| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | R | H | E | |
| SoundView(WA) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Paseo Verde(NV) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | X | 5 | 11 | 0 |
WP: McFarland LP: Workman
It was not the matchup that many of the prognosticators had when they filled out their LLWS brackets, but SoundView entered Sunday morning’s contest with a 2-0 record and looking very sharp having collected victories over Boerne(TX) and Phenix City(AL). Paseo Verde was getting used to the 9AM start time, having their game pushed to that slot on Friday and walking off West Side(OH).
SoundView started off patient, working three walks in the top of the first to load the bases. Frankie McCabe and Winston Weaver were strikeout victims at the hand of Brooks McFarland, though, and the only ball put in play by Evan Yarbrough was handled in right field by Jace Ward.
Washington manager Kyle Yarbrough spoke about loading the bases but not getting the early runs, “They had already sent somebody down to the bullpen to get warmed up, so to let them off the hook there and not directly apply pressure early on was detrimental for sure. I think if we had plated a couple of runs in that inning, maybe things look different.”
McFarland on working through the inning: “At first, I wasn’t really focused in and I didn’t have much confidence. But then I realized when I had bases loaded, I need to focus up and have confidence.”
Nevada also got a little early traffic on the bases. Owen Guzman led off with a hit to left. Jace Ward tapped one toward second base and Arie Hinzman gloved it, but could not make the throw in time. McFarland gave one a ride to deep right, but McCabe got on his horse and showed great range, snagging it on the run and firing back in quickly to hold runners at first and second. Casen Workman got Maddox Bryan swinging to finish off the inning. Through one full, five combined runners had been stranded.
McFarland settled in the second, getting the 7-8-9 hitters for Washington in order, including a comebacker from Anthony Rmero and strikeout of Smith Huteson. Outside of a four pitch walk to Jmaes Esber, Workman returned serve, We remained scoreless after two complete.
Adrian Cruz had the defensive play of the game in the third. Casey Granlund put one in the air behind first base, tailing towards foul territory. Cruz raced from second all the way over, making a sliding grab with his back turned to the infield moving towards the stands. SoundView went in order in the top of the third. For Paseo Verde, Mike Guerrero picked up his first hit at Williamsport, grounding up t he middle, but Nevada would not get him any further than that. After three full, the teams were still in search of a first run.
Cruz on his highlight catch: “At first I wasn’t thinking that I was going to get there, but just run hard, hustle, get there. Just…the ball is far away, I just slid. Made a SportsCenter play.”
Washington seemed to get closer in the fourth, but still did not push one across. Workman walked with one out, but traded places on a ball hit to short by Rhonan Loomis. McCabe went down swinging for the final out. The stalemate continued in the bottom of the fourth, as McFarland grounded one into right, but got no further. Workman got Bryan swinging for the second time in the game to end the fourth with still no score.
Washington made noise in the fifth, collecting their first hit of the day on Paxton Hansen’s hit up the middle. Weaver followed up by pushing one through the hole at second, beyond the reach of a diving Cruz. Yarbrough tried to bunt, but got it in the air right back to McFarland for the quick out. Hudson Cowley made the easy play stepping on third on a ball hit to him by Bradley Williams and Logan Edwards made the easy flip from short to second for the last out, stranding two and keeping us scoreless.
Then it all came together for Nevada in the bottom of the fifth. Manager Cory Edwards had previously described his team as small baseball players doing the right work, and he was spot on, as his team went to small ball to manufacture five runs. Logan Edwards deadened one on a bunt in front of the plate, forcing Evan Yarbrough to come up to field it and throw late. Then Mike Kleiner dribbled a bunt down the first base line, fielded by Workman who also had no play. Then the defensive breakdown began for Washington. A wild pitch got away from Yarbrough who fired down to third trying to get Edwards. The ball went into left field, bringing Edwards home.
With the 1-0 lead, the floodgates opened for Paseo Verde. James Esber blooped one into right and never stopped running, taking the extra base. Adrian Cruz was given second life as a foul ball hit him–the call was initially that it hit him in fair territory for an out, but upon review, the call was changed to a foul ball. He made the most of it and flew out to center, bringing in Kleiner. Payton Hinsen went back to the bunt, again forcing Workman to come off the mound and for the second time, he was unable to make the throw in time. This time, the throw got away into right field and a third run came home. Carsynn Meyer put one through a diving shortstop for an RBI single from the 12-spot for the fourth run to score. And finally to make it 5-0, Hudson Cowley put one to left. The mental fatigue continued for Washington as left fielder Quinn Herchold threw wide to third base on a ball that should’ve been eaten, allowing Meyer to come in.
Meyer talked about her hit: “My hit felt really good. I thought I hit it really hard off the bat. I don’t know if I really did, but I just was late on every pitch and I wanted ot finally get on time for one.”
Edwards talked about his team’s approach as the game went on, “We tried to change our approach and be aggressive early–aggressive meant something that was off the plate a little bit. Go get a ball, find a barrel, and we were chasing too much.”
“We started give and take–see more pitches, getting deeper in counts, and then that started that inning.” He continued on all the contributions from the entire lineup, “If we collect one hit per person on the team, we’re going to have a 12-hit game.Just make sure nobody’s carrying the whole weight–we’re not playing golf out there, so we need to utilize each other.”
When the dust settled, Nevada had a 5-0 lead and was on the verge of being in the United States winners bracket final. Logan Edwards came on for the final three outs, fanning two and getting Landry to pop to first, securing the shutout.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | R | H | E | |
| Davenport Northwest(IA) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 0 |
| Bayonne(NJ) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
WP: Johnson Jr. LP: Rincon
After Cooper Thissen’s 15 strikeout performance with a game-winning home run, many wondered just how good Anthony Johnson would be as part of the 1-2 pitching punch from Davenport Northwest. The answer was that he was equally as potent, as he posted a nearly identical performance, including a 3-run home run late that helped put Davenport Northwest in the United States winners bracket final.
Thissen and Johnson Jr. each walked to open up a first inning threat for the boys from Iowa. Kannone Kane bounced one down to Leandro Anaya at first base, bringing in Thissen, who had moved up on a wild pitch. Caleb Erwin then had a nice piece of hitting, driving one into center field for an RBI and 2-0 Davenport lead. Logan Chantos hit one that died in front of second baseman Owen Feliz. Feliz didn’t have a play by the time he grabbed it on the infield grass and threw it away. Mason Rincon was able to battle back and strikeout Xavier Ludtke and Crue Neff to strand two in scoring position and prevent a lopsided inning. However, the early runs also had the side effect of taking a normally raucus Bayonne crowd out of the game early.
Johnson Jr. got Bayonne in order in the first, striking out Gabe Garcia Jr and Rincon. Rincon struck out the side in the top of the second, getting Tate Devaney looking on a full count pitch. Johnson knew he had something special cooking early: “I felt amazing–first inning strikeouts. I knew from after the first inning I could go a long way. I felt like I had to match [Cooper]–and then the home run, it felt amazing.”
The pitching continued its takeover as Johnson struck out the side in the bottom of the second and five out of six, matching the five Ks by Rincon.
Rincon got Jaxon Rasso to ground out and fanned LySanias Broyles to complete the first trip through the order in the top of the third. After Thissen doubled to center, never stopping as he rounded first, trying to start a two-out rally for Davenport Then the weather came. The tarp was placed on the field as a small cell came through, delaying the game for about 45 minutes. When we returned to action, Johnson Jr. greeted Rincon with a golf shot RBI single to right field, moving Davenport’s lead to 3-0.
Joey Dwyer landed himself a base hit on a ball in front of Xavier Ludtke at short, but Johnson Jr fanned two more in the inning and Bayonne got nothing further. Halfway through, Davenport Northwest held the 3-0 lead with the middle of their lineup due up. Johnson was only at 44 pitches and had struck out seven.
Owen Feliz had the defensive play of the game in the fourth inning, gloving a Logan Chantos grounder and flipping with his glove to Rincon, now at short after giving way to Garcia Jr on the mound. Rincon completed the double play by a step, throwing to Anaya. Bayonne was still in need of a rally and looked to the bottom of its order to try and solve Johnson Jr.
But Johnson Jr. was as strong as ever, throwing only two called balls in the fourth and striking out the side for the second time, running his strikeout total to ten on 58 pitches.
Crue Neff tried to get somethinggoing in the fifth for Davenport, going back through the middle to open the frame. Liam Rasso walked to put two on. Paxton Smith hit one back to Rincon who flipped to third to get the lead runner. Tate Devaney got a successful sacrifice bunt down to move two into scoring position, but Jaxon Rasso lined one iight to the glove of Rincon to end the threat and keep the New Jersey deficit at 3-0.
Anthony Johnson Jr. continued his takeover of Lamade Stadium in the bottom of the inning, striking out three more for 13 total. In the top of the sixth, he stepped in with two on, after Broyles III went over the head of third baseman AJ Tapia and Thissen walked. Johnson launched one to deep center, an absolute no-doubter, for the 3-run bomb putting his team further in control with a 6-0 lead.
He was asked how far he thought it went. His answer was 260 feet. Probably a good estimate.
Manager Mark Erwin talked about having two stud pitchers at his disposal on this roster, “We’ve got a few national arms. These guys have been battle tested. This isn’t new to them. They’re pitching al ot of big games and battled a lot of good hitters and found ways to get outs. We always say we have a 1A and 1B, whichever way you look at it.
He still had ten pitches to play with for the bottom of the frame and used them to strikeout Tapia and Connor Oliva. Kannon Kane came in for the final out of the contest, striking out Joey Dwyer on three pitches, moving Iowa to 2-0 with two shutout victories at South Williamsport.
Cooper caught Johnson and talked about Johnson’s performance: “He was really getting ahead in counts. 0-2, he really finished it off with his offspeed…he’s really good when he’s going.”
Today’s two winners will square off for a spot in the United States championship game. Nevada’s small ball approach versus the arms and power of Iowa. That game will be Wednesday afternoon at 3:00 on ESPN.
LSV Sports 
Leave a comment