WILLIAMSPORT, Penn. – The Lake Mary All-Stars magical run in the Little League World Series continued on Saturday with a 10-7 win against Boerne, Texas in the U.S. championship game.
Boerne jumped on the scoreboard first, adding a run on a wild pitch by JJ Feliciano in the second inning. They added another run before pitcher Feliciano got Lake Mary out of the inning.
[MEET THE TEAM: Lake Mary All-Stars]
A two-run double by Boerne’s Doc Mogford in the third inning doubled their lead to 4-0, but Lake Mary never backed down.
Lake Mary, who was hitless through the third inning, got on the board with a single in the fourth before Feliciano was able to drive in the team’s first run.
DJ Mieses from Lake Mary smashed a double in the top of the fifth inning, later scoring on a RBI groundout by Liam Morrisey to cut the lead to 4-2.
In the same inning, Teraj Alexander then drove in run on a double, bringing the score to 4-3.
Lake Mary’s Chris Chikodroff ripped a line drive that hit the Texas pitcher in the leg, letting Lake Mary score and tie the game.
Alexander then scored after stealing home to put Lake Mary up 5-4 after Texas’ pitcher turned his back to the plate.
“I did it on my own. I saw the catcher was looking into the hill and toward right field and as soon as the pitcher caught the ball, he caught it, and he turned his back to me,” Alexander said after the game. “I just started creeping off. Then once I thought I had it, 100% I just took off.”
Boerne was able to tie the game 5-5 with a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the fifth. Texas then regained the lead 6-5 on a wild pitch by Lake Mary’s Luis Calo. Another wild pitch let a second Boerne runner score, bringing the lead to 7-5.
In the top of the sixth, Lake Mary’s Garrett Rohozen hit a double that drove Feliciano to third base. Texas then walked Landon Bono to load the bases for Florida. Jacob Bibaud then hit a single up the middle to score a run and bring the score to 7-6. Lake Mary then tied the game 7-7 with a sacrifice fly Liam Morrisey.
Still in the top of the sixth, Calo stepped up to rip a double and scored two to give Lake Mary the lead again 9-7. Morrisey scrambled to steal third and was able to score to make it 10-7 after an error by Boerne.
In the bottom of the sixth, Calo struck out the first batter before Lake Mary turned a double play to end the game.
““It’s magical, man,” said Lake Mary coach Jonathan Anderson after the game. “We’ve prepared for this. We’ve worked for this. These kids knew that it’s been our summer. We’ve talked about how the job is not done. They will not quit. They will not stop.”
Lake Mary will face Chinese Taipei in the LLWS championship game on Sunday.
Anderson said his team knows what they have to do to get a win in the world championship game.
They know the job is not done. They know. Believe me, they know. We didn’t come here to just win this. We came here to win this whole,” Anderson said.
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