Published: August 20, 2008 01:21 am            

Jeff/GRC puts up fight, loses 3-2 to end Little League World Series run

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — It was an extra-inning thriller which got the Jeff/GRC All-Stars out of regional play and here to the Little League World Series.

It was another overtime contest Tuesday against Mill Creek, Wash., that sent the team home with an 0-3 record, but with great memories.

Washington catcher Alex Jondal hit a fly-ball, walk-off single to the left-field wall to score Jason Todd, giving the Northwest region representative a 3-2 win over Jeff/GRC in seven innings.

Jeff/GRC manager Derek Ellis said the opportunity at the biggest stage for 11- to 13-year-old baseballers easily trumps the losses, two of which came by one run.

“I’m extremely proud of those guys,” he said in a press conference following the game. “They played hard all the way up to this point. Today they battled hard.

“Words can’t describe the experience. These 11 kids have worked so hard since they were 10 years old, and this is a dream come true.”

In an interview Monday, Ellis promised the Jeff/GRC hitters would come out more aggressive than in the first two losses — 3-2 on Saturday to Hagerstown, Md., and 9-0 on Sunday to Lake Charles, La. — and the boys complied.

Center fielder Austin Hines led off the game with a single between first and second base. After a fielder’s choice groundout by Drew Ellis, which forced Hines out at second, an error by Washington third baseman Joakim Soderqvist allowed Chandler Dale to reach first and sent Ellis to second.

Third baseman Hayden Robb singled in Ellis with two outs and Dale moved to third. Josh Burke grounded out to end the inning.

“That was the game plan — to jump on the pitch down the middle,” Derek Ellis said. “Earlier in the series, we wanted to be more patient, but this was do or die and we wanted to go out and swing the bats. They did that for the most part.”

After a home run by 6-foot-2 Washington pitcher Jason Todd tied the score in the bottom of the frame, Hines contributed again for Jeff/GRC.

Todd hit Jeff/GRC first baseman Dalton Duley with a pitch to start the second, and a wild pitch sent the lanky first baseman to second base. After Nick Thompson pinch ran for Duley and Christopher Wenger struck out, Hines worked a tough at-bat, fouling off several pitches.

He finally got one he liked, tripling to the wall in right and scoring Thompson. It completed the tallies for Jeff/GRC.

The team nearly had a run in the top of the third, but Hayden Robb was thrown out at home on a double to the left-field wall by catcher Josh Burke. Jondal came in front of the plate to take the relay throw from shortstop Derrick Mahlum, and Robb tumbled over Jondal.

Derek Ellis discussed the call with home plate umpire Frank Germino, but it stood.

Jeff/GRC pitcher Drew Ellis got out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the fourth, getting two pop-ups to hold the one-run lead.

It didn’t stick in the fifth, as Todd doubled with one out and Drew Ellis reached his Little League-mandated 85-pitch limit. Wenger relieved and Jondal — who was 3-for-4 in the game with two RBIs — singled in Todd.

The run was charged to Drew Ellis, who gave up five hits and two runs, both earned, in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out seven and walked one, three days after coming out on the losing end of a five-inning no-hitter against Maryland.

Ellis also notched his first two hits of the series, going 2-for-4. He and Hines had multihit games, and Robb and Burke had a hit each, making six for Jeff/GRC.

Wenger took the loss in relief, but pitched well. He gave up two hits in as many innings, striking out four and walking three.

Alec Kisena — pitching in relief for the third time in as many games — went 1 1/3 innings of no-run ball for the win for Washington.

Even if Jeff/GRC would have won, the team would have needed to defeat Washington by a number of runs. Maryland also could have been in the mix in a three-way tie if it beat Louisiana on Tuesday evening. It all would have come down to a formula of runs allowed divided by innings played.

Jeff/GRC’s loss took it out of the mix.

“We’re happy even though we went 0-3,” Derek Ellis said. “I’m going to continue to coach. A lot of kids (from home) showed up here and they know what it’s like now” at the series.

Thousands more watched on TV, as every game of the series is televised. Jeff/GRC made an appearance each on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2.

“They’ll (see that and) take that back and work a little harder (at baseball), and we’ll coach a little harder,” Derek Ellis said.



JEFFERSONVILLE 110 000 0—2 6 3

MILL CREEK, WA 100 010 1—3 7 1

W — Kisena. L — Wenger. 2B — Burke (J), Todd (W), Ellis (J), 3B — Hines (J). HR — Todd (W).



Jeff/GRC star of the game

• Austin Hines went 2-for-4 with a triple, single and RBI in the loss. He went 3-for-8 in the series, with a home run and triple.





TUESDAY’S NOTES

• Jeff/GRC All-Stars manager Derek Ellis altered his batting order slightly. He moved second baseman Ben Shahroudi to the four hole, and moved third baseman Hayden Robb from No. 4 to No. 5 in the order.

• Jeff/GRC was the visiting team for the third time in its three games at the Little League World Series.

• Mill Creek, Wash., came into the contest with 16 runs, 19 hits and four home runs in two games. Jeff/GRC had two runs, three hits and one homer in two games entering the game.

• Washington pitcher Jason Todd joins Jeff/GRC first baseman Dalton Duley and Saudi Arabia’s Cameron Durley as the tallest players at the series at 6 feet 2 inches.

• With a 2-for-3 day Tuesday, Todd is 7-for-10 in the series, with two home runs and three doubles.

• Shahroudi took the field at times with his protective mask on, and sometimes he did not wear it. Shahroudi had four bones in his face broken in regional play.

• Ellis said the team likely would stay in South Williamsport until Thursday before coming home. The team will consider playing an exhibition game against Canada.

• Attendance for Tuesday’s game was 5,200, and it was played under mostly sunny skies with temperatures in the 70s. Aside from Friday’s rainout, the weather in eastern Pennsylvania has been nothing short of perfect for baseball at the series.

— Managing Editor Shea Van Hoy

        

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