nerves while facing her first batter. If she was, she didn't show it.

That she was pitching on the 39th anniversary of Victoria Roche becoming the first girl ever to play in the Little League World Series was the kind of fitting coincidence that almost sounds made up.

Stella Weaver strikes out first batter

After Weaver had a brief business meeting with Nolensville catcher Corbin Cyphers, Northwest Region champion Nolan Chang dug into the right-handed batter's box. At 3:19 p.m. Eastern time, Weaver threw her first pitch — a groundball to the right of first base. Then strike 2. Eventually, she reached strike 3.

She walked around the mound, the spotlight, as if she'd lived this moment before.

Nolensville second baseman Turner Blalock stopped what would have been a single from going into right field and threw out Trey Kirchoff for the second out. Ty McKenzie II made it look as easy as the 1-2-3 inning it was when he snagged a short hopper at third, his throw beating the runner to first.

In the top of the second inning, the latest installment of "Weaver Fever: The Stella and the Fellas Story" marched on. Weaver whacked a single into left-center field. Her second hit of the tournament tied her for most by a U.S. girl in history.

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Stella Weaver leaves mound in second inning

Then the bottom of the second happened. The Northwest team loaded the bases with nobody out, chasing Weaver before her opponents scored five of their six runs in the 6-2 loss.

"She was aware I was going to come get her if she got in trouble," Nolensville manager Randy Huth said. "I said, 'Hey, you did great. I'm proud of you. You didn't do anything wrong.' . . . Sometimes the baseball gods aren't on your side."

Weaver retrieved a different glove and walked toward her new place at first base. Her head hung a bit. The girl who has been on "Good Morning America," interviewed on ESPN, signed endless autographs and smiled for countless selfies, was absorbing the moment.

"It's gotta be tough for her," Huth said. "She has a lot of attention on her. She's basically representing every female that ever wanted to play baseball. That can't be easy."

Weaver "handled it with pure class," he continued.

"But it has to take a toll."

There have been days when Weaver, the 22nd girl to play in the Little League World Series, has done at least 10 interviews. Ryne Sandberg asked to meet her. Bryce Harper offered her his autograph and some words of encouragement. She took a photo with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred.

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She's still 12 years old. Before she stepped foot on the mound Monday, she joined her teammates in a circle around Little League mascot Dugout and showed off some dance moves. She hopped while simultaneously taking turns clapping her hands beneath each leg. She giggled with her friends.

"She had a lot of pressure going into today's game," Huth said. "We wanted to give her that start because it's historic."

And because, he said, she was ready.

Stella Weaver's rehearsals

When they first met in March, Huth warned the first girl in the history of Nolensville Little League that she might end up on the front of a breakfast cereal box. He warned the only girl playing in the 2023 Little League World Series of the attention she would receive if the team could reach the Series for the third consecutive year.

Huth is the only United States coach to accomplish that feat.

"The day I met her I said, 'You better get used to talking to people because a lot of people are going to want to talk to you if we make it pretty far,' " Huth said. "I also said, 'If we make it as far as I think we will, you'll be on the cover of a Wheaties box before it's over."

Weaver laughed at the notion. Huth wasn't kidding.

His teams regularly rehearse rituals such as how to line up and stand for the national anthem, how to celebrate.

Shortly after the day they met, Huth began rehearsing with Weaver how to deal with more than pitching mechanics and fundamentals. He rehearsed with her how to handle the spotlight, peppering her with questions.

"I asked her interview questions back in March," he said. "I love her to death. She reciprocates that love. We've had a great time going through this process together."

When this process is over, the moments "Stella and the fellas" shared will remain.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Southeast Region LLWS manager Randy Huth prepares Stella Weaver for spotlight