Toms River's slugger Kevin Blum enjoys notoriety

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. - As Toms River East celebrated its Little League World Series championship with a parade in 1998, Kevin Blum was there, as a 1-year old with his father.

"I still can't believe the amount of attention and fever," said Karl Blum, an orthopedic surgeon, of the excitement generated by the championship team.

That buzz is back in Toms River and 13-year old Kevin has had a lot to do with the vibe.

Toms River National opens double-elimination play at 11 a.m., Saturday against Hamilton, Ohio, and among the scores of players in the 16-team Little League World Series field, Blum has become one of the more recognizable faces.

Last week, he made headlines after producing an unprecedented home-run cycle - a solo home run, a two-run shot, a three-run homer, and a grand slam - as Toms River drubbed a Washington, D.C., team, 21-0, in regional play.

The performance has Blum signing autographs and taking photos with fans.

"It's kind of like I'm famous now," Blum said, smiling.

Among baseball feats, the quirky home run accomplishment is indeed an oddity.

"That's never been done before," his father, Karl Blum, said of the cycle.

"I didn't even think that was possible," Kevin Blum added. "I was just so focused that game. Actually, I was sick before that game. I was really tired and thirsty, so I really had to focus."

The following game, he hit two more home runs, collecting six over a two-game span.

"He's a special kid," Toms River manager Paul Deceglie said. "He's just a tremendous athlete. He always has been and I hope he always will be. He's got a lot of potential, that boy. He really does."

While the 1998 title team created enormous local pride around Toms River, the current crop of players took its inspiration from the area's 2005 Little League team.

"The one that went to the final game of the [Mid-Atlantic] regional - that re-sparked our town again," the father said. "All the kids who followed that team said they wanted to do it, too, and they dreamed about it."

Including Kevin Blum.

"Ever since then, I wanted to be a part of the Little League World Series," he said.

An avid sports fan, Karl Blum put up a batting cage in the backyard with a throwing machine. Inside the family's home, there's a similar, although smaller, set-up for winter practice.

The baseball obsession grew at home, especially for Linda Tran, Kevin's mother.

When she was a teen, Tran left Vietnam by boat the day Saigon fell. She was taken to an aircraft carrier, then to Guam and on to the Philippines, where she stayed at a refugee camp. She went to high school in Maryland and then studied at the University of Maryland.

Now a radiologist, she has been bitten by the Little League bug, according to her husband.

"This dream to come [to Williamsport] has been on my wife's mind for so many years," Blum said. "It's unusual that we're actually here. We'd be on vacation in Las Vegas or Arizona, and she'd make us come home early every day to watch the Little League World Series at 4 p.m.

"We'd usually root for the Mid-Atlantic team."

Now, Tran roots for her son.

"It's really unbelievable," Kevin Blum said. "I was talking about this when I was a kid. I didn't even think I could make it. But I'm actually here now and it's pretty special."

Connecticut 3, Washington 1 - Jack Quinn's two-run double broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the fifth as Fairfield, Conn., defeated Auburn, Wash.

Nate Klein scored Connecticut's first run in the bottom of the second before making a nice catch to his left at third base on a line drive to save a possible extra-base hit.

The 12-year-old was so giddy after the second inning that he danced atop third as he waited for the next frame to start.

"I wasn't really paying a lot of attention, but all of sudden there was a line drive coming at me," Klein said. "I just stuck my glove out."

Texas 10, Minnesota 8 - Blake Toler and Jake Orlando homered over the outfield hedges as Pearland, Texas, powered past Plymouth, Minn.

Texas scored eight runs over the first two innings and hit four homers in the game.

Puerto Rico 11, Germany 0 - Manati, Puerto Rico hit five homers in a victory over Ramstein Air Force Base, Germany.

Puerto Rico's Yomar Valentin had two homers, while Victor Valentin, Bryan Figueroa and Joshuan Sandoval also went deep in a game that ended in the fourth inning because of Little League's 10-run rule.

Japan 4, Mexico 2 - Tokyo beat Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, as Ginga Maruoka smacked a three-run homer with two outs in the top of the sixth.