SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Some may have thought that Hamilton West Side Little League would have been a bit sluggish in the loser’s bracket final game against Davenport North (IA) Little League on Thursday, Aug. 27.
After all, Hamilton’s game Wednesday night, an 11-2 win over Alabama, had ended less than twelve hours before Thursday’s 9 a.m. start time, moved up due to threat of inclement weather in Williamsport. When you factor in the time it takes to get a bunch of excited twelve-year-olds to bed, and the fact that the team needed to be ready to start their pregame routine at 7 a.m., that doesn’t leave a lot of time for sleep.
But that didn’t matter at all for this red-hot Hamilton team. They quickly swept away any doubts about a slow start, pouncing on yet another team as four first inning runs resulted in a 7-1 win to cap off a four wins in a four-day stretch and get Hamilton West Side to the Little League World Series United States Championship Game.
“I just like getting a lead first, and then having our pitcher get confident enough to where they know we’re ahead, and they can throw strikes and have our defense work,” starting pitcher Walker Osborne said.
Ohio’s pitching depth has been stellar so far in this tournament, and it was terrific once again on Thursday. Walker Osbourne got the start and was fantastic, throwing a complete game, scattering just four hits and allowing only one run against a potent offense.
“Walker throws strikes. Walker’s not one of my overpowering guys. He moves the ball, and I like that. It keeps my defense involved and keeps his pitch count down. These two (Osborne and Leo Feltner) played on my regular-season Little League team, so I’ve got all the confidence in the world in these two. They battle. They’ll go at it with all their heart, and Walker’s a tough dude. He paints the corners, gets his curveball going, and he’s a tough guy to hit,” Nichting said.
Nichting hasn’t won a coin flip in any of the five games Hamilton has played, and Hamilton was the away team once again. Like they have all tournament, they wasted no time getting started.
Boone Treadway extended his Little League World Series-record walk total, drawing his 11th walk to lead off the game, and Bryson Williams singled up the middle. Then, with one out, Josiah Infante singled to load the bases and Jack McAdams drove in the game’s first run with a single into left field. That set up the biggest hit of the game, a three-run triple down the right field line off the bat of Bob Frazier that put Hamilton up 4-0.
“I haven’t won a flip yet, which I don’t even care if I win now, because I hope they want to take home. We like the third-base side. I don’t have far to walk to third base, and we’ve always liked batting first. Then it became tough games and I would take home. But, right now we’re just stuck at third base, and we’re happy with it,” Nichting said.
Iowa’s best chance at a big inning was the top of the first when their two stars, Cooper Thissen and AJ Johnson, got on base to lead off the inning. But, Osborne retired the next three hitters, and Iowa never seriously threatened the lead again.
Ohio added to its lead in the second on singles by Finn Dikes and Hudson Vonderheide. While they only walked three times, well below their average coming into the game of over seven walks per game, they found way to constantly pressure Iowa with twelve hits.
Ohio would put up yet another crooked number in the sixth inning to answer Iowa’s one run in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Williams continued his hot hitting with a single, Feltner walked and Infante singled to score both runners to extend his tournament RBI lead. Infante and Jack McAdams are also tied for the series lead in hits with nine.
Ohio’s win earns them a rematch against that Nevada team that defeated them in their first round game last Friday. That game, which wasn’t televised due to a schedule change caused by inclement weather, was one Hamilton felt it should’ve won. They built a 5-2 lead in the fourth inning, only to watch it slip away.
“We just needed to stay focused because once we got a lead, we started, like, falling down thinking we were just going to win,” Williams said.
This time, a United States championship will be up for grabs, and there’s no reason to think that Hamilton won’t remain as confident as they’ve been the past week.