Little League World Series games, starting Friday, will allow managers to use video-replay challenges to check whether players ages 11 or 12 missed a tag or a base. Little League Baseball President Steve Keener suggests it's a no-brainer: "I don't think it complicates things. It's using technology to get it right, and nobody can argue with getting it right. To these players, their games are as important as major leaguers' games are for them."

And important to ESPN/ABC, which starting Friday will use high-profile announcers such as Orel Hershiser and Brent Musburger to call up to 34 Series games from South Williamsport, Pa.

The kids draw on-air: Six of the nine regional qualifying games shown last weekend drew ratings as high or higher than every other event that aired on ESPN/ABC except NASCAR and big-league baseball.

Keener says the need for replays became obvious after two flubbed calls in recent years. One was a home run being ruled a ground-rule double — "I don't know what the ump was thinking, and, of course, ESPN replayed it over and over" — while the other was a runner missing second base by "three or four steps" and getting away with it. So, two years ago, the Series began replay reviews for balls leaving the field — four calls were reviewed, and none was reversed — and didn't allow manager challenges.

Now, challenges can be made to review various plays, such as force outs and hit batters, but not balls and strikes or catch-no catch calls. Replay officials at the stadiums but not on-field will have a separate video feed in addition to the TV feed, ESPN senior coordinating producer Matt Sandulli says, and could ask ESPN for more looks at various replays whether or not they appear on-air.

ESPN will use up to 12 cameras, more than the total used on some of its MLB games, but Sandulli doesn't see such scrutiny stressing the pre-adolescents at play. "Before I came here, I was concerned we were getting too close to that," he says. "But you don't see it when you're here. ... They can have the most gut-wrenching loss and 10 minutes later be eating pizza and playing ping-pong."

And replay reviews, Keener says, are just about accuracy, "One thing I get tired of hearing is, 'We're doing this because of our relationship with ESPN,' " he says. "We went to them. They didn't come to us. ... The last thing we want to do on national TV is get it wrong."