The beautiful thing about the Little League World Series is that, even if you are eliminated from championship contention, you still have a chance to play a third game and a chance to earn a win, plus you get the experience of playing a team from the other side of the bracket.
On Monday, the squad representing the Northwest region of America took advantage of this third game, as they took home one win from Williamsport with a 6-2 victory over Europe-Africa, represented by Italy. A five-run fourth inning and spectacular pitching from Isaiah Jensen sparked the Northwestern Little Leaguers in the victory.
Isaiah Jensen dominates on the bump
Hoping to bring home at least one win from Williamsport, Northwest put Jensen on the mound, and the young right-hander responded by dominating the Italian lineup over 4.1 innings of work, surrendering just two hits and one unearned run while whiffing six batters. Jensen was absolutely dominant over the first three innings, facing just one batter over the minimum, as he allowed just one baserunner, which came on a dropped third strike. He induced three quick ground outs in the second inning and struck out the side in the third inning.
Jensen did give up two singles in the fourth inning, but his defense cut down one runner trying to stretch the single into a double and erased the other with a double play. By the time Jensen came out in the fifth inning, he had a comfortable 6-0 lead. He slipped up slightly in the fifth, surrendering an unearned run in the inning, leading to his removal from the game.
Northwest struggles early, pounces on bullpen
While Jensen was dealing on the hill for the American squad, his offense struggled to build him a comfortable lead early. Facing Europe-Africa's Filippo Laghi, the Northwest squad got only one run in the first three innings, although Laghi only lasted two of those. After stranding a runner on first base in the first inning, the Oregon champions converted a leadoff double into a single tally, as two sacrifice flies moved the runner the remaining 120 feet around the bases. They stranded a pair of runners in scoring position in the third inning, keeping the score at 1-0.
However, after wasting a few scoring chances, the Northwestern offense could not be contained any longer. With the help of a couple of errors, the Northwest offense spotted their pitcher to a six-run lead with a five-spot in the fourth inning. An error, walk, and single loaded the bases, and the first runner scored on an error in the outfield.
An RBI single from Julian Mora scored another run, while a wild pitch brought in another tally. Bowen Nelson drove a hard RBI triple to score yet another run. After his hard hustle on the triple, Nelson got to basically walk home as Zack Reynolds blasted another triple to bring home the fifth run of the frame.
Europe-Africa's offense would come much too late in this game, as they marked the Northwestern staff for single tallies in the fifth and sixth innings to draw within 6-2, but that was all they would get. Alessandro Ercolani picked up the only RBI for the Europe-Africa squad, which, despite excellent efforts in all three games, leave Williamsport without a win.