Little League World Series: Auburn stays alive
Published 11:32 pm Saturday, August 21, 2010
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Casey Manning’s homer to dead center field capped a three-run fifth inning that propelled Auburn past Plymouth, Minn., 5-2 Saturday night at the Little League World Series.
Manning turned on an 0-1 pitch from Minnesota starter Talor Blustin with two outs in the fifth after Dillon O’Grady’s single drove home Isaiah Hatch.
Manning’s father, Frank, played in the 1969 World Series for a team from Santa Clara, Calif. The younger Manning raced around the bases after his clutch hit, greeted at home by a throng of teammates who escorted him back to the dugout.
As showers fell on Lamade Stadium, the 13-year-old Manning raced around the bases as if trying to leg out a triple.
“Honestly, I thought it was pop fly,” he said. “But when I saw it was a home run, I got excited and I started running faster.”
His proud father, wearing a photo pin of his son on his green Washington jersey shirt, said adrenaline propelled Casey.
“He’s been a little down because he hasn’t hit one over the fence in a while,” the elder Manning said. “You could see his confidence come back. … It was amazing. Amazing.”
The victory kept Auburn, which lost 3-1 to Connecticut on Friday, alive in the tournament.
Minnesota was eliminated after its second loss, though coach Matt Deterding said it hasn’t deterred his players’ enthusiasm. They still plan to play a consolation round game Monday against an international team.
Ikaiku Nahaku struck out six for Washington and gave up Blustin’s RBI single in the first.
Georgia 6, Hawaii 2
Knox Carter got some advice from his cousin, Kyle, and his friends about what it would be like to play at the Little League World Series.
Kyle Carter was part of the Columbus, Ga., team that took the 2006 title. Now, Knox is making his own highlight reel after hitting a two-run homer to help Columbus beat Waipahu, Hawaii, 6-2 on Saturday.
“It’s everything they said it was,” the 13-year-old outfielder said with a smile. “It’s like baseball heaven.”
Hawaii’s Ty DeSa smacked a two-run homer in the top of the first off Jacob Pate before the Georgia starter settled down and combined with Troy Gilliland on a two-hitter.
Hawaii faces an elimination game today against New Jersey. But the Hawaiians have some familiarity with pressure-packed World Series games after watching an all-star team from the same local league win the 2008 title.
Ohio 16, New Jersey 6
New Jersey, known for rallying in the regional tournament from big deficits, scored six runs in the first two innings, highlighted by Kevin Blum’s two-run triple to make it 9-6 in the second. But Ohio pitching shut down New Jersey from there.
Canada 4, Panama 2
Infielder William Quito drove in two runs and 13-year-old Lucas Soper capped a complete game by getting William Savedra to ground out with the bases loaded. It was Soper’s last hitter before having to be lifted because of pitch count rules.
Taiwan 18, Saudi Arabia, 0
(4 innings, 10-run rule)
Taiwan pounded out 16 hits and held Saudi Arabia to just an infield single by Jacob Ksiazek. Wei-Chih Chen and Yung-Heng Li Wu each drove in three runs against the Saudi team comprised mainly of Americans living abroad.
