Squeeze play

The Walpole American 12-year-old All-Stars went to bed last night with their baseball fates still in the balance.

Their game last night with Warner Robins, Ga., was delayed by rain in the top of second with the Georgia boys leading 2-0 and Walpole batting. The Americans’ third game in the 2007 Little League World Series will resume at that point today at 11 a.m.

Win and the Walpole kids move on to the U.S. semifinals. Lose and they go home.

Judging from how they have handled the on-field games and the off-field life in the World Series so far, they should be up be able to handle - win or lose - what is in store for them.

The Little League World Series, even when a team is winning, is by itself a pressure cooker. The crowds, the media coverage, the pressure, the hype, the stakes - everything about the event has a big-league feel to it.

And while some may feel that all the attention could be too much for these young minds to cope with, the Walpole American 12-year-old All-Star baseball team is enjoying every minute of it. Just like they are on the field, the Americans are just that tough to rattle off it.

‘‘At first it was kind of weird having random people come up to you,’’ said outfielder Johnny White. ‘‘After a while it kind of gets cool because I’m being treated like a pro athlete or a celebrity with people wanting your autograph and stuff.’’

One of their coaches said yesterday they show no sign of strain.

‘‘They’re doing pretty good with it,’’ said coach Jared Ruggieri. ‘‘I don’t think they see themselves as celebrities. They’re signing autographs and having a good time with that. I don’t think they know how big this is.’’

Indeed, moments after making his spectacular, game-winning catch to save the win over West Side (Hamilton, Ohio), Walpole American’s Mike Rando was seen signing an autograph for a fan roughly his same age.

‘‘I’m getting used to that now because strangers just want your autograph and they notice what your team has done so far,’’ said Rando.

But even examples like that may pale in comparison to Rando getting the star treatment as his catch that night was the number one highlight on SportsCenter’s top 10 plays aired on ESPN’s ‘‘SportsCenter.’’

‘‘It’s pretty weird to see myself on TV,’’ said Rando. ‘‘But, yeah, it’s pretty cool.’’

That same night, the entire team went into an ESPN booth and watched the Warner Robins, Ga.,-Lake Oswego, Ore., game with reporter Erin Andrews.

‘‘I would say sitting on the set of ESPN with Erin Andrews (was the biggest brush with fame),’’ said Ruggieri. ‘‘Looking down on the set with the highlights of themselves on the ESPN TVs, I think they realized they’d done something pretty special.’’

‘‘I think they’re doing well for a bunch of 12-year-old kids, to be honest with you,’’ said manager Brian Oberacker. ‘‘I think it really sunk in after that first game when they were taking a walk back to the dorms and they were signing autographs and seeing themselves on ‘SportsCenter,’ getting to see themselves on the ‘SportsCenter’ desk with Erin Andrews. And then, after that, they realized what to expect and they’ve been handling it well.’’

Even when they view their own highlights, though, their perspective is still one that’s consistent with their age group.

‘‘It’s funny how they do it. When they see themszelves on TV they pick apart how they look more than anything,’’ said Ruggieri. ‘‘They’re handling it pretty well. Some guys are getting more attention than others like Rando, Sammy (Falkson) and Johnny (White), but those guys are handling it great.’’

And according to Ruggieri, this is all part of the experience he and fellow coach Wayne Oberacker and manager Brian Oberacker were hoping these kids would have.

‘‘I think us, as coaches, we kind of want them to be able to do this. How many times will they get a chance to do this in their life?’’ said Ruggieri. ‘‘We want them to go over every step of it. They love to be able to sign autographs and take pictures with people and they’re handling it pretty good.’’

‘‘It’s been awesome. You have people who want your autograph and stuff,’’ said White. ‘‘This may be the only time that people will want your autograph or want a picture with you or something.’’