SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – South Shore was forced to give up a goal in the first inning of a 9-1 loss to Nevada at Lamade Stadium in the first round of the Little League World Series on Thursday.
With one out, SS leadoff man Vin Ruggiero on the second by a walk and a wild pitch and No. 3 hitter Peter Giaccio at bat, Nevada ace Wyatt Erickson scored a strikeout with a low, inside pitch and Giaccio, thinking the pitch had hit the ground, ran to first base.
Catcher from Nevada Parker Soranaka never tried to throw the ball to the first baseman Noah Letalubut when Erickson got the ball back from his backstop, he threw it to first base at the last second. Giaccio, however, got there just in time and was ruled safe, much to the delight of the SS fans.
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The Tottenville round appeared to have runners on first and second base with one out and a clean-up hitter Jake Romero Nevada’s manager Adam Johnson asked the third base umpire Mike Debelak To review the play and check the monitor, the referees ruled that the ball had never touched the ground and declared Giaccio out.
Defensive Jewels
There were two defensive gems in this contest and Nevada benefited from both.
With South Shore’s Chace Curro on the first with a single and one out in the second inning, Dean Scarangello hit a hard groundball that was swallowed by a silky smooth shortstop Russell McGee. The shortstop then started a clever 6-4-3 double play that included a great pivot and throw from the second baseman Shooter Beranek to Letalu.
Three innings later, with South Shore trailing 4-1, Curro reached base on an error with one out and advanced on Alex Torres’ single to left, bringing in Scarangello, who smacked another base hit to the Nevada left fielder. Lukas Lentz. Curro was flagged home, but Lentz caught the ball cleanly and fired a strike to Soranak, who caught the baserunner and scored the 7-2 putout.
One-off expenses
South Shore fell to 17-3 in the All-Star game this summer, scoring a single run in each of its three losses, including one in the Section 3 South title round, one in the Metro Region tournament and, of course, Thursday’s setback against Nevada.
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Other delicacies
Besides Curro’s leadoff single to center in the second and Grippo’s two-out single in the fourth (South Shore scored its only run on an error), the next hardest hit ball by the Metro Region champions came over Dylan DeGaetawho hit a relatively deep drive into right field in the third inning … Nevada finished the game with a total of 11 hits, including two each by McGee (walk) and Letalu … Ruggiero managed a walk in both of his plate appearances … Nevada left eight runners on base, South Shore five … Erickson’s two-run double in the home third was the only extra-base hit of the game … Following Stephen Grippo‘s three-inning start (5 hits, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 Ks), Romero (1 1/3 IP), Scarangello (1/3 IP) and Torres (1/3 IP) also were on the mound Thursday. Romero threw fewer than 35 pitches and is eligible to pitch when South Shore faces South Dakota on Saturday (3 p.m.).
