Torrance all-stars eliminated after loss against Ohio team

The all-star team from the Torrance Little League was eliminated from the Little League World Series Thursday evening, losing 4-2 to its counterpart from Hamilton, Ohio in an elimination bracket game.

The all stars from the West Side Little League combined two walks, a triple and a single for three runs in the fifth inning of the six-inning game at Howard J. Lamade Stadium in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Torrance (2-2) had runners on first and third with two outs in the sixth inning on singles by Isaac Mora, its No. 9 hitter, and Grant Hays, but Gibson Turner flew out to end the game.

Torrance opened the scoring with two runs in the third. Levi Cornett’s two-out single drove in Xavier Navarro, who led off with a single. The next batter, pinch-hitter Kaishu Harrison, singled in Turner, who singled.

Hamilton, batting as the home team, scored its first run in the fourth. Chance Retherford led off with a walk, moved to second on a wild pitch by Skylar Vinson and advanced to third on Chase Moak’s bunt single.

After Vinson walked pinch-hitter Gavin Saylor to load the bases, he was relieved by Dominic Golia, he threw a wild pitch on his fourth pitch, allowing Retherford to score.

In the fifth inning, Retherford tripled in Brady Baumann and JJ Vogel, who both walked. Noah Davidson’s two-out single drove in Retherford.

Davidson, the second of two Hamilton pitchers, was credited with the victory, allowing one run and six hits in four innings, striking out six and walking one. Golia, the second of three Torrance pitchers, was charged with the loss, allowing three runs and two hits in 1 2/3 innings, striking out five and walking two.

The game was a rematch of Torrance’s 9-0 victory Sunday in the modified double-elimination tournament.

Hamilton (4-1) will play for the championship of the Tom Seaver Bracket Saturday against the all-star team from the Sioux Falls (South Dakota) Little League, which defeated Torrance, 1-0, Wednesday for its third victory in three games in the tournament.

With the Little League World Series limited to U.S. teams because of the coronavirus pandemic, the brackets were named for Tom Seaver and Hank Aaron, Hall of Famers who died in 2020 and 2021. The two bracket winners will meet for the world championship Sunday.

The Little League World Series is customarily divided into U.S. and international brackets.

Both Torrance and Hamilton were in the Little League World Series because of the absence of foreign teams. Little League International chose to have a 16-team field for the World Series, having the top two teams from all eight U.S. regions advance to the World Series instead of just the champion.

Torrance was the runner-up in the West Region while Hamilton was second in the Great Lakes Region.

Torrance was the first team from Los Angeles County to play in the Little League World Series since 1994. It was seeking to become the first team from Los Angeles County to win the tournament since 1963, when the all-star team from the Granada Hills National Little League won.

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