Australia defeated Italy, who is representing the Europe-Africa Region, 3-1 on Thursday night in a double-elimination game in the International bracket at the 2016 Little League World Series to secure a spot in the winner’s bracket, while Italy now has to battle back if they want a spot in the International championship.
Italy has chances early
The game got started a little late after a round of light showers and lightning came across the area just before first pitch. When they did get the game started, Italy had a chance to score right away in the first inning when Tommaso Adorni reached after being hit by a pitch with two outs, but Elia Sartini struck out swinging to end the inning and the scoring chance.
Their starting pitcher was Sartini, and he set Australia down in order in the first inning. Italy had another chance in the second inning when Oussema Bouraoui was hit by a pitch with one out. He was retired when Gabriele Percsi hit into a fielder’s choice. The inning ended when Tomasso Ghidoni struck out swinging.
Australia gets on the board first
Australia had their first scoring chance in the bottom of the second when Matthew Clements singled. He was retired when William Edwards hit into a fielder’s choice for the second out. Edwards advanced to second when Adrian Lautler was hit by a pitch and scored when Ryley Gonzalez singled to put Australia up 1-0.
They added another run in the third when Ethan Treble led off with a double. He scored when Clayton Campbell singled to left field to extend the Australia lead to 2-0. They cushioned their lead in the fourth when Stephen Courtney reached on an error. After two straight walks loaded the bases, Harrison Whealdon hit a single to left field to score Courtney to make it a 3-0 Australia lead.
Australia’s starting pitcher Campbell was absolutely dominant, as he went five innings, giving up no hits while striking out seven batters. He was removed after the fifth because his pitch count was at 66, and his coaches wanted to save him for a future game. Combined with his one run batted in at the plate, he had himself a great day.
Italy had a mini-rally in the sixth inning when Gamberinl hit a two-out single. He advanced to third when Adornl singled, and scored on a passed ball to cut it to 3-1. After Sartinl walked to put two runners on, Segreto struck out swinging to end the inning, and the game as Australia advanced into the winner’s bracket. They will next play on Sunday afternoon against Panama, while Italy will play an elimination game on Saturday afternoon against Mexico.