SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Dalton Chandler came on in relief and struggled for Sammamish, Wash., in its Little League World Series opener. Then he stepped up to the plate and turned things around.
“The hitting made me feel a little better. I was still a little nervous,” Chandler said.
Chandler allowed three runs before hitting a single, double and triple in four plate appearances, and Sammamish used four pitchers to beat Corpus Christi, Texas, 8-4 on Thursday to advance to the second round.
Jack Carper had a home run among his three hits and Nathan Fitzgibbons drove in two runs for the Northwest champions, who moved on to a winner’s bracket game Sunday against Westport, Conn., which beat South Nashville, Tenn., 3-2 in the night game.
Sammamish jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning, and manager Rob Chandler — Dalton Chandler’s father — had already planned to pull starter Jacob Dahlstrom after around 50 pitches. Dahlstrom wound up throwing 53 and departed with two Corpus Christi runners on base in the third inning before Dalton Chandler took the mound.
Before Chandler recorded his first out, he walked two, allowed a base hit and threw a wild pitch. By then, Juan Sosa, Christian Servantes and Brandon DeLeon had scored to pull Corpus Christi to 5-4.
Will Armbruester and Jack Matheson followed Chandler to the mound over the final three innings and limited Corpus Christi to two hits to preserve the victory. Carper and Chandler scored in the top of the sixth to help Sammamish pull away.
In the international bracket, Tijuana, Mexico, beat Perth, Australia, 14-0 in a game that ended after four innings because of the 10-run rule, and Aguadulce, Panama, beat San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico, 9-4.
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