INDIANAPOLIS — Hope turned to heartbreak Saturday night for the Mount Vernon Little League All-Stars.
Before a nationally televised audience and with the Great Lakes Region title on the line, the Ohio champions went toe-to-toe with Indiana champion Jeffersonville/GRC for 10 innings. An 11th inning breakdown, however, ended the team’s dream of playing in the Little League World Series.
Jeffersonville scored seven runs in the top of the 11th to break a 4-4 tie and secured the berth to Williamsport, Pa., with the 11-4 victory.
“This is unbelievable,” said Jeffersonville manager Derek Ellis. “[Once we got to extra innings] we felt like whichever team could score first and break the others’ will and spirit would win the game. It was one heck of a game. When two teams battle like this, you hate to see anyone lose. The Ohio team is a great, great baseball team. I feel for them right now, and my heart goes out to them. They gave it everything they had as well as our kids did. It is hard to lose.”
Mount Vernon gave it everything they had, leading the game on two occasions. J.D. Orr put his team up first, hitting the second pitch thrown in the bottom of the first out of the park.
Jeffersonville went ahead in the top of the second, posting three runs on the board. An error and three singles off of Mount Vernon starter Jayben Martin plated the runs. Mount Vernon got two back in the bottom of the inning. Nick Hoar doubled to lead off the inning, and two outs later, Chase Springer smacked a 0-1 pitch over the center-field fence to knot the score at 3. Indiana pitcher Chandler Dale settled in from that point, allowing just two singles for the next five innings.
Mount Vernon took the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. Josh Edwards walked with one out. Pinch runner Logan Rhea moved up to second on a wild pitch, and then came around to score after Nate Bolander reached on an error by Jeffersonville shortstop Drew Ellis.
That lead didn’t last long, however, as Indiana answered with a run in the top of the fifth. Dale walked to lead off and moved to second on a wild pitch. Martin struck out Hayden Robb for the first out, but that was the last batter he faced as he had reached the 85-pitch limit.
Martin moved to left field and Edwards took the mound. Lucas Staten moved to first and it wasn’t long before he was in the thick of the action. Ben Shahroudi grounded to second, where Austin Blanton came up with the ball. Blanton threw over to Staten, but the ball careened off the top of his glove, and rolled to the fence. The error allowed Dale to score the tying run. Edwards got the next two batters out, stranding Shahroudi at third and keeping the tie preserved.
“We felt like the momentum was going to switch when we tied it up, but we couldn’t capitalize and get another run across,” said manager Ellis. “The Mount Vernon pitchers kept shutting us down, over and over.”
Indiana threatened again in the top of the sixth inning, loading the bases with two out. Edwards struck Robb out to end the threat. Mount Vernon got a leadoff single from Martin in the bottom of the sixth, but a fielder’s choice by Hoar erased Bolander, who was pinch running. Hoar was caught in a rundown, however, and Edwards struck out to send the game to extra innings.
“Dale did a good job, and obviously, in this game, everybody was focused so there were some good defensive plays,” said Mount Vernon manager Tom Glibert. “That certainly helped him out.”
Each team had repeated opportunities over the next four innings, but each time came up empty handed. Dale, who had reached his pitch count, was replaced by Dalton Duley in the eighth inning, but Duley was just as effective. He allowed just one walk and two hits in his four innings of work. Edwards kept Mount Vernon in the game, allowing just four hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings. He reached his pitch count after the top of the 10th, forcing manager Glibert’s hand.
“I never felt like we were in control,” said Glibert. “Jayben did a nice job, but had a little bit of control problems. That’s why he had to exit in the fifth inning. Josh Edwards came in and did a tremendous job, but I never felt like we were in control or on the verge of winning it. It was a fight the whole way.”
Alex Arck was called into action to start the 11th, and Indiana greeted him with swinging bats. Drew Ellis started things off with an infield single deep in the hole at short. Ellis moved up to third on a passed ball before scoring on a wild pitch. Dale then followed with a single up the middle. Back-to-back wild pitches moved him to third and Robb drove him in with another single up the middle. Shahroudi singled to put two on, and chase Arck from the mound.
Springer relieved Arck, but because he was rushed into action, it took a few pitches to get into a groove. Springer’s first pitch was off target, scoring Robb. Josh Burke followed with an RBI single to left, and Duley picked up his first hit — another single to left. Springer picked up the first two outs on the next two batters, but wasn’t out of the fire yet as leadoff hitter Austin Hines stepped to the plate.
Hines was 1-for-6 to that point and not much of a factor, but that quickly changed. Hines hit the third pitch he saw deep to center field. Arck, who moved to center after pitching, made a valiant effort to get to the ball, but it was just out of reach. Hines’ shot bounced off the top of the fence and out for a three-run blast. Drew Ellis flied out to end the inning, but not before seven runs crossed the plate.
Mount Vernon had one last opportunity as the home team. Alex Glibert got a one-out single and Staten followed with a single to left. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch, but Duley ended the game by striking out Martin and Hoar.
“I honestly didn’t expect this,” Glibert said of the last inning. “I felt good about our chances. We were the home team, and had the last at-bats in sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th innings. We had opportunity after opportunity. We just didn’t take advantage of it. ... We had our chances. We can’t say we didn’t.
“Obviously, tonight, tomorrow and Monday, they will be upset,” said Glibert. “They will look back and think about how close they were. We went 11 innings with the eventual Great Lakes champion. Once that sting is over, the fond memories will be there and they will see the big picture. They were one of the top 16 teams in the nation. That’s something they can be proud of.”
Indiana will begin pool play at the Little League World Series on Friday at 8 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN.
