SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — The challenges continued to grow for Eastbank as the group attempted to navigate its way to the Little League World Series title game.
Standing in the way Wednesday was an adopted fan-favorite team of Elmora Youth Little League from Elizabeth, New Jersey.
But Eastbank quickly quieted the crowd with strong opening innings, and pitcher Egan Prather struck out 10 as the all-star squad from River Ridge representing the Southwest region edged closer to its ultimate goal with a 4-1 win over the Mid-Atlantic champion to advance.
Up next for Eastbank is a game at 6 p.m. Thursday against Virginia.
A win Thursday over the would send Eastbank to the U.S. final against. Another win and they would play the winner of the International Bracket in the Little League World Series Championship Game.
WILLIAMSPORT — An early loss in the Little League World Series can be devastating for a team full of young athletes.
“The whole time I’ve been telling you guys I’m not worried about our pitching at all,” Eastbank manager Scott Frazier said. “He did exactly what Egan does. He keeps the ball down, he has a good change-up and can spot his pitches. And he’s going to compete and battle. We were prepared to go to 85 (pitches) with Egan, but with the 4-0 lead and they still had two subs to hit we felt comfortable putting (Williams) Andrade in.”
Andrade came on in the top of the sixth after Prather recorded his 10th strikeout and forced a foul ball out before an error and triple gave the Mid-Atlantic its first run of the game. Andrade then faced Yadi Mateo and received a nice assist from his defense when Stan Wiltz streaked across the field to snag a line drive and end the game.
Prather was on from the first pitch, fanning the opening side for three quick outs. He screamed and flexed for his teammates as he walked off the field, but it was his manager who came over to him even more excited about the start. Frazier gave him a hard high-five and patted him on the back.
Prather went on to retire the first 10 batters he faced before a single from Mid-Atlantic's J.R. Rosado broke up the no-hitter and perfect game.
Have yourself a day Egan Prather of @Eastbank_LL (video courtesy ESPN) pic.twitter.com/5smKrVDqsW
— David Folse II (@davidfolse) August 21, 2019
“I was locked in as soon as I struck out that first guy,” Prather said. “Toward the middle innings I started to get a little tired, but I knew I had to just keep going. It’s amazing, because I’ve never pitched in front of that many people.”
Prather threw 45 strikes on 66 total pitches. He balanced his off-speed stuff well and set up fastballs to keep the Mid-Atlantic off-balance throughout the game.
“He was phenomenal,” Mid-Atlantic manager Jairo Labrador said. “He had command of both of his pitches. We were late on his fastball to start. He had us guessing and that’s the worst thing for a batter when you’re guessing out there. They came and took advantage of our mistakes and that’s what good teams do. That’s a good baseball team over there and I’m proud to go out like that.”
Eastbank's Ryan Darrah got a hit to open the bottom half of the first inning and moved to second with a stolen base. Reece Roussel continued his hot hitting, moving Darrah to third with an infield single. Darrah was then caught in a rundown between third and home, but Derek Escobar was called for interference when he couldn’t get out of the way as Darrah headed back to third.
Eastbank continued to take advantage of fielding mistakes and benefited from a series of errors in the third to score three runs.
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Eastbank Little League of River Ridge stayed hot Monday at the Little League World Series as it used a big first inn…
Roussel reached on an error and Marshall Louque reached on a fielder’s choice. A hit batter followed Louque and Derek DeLatte drove Roussel with a single. Two more runs would eventually score on a second fielding error.
“From Day 1 we always had confidence we could go this far,” Eastbank catcher Ryder Planchard said. “With this big win we know we can keep pushing.”
Louque will be on the mound at 6 p.m. Thursday against Virginia.