WILLIAMSPORT, Penn. – Lake Mary on Monday lost to Boerne, Texas, by a score of 4-1 at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
This was the team’s first loss since coming to the World Series, as Lake Mary triumphed last week in games against Sioux Falls and Puyallup.
However, the tournament is double elimination, meaning that teams must lose twice before they’re out of the running. This means that Lake Mary is still in the competition for now.
Lake Mary head coach Jonathan Anderson spoke with News 6 about the team’s handling their first loss of not just this tournament, but the entire summer.
“I haven’t fully got to talk to them about (the loss), but they’re OK,” Anderson said after the game. “We get to play three days in a row now, so it’s time to battle back.”
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Despite the loss, Anderson insisted that it’s not over for the Lake Mary team.
“You see all these teams in the loser’s bracket, all of a sudden, they come alive and start hitting, so that’s what I’m looking for,” Anderson said. “I’m looking for these bats to come alive, and we’re going to be ready to rock and roll when we get back to the U.S. Championship game.”
During Monday’s game, Lake Mary was led by DJ Mises, who drove in the team’s run with an RBI double in the top of the first inning.
But Texas starting pitcher Julian Hurst was as good as it gets, throwing a complete game while striking out 10 Lake Mary hitters. After the first inning, the 5-foot-10-inch 12-year-old gave up one hit the rest of the game.
“We just ran into a really good kid in Julian Hurst,” Anderson said. “He held us down. He was doing a really good job and they weren’t seeing it out of his hand well.”
During the Little League World Series, if a team loses, the head coach is the only one who attends the post-game press conference, so News 6′s Justin Warmoth asked Julian’s teammate Jett Matthews what it’s like to face him.
“Not going to lie, it’s kind of scary,” the shortstop said. “He throws super fast, and his curveball is nasty. It’s kind of a weird (arm slot).”
“He has a good arm slot,” added Justin Newson, the head coach of Texas. “All of our hitters struggle with him. Florida’s not the only one. I mean, during the Little League season, he was striking everyone out.”
While the team’s winning streak may be over, their stay in Williamsport is far from done. The Lake Mary All-Stars will next square up against Staten Island, New York in an elimination game on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Twenty teams are competing in the Little League World Series: 10 regional champions in the U.S. and 10 international champions from across the world.
U.S. teams:
- Great Lakes: Hinsdale Little League from Hinsdale, Illinois
- Metro: South Shore Little League from Staten Island, New York
- Mid-Atlantic: Council Rock Newtown Little League from Newtown, Pennsylvania
- Midwest: Sioux Falls Little League from Sioux Falls, South Dakota
- Mountain: Paseo Verde Little League from Henderson, Nevada
- New England: Salem Little League from Salem, New Hampshire
- Northwest: South Hill Little League from Puyallup, Washington
- Southeast: Lake Mary Little League from Lake Mary, Florida
- Southwest: Boerne Little League from Boerne, Texas
- West: Central East Maui Little League from Wailuku, Hawaii
International teams:
- Asia-Pacific: Kuei-Shan Little League from Taoyuan City, Chinese Taipei
- Australia: - Hills Little League from Sydney, New South Wales
- Canada: Whalley Little League from Surrey, British Columbia
- Caribbean: Aruba Center Little League from Santa Cruz, Aruba
- Cuba: Santa Clara Little League from Villa Clara, Cuba
- Europe-Africa: South Czech Republic Little League from Brno, Czech Republic
- Japan: Johoku Little League from Tokyo, Japan
- Latin America: Cardenales Little League from Barquisimeto, Venezuela
- Mexico: Matamoros Little League from Tamaulipas, Mexico
- Puerto Rico: Radames Lopez Little League from Guayama, Puerto Rico