Pacific LL falls to Oregon 5-1 in Northwest Region championship
Published 4:00 pm Saturday, August 13, 2016
SAN BERNARDINO — The Pacific Little League All-Stars’ offense, which had been slugging almost 14 runs per game in its last three contests, finally met its match in Bend North Little League starter Zack Reynolds.
Reynolds struck out nine and allowed just three hits in 5 1/3 innings as the team from Oregon defeated Pacific 5-1 in the Northwest Regional Championship Game Saturday afternoon at Houghton Stadium in San Bernardino, California.
The loss was the first for the Washington (3-1) team at the regional tournament. The team from Lynnwood was trying to make it to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania for the second time in three years.
The title game was a regional rematch between the Bend North Little League team and the squad from Washington, which defeated Oregon 8-2 on Monday in pool play.
It was a different story for Pacific this time around. For the first time in San Bernardino, the slugging Washington squad was held to less than eight runs.
Reynolds also helped himself out on offense, with an RBI double in the top of the third inning. After Bend North scored its first run on a wild pitch, Reynolds hit a shot to left field to score Julian Mora, the grandson of former National Football League coach Jim E. Mora, and give Oregon a 2-0 lead.
Reynolds added a sacrifice fly in a three-run fifth inning for Bend North.
Oregon went 0-for-7 with six strikeouts the first time through the order against Pacific starter Kam Jordan. Jordan finished with 10 strikeouts in four innings — including one inning with four strikeouts after one batter reached base after striking out on a wild pitch.
The Bend North Little League team becomes the second consecutive team from Oregon to represent the Northwest region at the Little League World Series. Washington has had 11 teams go to Williamsport, with the most recent team being Pacific in 2014. The team from Lynnwood went 1-2 that year at the Little League World Series.
Jacob Prinz scored the lone run for Washington on an RBI single by Max Kruse in the bottom of the sixth inning. Prinz batted 2-for-3 and Tristan Ahlstedt went 2-for-2. Ahlstedt was thrown out at the plate trying to score on Kruse’s single for the second out of the final inning.
Tyreek Curley also had a hit for Washington, which finished with six hits in the contest. Pacific had another chance to score in the bottom of the fourth inning with one out and runners on first and second, but Reynolds caught a line drive back to the pitcher’s mound and threw to first base for an inning-ending double play.
