GREENVILLE, N.C. — Mill Creek’s dream season came to an end Wednesday at the Little League World Series.
Creek fell 5-3 in the seventh inning of an elimination game against Southeast regional champion Lake Mary of Florida on Wednesday at Stallings Stadium.
A rally fell just short in the final game for an All-Star team made up of players ranging in age from 11-13 that won district, Washington state and Northwest regional titles.
The regulation six innings ended in a 1-1 tie, and both offenses put on a show in the seventh.
Washington got two quick outs in the top of the inning, but Florida used two walks and a hard single that just found its way between two fielders for a 2-1 edge.
Starting pitcher Penelope Gahan, who dominated in a 10-0 win over California on Monday, was relieved with the bases loaded after a strong start.
“You did so well, you did so well,” said Mill Creek manager Courtney Brown, who was mic’d up for the ESPN2 broadcast, to Gahan as he brought in a reliever. “Come on, you should feel great about that.
“You should feel great about that.”
Moments later, Lake Mary’s Alana Luu put the game out of reach for Mill Creek with a bases-clearing triple for a 5-1 advantage. The hit came one pitch after Mill Creek nearly made a diving catch in foul territory. Facing a 1-2 count, Luu delivered a dagger to the left field wall.
Luu finished the game 3-for-4 and drove in four of the Northeast champion’s runs.
Mill Creek’s Reese Caskey (1-for-2) made an over-the-shoulder diving catch for the third out to give her team’s bats a chance.
Washington, which overcame a pair of three-run deficits in the Northwest regional title game to beat Oregon in eight innings, came just shy of the necessary four-run rally to keep the game going.
Anya Miller doubled to join extra-innings automatic runner Kaitlyn Stetich on the bases with one out.
In a game that was delayed for approximately 75 minutes in the third inning by rain, water began falling once again as Molly Joe Sewell (two RBI, walk) came to the plate.
“It’s softball, just do your best right now and it doesn’t matter what happens,” Brown told Sewell.
She hit a ball hard, but shortstop Katarra Thomas made a diving stop and threw to first base from her knees for the second out as both Stetich and Miller came in to score.
Daphnee Calsyn (1-for-2, run) walked, but an ensuing deep flyout to center field brought the season to an end.
Florida, which beat Mill Creek 9-2 in the first game of the double-elimination tournament, will face the Southwest Mid-Atlantic loser 1 p.m. Friday for a quarterfinal spot.
Both starting pitchers dominated early in Wednesday’s game.
Florida pitcher Cayden Hugh didn’t allow a Mill Creek hit through the first four innings, working around first-inning walks issued to Sewell and Liliana Delgado (1-for-2, RBI, walk).
Lake Mary broke through in the top of the fifth with the game’s first run as Luu’s solid two-out single to center drove in Rachel Lester for a 1-0 Florida lead.
In the bottom of the fifth, Calsyn ended Hugh’s no-hit bid with a leadoff single to centerfield. Delgado then chased her from the pitching circle for the remainder of the inning with a hard line drive to left field to tie the score at 1-1.
With two out, Camryn Brown walked and Caskey singled, but relief pitcher Sam Bradley escaped with a full-count strikeout for the third out.
Hugh finished as the winning pitcher after returning to the circle for the sixth and seventh innings.
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