Little League in San Bernardino has officially wrapped up, but not before two more teams won the chance to compete in the Little League World Series.
On August 8, the Mountain Regional Championship took place between Utah and Nevada. Nevada put up a combined six runs in the third and fourth innings, causing worry among Utah. In their final at-bat, Benson Gunn put three runs on the board for Utah with a homerun, but the team still fell short. The final score was Nevada six to Utah’s three.
Garrett Gallegos was the starting pitcher for Nevada, allowing only three hits with no runs, and striking out nine. He kept his mindset focused on helping his team.
“I just said to myself, there’s no way I’m going to let up any runs because I need to get this win for my team. SoI just pump strikes and I got the batters out.”
Luke D’Ambrosio, Nevada’s shortstop, made the last out of the game. He was excited, but remained calm to not make any errors.
“I was super excited, just didn’t want to be too nervous making the play because if I’m too nervous I’ll make an error. I just wanted to stay down on it, throw it to first, and get the third out.”
I was unable to speak with Nevada's manager.
The Northwest Championship was also hosted on August 8 between Washington and Oregon. The game was close in the top of the fourth inning with Washington scoring two and Oregon scoring one. Washington was able to expand their lead in the bottom of the fourth. Sawyer Breed doubled allowing two runs to score, and Landon Teafoe followed with a two-run homer, making the final score 6-1. Teafoe spoke about the home run.
“It felt amazing, it was just really exciting. I just find the barrel to any ball that comes to the strike zone."
Scott Seibert, Washington’s manager, also spoke about what the support of the players' families and league has meant for them.
“We’re just really lucky we have a really good support through the team and all the parents that come down and help. I mean anything we need this whole time, they’ve been helping out, so it’s been great.”
Our final champions are Hawaii for West, Nevada for Mountain, and Washington for Northwest. The Little League World Series will begin on August 13 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
