Little League Recap

The day produced four semifinal games, two from the Great Lakes and two from the Southeast. Here's a recap from today's action.

Great Lakes Region Semifinals

Warren County Southern (Kentucky) 4, Streator (Illinois) 3 

With both teams coming in with a 2-2 record, it seemed to be anyone's contest. After surging out to a 4-1 lead, Kentucky was able to hold off an Illinois rally in the fifth and take the win 4-3.

Illinois was off to a good start after scoring a run in the first, but Kentucky responded with three of their own in the bottom half. Each team scored in the fourth, making it a 4-2 game heading into the final two innings.

Illinois threatened in both the fifth and the sixth inning but pitchers Kirtley Lawrence and Matthew Mitchell eventually were able to close the window of opportunity and secure the win.

Lawrence was solid for Kentucky, only giving up 3 runs and striking out 9, keeping the Illinois batters off balance.

Adam Smiley did the damage for Warren County Southern, going 3-3 with 2 runs batted in. With the win, Kentucky is now one win away from going to the Little League World Series.

New Castle (Indiana) 2 , Eau Claire National (Wisconsin) 1

Wisconsin has never had a team reach Williamsport and after Wednesday, they will have to wait another year.

Eau Claire National, the number one seed, was defeated by New Castle 2-1 in a game that could have went either way. Although it may seem like an upset, Indiana easily defeated Wisconsin 8-0 on the second day of pool play, handing them their only loss of the tournament.

Cayden Smekens dominated Wisconsin's lineup, going 5 1/3 shutout innings and only allowing 1 hit while striking out 9. After a shaky first inning, Smekens was lights out.

For Indiana, Hunter McCubbins did all the damage with two hits and two runs batted in. With Cayden Smeken's gem, that was all the offense Indiana needed.

With the win, the championship of the Great Lakes region is set with Indiana taking on Kentucky with a chance to go to Williamsport.


Southeast Region

Goodlettsville Baseball (Tennessee) 9,  Greenville Tar Heel (North Carolina) 3

After a strong first inning from Tennessee in which they scored 4 runs, they never looked back and will play in the Southeast Regional title game.

The key to the Tennessee hitting was balance. Six players accounted for the seven hits, making this lineup a difficult on going foward.

As for North Carolina, Kenneth Simmons provided the power with a 2 run home run in the top of the fourth. Other than that, North Carolina's offense was only able to muster up 3 hits against the three pitchers that went for Tennessee.

After going 2-1 in pool play, Tennessee is now only one win away from a moment they have always dreamed of.

Warner Robins American West (Georgia) 5, Great Falls (Virginia) 1

And the team Tennessee will be playing in the finals is...

Warner Robins, Georgia.

If anyone has watched the past couple of years of this regional tournament, they know the team from Warner Robbins is a force to be reckoned with. It seems as though their team is always on the cusp of Williamsport and in most cases, is the team representing this region.

Although they were playing an undefeated Virginia team, Georgia was not intimidated, defeating them 5-1.

Of the three pitchers from Georgia, none of them were overly dominant but were able to get the job done. This wasn't the case for Virginia starter Jason Volpicelli, who gave up three runs and 5 walks in 2 and 2/3 innings. 

The key for Warner Robbins was the first three hitters. Tee Williams, Leyton Pinckney, and Kody Winner combined for 6 of the 8 hits and gave the middle of the order a chance to drive them in.

After pool play, many thought that this was the year Warner Robbins would fall short of the ultimate prize. Now they are one game away from returning to a place this town knows very well: Williamsport.