In the regionals, Bend North Little League was defeated in their first game of the tournament but went undefeated the rest of the way to secure a spot in the Little League World Series. On Thursday, Northwest suffered a heartbreaking loss, as Southeast overcame a 2-1 deficit in the sixth inning to earn a walkoff win.
Northwest had been in this situation before, and they looked to duplicate their success they had in the regional tournament.
However, on Saturday, they were unsuccessful.
New England defeated the team from Oregon 8-0, and will play the loser of the game between Great Lakes and Midwest. Southwest is now eliminated, but will play their final game in Williamsport on Monday, a consolation game against Europe-Africa.
Domenic Brazeau led the team from Warwick, Rhode Island, going 3-3. The shortstop is now 5-5 in the tournament.
Colin Lemieux, Kenny Rix keep Oregon bats silent
Southwest is coming off a game where they plated just two runs, and could not get their offense going on Saturday either. Colin Lemieux got the start for New England, a big kid with an overpowering fastball.
Lemieux was one of the bigger names entering the tournament for his bat, but his pitching was just as dominant today. Julian Mora had two hits against him at the top of the order, but the rest of the lineup went just 1-13 against the right-hander. Isaiah Jensen was the other player to record a hit, lacing a single in the second inning.
Lemieux finished four innings, allowing three hits, no runs, and no walks while striking out three. He tossed just 52 pitches, meaning he needs just three days rest before he is eligible to take the mound once again. At the time he was taken out, the score was already 6-0 in favor of the team from the smallest state.
Manager Ken Rix gave the ball to his son Kenny Rix, who was just as dominant. He lasted 1.2 innings, giving up just three total baserunners. He threw 37 pitches, meaning he needs just two days of rest. Cullen McGrew got the final out.
New England offense finally gets going
In their first game against Mid-Atlantic, New England struggled to get anything going against Ryan Harlost. But today, the offense finally came alive. New England's offense was hot out of the gates, loading up the bases with no outs in the first, but failed to score any runs.
But after blowing a huge opportunity in the first, the offense continued to produce in the second. The bases were quickly loaded again with no away, as Chase Pariseau doubled, DJ Sollito singled, and Cam Nadeau was hit by a pitch to open up the frame. Although they had back-to-back outs again after loading the bases, Domenic Brazeau broke the scoreless tie with an RBI single, and Sollito came around to score on a wild pitch. Starter Blaine Causey departed after the inning, lasting just two innings while giving up four hits, two runs, and two walks.
Despite failing to score a run in the third, Rhode Island had a big inning in the fourth against Bowmen Nelson. This time, they were forced to produce with two away. They did just that, tacking on five straight hits and producing four runs. Thane Denton and Brazeau kicked it off with back-to-back singles, and Lemieux brought home Aaron Narcavage (pinch-ran for Denton) to make it a 3-0 game.
However, they were not done. Kenny Rix followed, and hit a no-doubt, three-run shot to give New England a 6-0 lead. Sean Gallagher followed with a single but went no further than first base.
Colin Lemieux singled home Rhode Island's eighth run of the day in the fifth, his second RBI of the day. New England lives to fight another day, and will need to produce this type of offense the rest of the way out to have any shot at a Little League World Series title.