WILLIAMSPORT, Penn. – Lake Mary on Thursday triumphed 6-3 over Henderson, Nevada, during its sixth game of the Little League World Series — meaning the team is now headed to the U.S. Championship.
The Lake Mary All-Stars started strong in the first inning, scoring four runs. However, Nevada rebounded with three runs of their own at the bottom of the inning.
After a scoreless second inning, Lake Mary scored again in the third thanks to a solo home run by JJ Feliciano, putting the scoreboard at 5-3.
Garrett Rohozen sealed the game with another solo home run in the top of the sixth inning, cementing the score at 6-3. This means the team has hit five total home runs throughout the World Series, which is the most of any team this August.
[MEET THE TEAM: Lake Mary All-Stars at the Little League World Series]
News 6′s Justin Warmoth asked the boys whether they’re looking forward to playing Texas again.
“Yes,” they all said.
“Back for revenge,” Teraj Alexander added.
In his first action on the mound at the Little League World Series, Alexander came in relief, allowing just three hits while striking out five Nevada hitters in 3.2 scoreless innings.
“It was a great experience to pitch in front of all these people,” the 12-year-old said. “It just made me super happy and excited.”
It was Lake Mary’s fourth game in as many days and their third win in a row. The resiliency, the fight, the grit – all worth it after the team moved the Southeast placard onto the Championship game. Lake Mary head coach Jonathan Anderson was quick to praise his unflappable team.
“To do what they did in four days and to win all those games and bounce back from that loss to Texas is amazing,” Anderson said. “This is what we’re here to do. This is what we wanted to do. We said it all along that the job is not done. We are where we want to be, and now, we just need to finish the job.”
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Last week, Lake Mary was off to a strong start, winning their first two games against Sioux Falls and Puyallup. However, the team was taken down by Texas on Monday night — the first loss of the season for Lake Mary.
The tournament is double elimination, meaning that teams can only lose twice before they’re out of the running. But after Tuesday’s conquest over New York and Wednesday’s win against Hawaii, the Lake Mary All-Stars were still raring to go.
After coming out on top against Nevada, Lake Mary will take part in the U.S. Championship at 3:30 p.m., which will see the team take a second swing at Texas.
As a result, Lake Mary has also become the third team from Central Florida to ever make the U.S. Championship game in the 77-year history of the World Series.
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