For the first time since Huntington Beach, California in 2011, a team from the United States has won the Little League World Series championship. The team representing the Mid-Atlantic region defeated the team from South Korea 2-1 on Sunday afternoon in front of a sellout crowd at Howard J. Lamade Stadium.
Mid-Atlantic puts two up in the fourth inning
Mid-Atlantic put the first runs up on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning when Jude Abbadessa hit a one-out single to left-center field. He advanced to second when Ryan Harlost singled, but he went to second on the throw. That set up Conner Rush for a single to left field to score Abbadessa to put New York up 1-0. Harlost also came into score; while Jack Hopko was batting he scampered home on a wild pitch to put his team up 2-0.
In addition to his offensive work, Harlost was also the starting pitcher for New York, and he pitched a fantastic game. He went the full six innings, giving up just one run on five hits while recording eight strikeouts. His counterpart was Junho Jeong, who went four innings, giving up two runs on three hits while recording nine strikeouts. He was replaced by Wontae Cho, who pitched the fifth inning and picked up two strikeouts en route to a perfect inning.
South Korea picks up one in the fifth
The only run that Harlost gave up came in the top of the fifth when Yoomin Lee hit a one-out home run to cut the lead to 2-1. Harlost was able to work out of it, though, as he got Junseo Cho to strike out and Jungtaek Ru to ground out to second base for the third out. It capped off an outstanding season for Mid-Atlantic, as from the start of their district playoffs to now they did not lose a single game, going 28-0 en route to the championship.
Last effort at a rally falls short for South Korea
In the sixth inning, Seum Kwon led off with an infield single, although he was retired when Youbin Choi hit into a fielder's choice to shortstop for the first out. After Jaekyeong Kim popped out to the third baseman, Sangheon Park drew a walk to put the tying run on second base, although he never got to score, as Minho Choi struck out swinging for the final out of the game.
As mentioned earlier, it is the first time since 2011 that a US team has won the championship, and it is the first time since 1964 that a New York team has won the title. It was also the first trip to the tournament for this Maine-Endwell league, and it is one that they will never forget.