Red-mond letter day
Late inning heroics give
Redmond, Washington first victory of Little League World Series
By
David Graham-Caso
The Redmond North
Little League was two-outs deep into the fifth inning of their
second game in South Williamsport. Up to that point, the Northwest
Regional Champions had not held the lead in any game they had
played in the Little League World Series and were tied 3-3 with
the South Caroline Little League from Preston, Md. That was before
Stephen Thompson came to the plate with two runners on base.
“I knew it was out as
soon as I hit it,” Thompson said. “I couldn’t believe I did it. I
was watching the ball go out and I couldn’t believe that I did
it.”
Thompson’s three-run
homer gave Redmond (1-1) a 6-3 advantage on its way to an 8-3
come-from-behind victory in Sunday’s nightcap at Lamade Stadium.
“We are never out of a
game,” said Redmond starter Keiran Beaton. “We were down 18-6 to
Texas and we even scored another run. We are never out of it.”
Maryland jumped out to
the early lead in the second half of the second inning. After Chad
Hicks reached first on a single, Ben LaNeve carved a double down
the right field line. Hicks scored from first on the play, and a
series of two Redmond throwing errors brought LaNeve all the way
around the bases for Maryland’s second run.
Maryland added another
run in the third. Hicks ripped a two-out line drive into the
leftfield corner, which scored Hunter Bennett from second. Special
pinch runner Thomas Howe tripped while rounding third on the play
and was tagged out in a pickle to end the inning.
Redmond immediately
regained ground on Maryland. The first batter of the fourth
inning, right fielder Kyle Henselman, smashed Payne’s first
offering over the right-centerfield fence. The home run accounted
for Redmond’s first run of the game and made the score 3-1 in the
fourth.
“That homerun was
big,” said manager Darryl Beliel. “Cutting into the lead was
important.”
Redmond took the lead
in its half of the fifth inning. Colin Porter evened the score at
3-3 by driving in Cameron Sandquist and Michael Conforto with a
single up the middle, and after issuing an intentional walk to
Henselman, Thompson strolled to the plate. After going ahead in
the count 2-1, Thompson sent a lofty pop up back toward the
Maryland dugout. The potential third out grazed off of Payne’s
glove and Thompson had new life, which he promptly took advantage
of. As soon as the ball pinged off of Thompson’s bat, it was not a
question of whether it was gone, but how gone it was. The homer
eventually docked itself in the row of bushes roughly 35 feet
beyond the right-center field fence.
“I had new life after
they dropped the foul ball,” Thompson said. “It was a fastball
down the middle and I hit it pretty good.”
Redmond tacked on two
insurance runs in the top of the sixth when Conforto doubled home
Kelby McCorkle and then Conforto came in on a two-out single by
Colin Porter.
NEWS AND NOTES
-
Montoursville native
and current New York Yankees pitching star Mike Mussina threw out
the ceremonial first pitch before tonight’s game. Mussina, who is
a member of the Little League International Board of Directors,
was in South Williamsport promoting a raffle to benefit the Little
League Urban Initiative and the Mike Mussina foundation. While the
Little League Urban Initiative will go to help rebuild Little
Leagues devastated by Hurricane Charley, the Mike Mussina
Foundation advocates healthy lifestyle choices through support of
childhood literacy programs and scholarships.
John Deere Corp. donated one Gator™CS utility vehicle, a LT150
lawn tractor, five walk-behind mowers, five line trimmers, five
battery operated Gator™ toys and five precision collectible models
as prizes for the raffle. Other raffle prizes include a Stanford
baseball jersey, 10 baseballs and 10 photos, each autographed by
Mussina, one baseball autographed by Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter
and another baseball signed by Yankees third baseman Alex
Rodriguez.
“I played Little League,” Mussina said in a brief press conference
after he tossed the ceremonial first pitch (a gentle lob to
Maryland catcher Brady Hare). “It was a great way to get into
baseball. Doing what I do now is a great way to get involved with
the other side of Little League.”
-
With the win, Redmond
can still advance to a United States semifinal. If Redmond beats
Owensboro and Maryland beats Richmond, Maryland and Texas will all
be 2-1 in Pool play and a run differential equation will be used
to determine the first place team in the pool. The second place
team would then be decided by the head-to-head result between the
two remaining teams.
If both Redmond and Maryland lose, there will be a three way tie
for second, and the run differential equation will decide the
second place team.
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for box scores
