After tying the game twice in the fifth and sixth innings to force bonus baseball, the Phillies loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh, with Nick Root drawing a walk to force home the game-winning run.
Root was one of eight Phillies players with a hit, also walking twice and driving in a run. Other hitters included Khase Willis (double, two walks, hit by a pitch), Jordon Wells (double, four walks, three runs, RBI), Karson Hornberger (hit by a pitch, run, RBI), Josh Holmes (double, two walks), Blane Belisario (run), Bailey Ward (RBI) and Jordan Blackmon. Derrick Pearson chipped in by scoring a run for the Phillies.
The Phillies opened up a 2-0 lead in the first on Wells’ RBI double and Ward’s run-scoring single, but the Padres edged ahead 5-2 in the top of the third. That’s when Sabien Lindo walked and Malik Watts and Jaylen Knowles delivered consecutive hits to put runners on each bag. Jacob Frye then hit an RBI single, Emmanuel Jones a two-run double and Brant Smith a two-run single to give the Padres a three-run lead.
Two more Phillies’ runs crossed the plate in the bottom half of the third, pulling them to within one. The Padres, however, padded their lead in the fourth when Frye’s single plated Knowles, who also singled, and a Phillies’ error brought home Frye for a 7-4 advantage.
Another miscue allowed a Padre baserunner in the fifth with Watts eventually driving home Garret Geros to make it a four-run game.
Trailing 8-4, the Phillies tied the game in the bottom of the fifth as Willis was hit by a pitch and Wells drew a walk, with both baserunners scoring on Root’s single. Root and Hornberger, who was hit by a pitch, later came around to score to knot the contest at 8-all.
In the top of the sixth, Frye tripled and then scored for the Padres to give them a one-run lead, but Wells walked his way to first in the Phillies’ half of the inning and touched home on a hit by Hornberger.
With the Padres failing to score to begin extra innings, the Phillies capitalized in the seventh as Holmes drew a walk before Pearson hit into a fielder’s choice. Willis doubled to place runners in scoring position, and Wells was intentionally walked to load the bases and set up a force play at home.
Pitchers for the game were Belisario (three innings, 39 pitches, two strikeouts) and Willis (five innings, 80 pitches, 13 strikeouts) of the Phillies, and Jones (one inning, 27 pitches, one strikeout), Smith (five innings, 53 pitches, three strikeouts) and Frye (three innings, 80 pitches, five strikeouts) of the Padres.
Frye (triple, three runs, two RBIs) led the Padres on offense with four hits, while Knowles (two hits, two runs) Watts (two hits, run, RBI), Jones (double, run, two RBIs), Smith (two RBIs), Dadrian Dennis (hit), Geros (run) and Lindo (walk, run) added to the team’s offensive output as well.
Below are other games from the Cartersville Little League’s postseason tournament, including a pair from Wednesday’s action.
The Phillies, Padres and Tigers are the three remaining teams in the double-elimination tournament, with the Padres and Tigers slated to meet Tuesday, May 29, at 6 p.m. The winner of that matchup would move on to play the Phillies at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 30, and, if necessary, at 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 31.
Tigers 15, Dodgers 4
The Tigers were well on their way to victory Thursday after home runs propelled them early in a game against the Dodgers. The Tigers eventually won, 15-4.
Grant Harris pounded a three-run homer in the top of the first and Jake Cooper added a two-run blast in the third to lead the way for the Tigers.
Cooper finished with four hits — as well as a walk, three runs and four RBIs — and Harris had two hits, including a double, while also adding a walk, a run and three RBIs.
The Tigers’ John Reed Evans finished with three hits (double), a walk, a sacrifice fly, three runs and two RBIs; Brandon Hodge had two hits (double) and a run; Brady Craig had a hit and two RBIs; and Cameron Darnell and Tyler Gamble each had a hit and a run. Other Tigers’ contributors were Gage Morris (two walks, run, RBI), Koby Jordan (sacrifice fly, RBI), Dominique Williams (walk, run), Brady Evans (walk, hit by a pitch, run) and Micah Tart (two walks, run).
In addition to his exploits at the plate, Hodge also had a strong outing on the mound for the Tigers, pitching four innings and striking out six. He threw 77 pitches.
Trey Harkins (50), Matthew Greene (86) and Tyler Dover (26) combined to throw more than 150 pitches for the Dodgers. Harkins threw one inning, Greene four and Dover two. Greene and Dover combined for six strikeouts — four and two, respectively.
Harkins’ two hits (triple) led the Dodgers, as did his two RBIs. Max Rohland (hit, walk, run), Juan Guerrero (hit, run), Cole Crump (hit), Dover (hit), Clay Ross (walk, run) and Jonathan Guerrero (RBI) also got into the offensive act for the team.
Dodgers 10, Indians 0
Trevor Lawrence pitched a complete-game, two-hit shutout for the Dodgers, who defeated the Indians 10-0 on Wednesday. Lawrence threw 70 pitches in five innings, reaching double digits in strikeouts with 11.
The Dodgers scored four runs in each the first and second innings on key hits by Max Rohland, Trey Harkins, Lawrence, Matthew Greene and Juan Guerrero — all the offense they would really need. They added a run in the third, when Keaun Thomas singled and scored, and another in the bottom of the fifth when Rohland singled, moved to third on a double by Harkins and scored on a walk-off, RBI single by Greene, with the game being called at that point due to the 10-run rule.
Rohland (double, two runs), Harkins (double, walk, run), Lawrence (double, walk, two runs), Greene (double, run, four RBIs) and Guerrero (double, two runs, RBI) each collected two hits apiece, and Thomas had a single, a walk and a run.
Additionally, Jon Guerrero scored a run, Tyler Dover walked and Clay Ross was hit by a pitch for the Dodgers.
Garrett Hite (double) and Dax Edwards gave the Indians their lone two base knocks against Lawrence, and Peyton Willoughby walked once against the Dodger ace.
As for the Indians’ pitchers, Hite pitched three innings (75 pitches, two strikeouts) and Edwards two (38 pitches, two strikeouts).
Tigers 8, Colts 0
In yet another shutout on Wednesday, Gage Morris threw a complete-game, one-hit shutout in the Tigers’ 8-0 victory.
Morris required just 54 pitches in six innings as he recorded seven strikeouts while allowing one baserunner — the Colts’ Kaison Williams, who singled in the bottom of the first.
Opposing Morris on the mound were Chris Mills (four innings, 84 pitches, four strikeouts) and Zach Hall (two innings, 37 pitches, one strikeout) of the Colts.
Along with Morris’ near no-hit effort, the Tigers created their path to victory with a five-run first inning, which featured Jake Cooper’s RBI double, Brandon Hodge and Micah Tart’s RBI singles and Koby Jordan’s run-scoring groundout.
John Reed Evans crossed the plate for the Tigers after tripling in the second, and Grant Harris’ home run in the fourth made it 7-0 before a final run came home in the fifth on Cameron Darnell’s single.
Eight players had hits for the Tigers, among them Harris (double, home run, two runs, RBI), Cooper (two doubles, run, RBI), Hodge (two hits, walk, run, RBI), Evans (walk, two runs), Morris (two walks, run), Jordan (double, run, RBI), Darnell (RBI) and Brady Evans.