Tuesday was the fifth day of play and the final day of round one. The teams moving on to the semifinals were all determined by the end of play on Monday. Most of the games on day 5 were mostly for pride with only the last two having a true impact on the Little League World Series 2009 results in the standing going into Wednesday’s semifinals.
Game one on Tuesday was merely for pride. It was between Venezula and Saudia Arabia. Venezula scored first in the first inning and went on to add another run in both the second and third innings.
The team from Saudia Arabia is mostly made up of children from US Citizens living aboard. All they needed was one inning to score enough runs to beat Venezula 5-3. At Saudia Arabia’s first at bat for the game, they were able to load the bases with two walks and batter that was hit by a pitch.
Saudia Arabia’s pitcher, Cameron Durley stepped up to bat and hit a two run RBI down the right field line. Bryn Stonehouse then came up and reached first with a bunt scoring another run in the process. Two more walks and Durley had made it around the bases to score another run.
At this point Venezula’s ace pitcher, Jose Martinez asked to be put in. Martinez was eligible to play, but wanted to allow his teammates the chance to play. Martinez was the fourth pitcher for Venezula in the first inning.
Martinez walked on hitter allowing the fifth run for Saudia Arabia. Then he shut down their bats. Martinez struck out six hitters and allowed no hits.
Saudia Arabia pitchers Durley and John Sheppard combined to striking out twelve hitters together. The win gave Saudia Arabia a 2-2 record for the first round and Venezula was winless.
Game two proved that baseball is not just a guys sport. It was a thriller of a game that ended in the hands of Canada’s Katie Reyes.
Canada jumped out to a big lead of 10-2 going into the bottom of the fifth inning. Germany scored eleven runs in the fifth to take the lead 13-10.
In the sixth inning, Katie Reyes stepped up to bat for Canada. She hit a single that scored the final two runs including the winning one. But Reyes was not finished for the night. Germany still had three outs to try to come back and win the game. Reyes made the last out by stretching out for a throw from the second baseman ending the game.
With a total score of 27 runs in the game, Canada and Germany made history by tying a record for the most runs in a single game since the tournament expanded to 16 teams in 2001. Germany went winless in the tournament while Canada finished with a 1-2 record.
With little to gain other than pride for either team, Peabody, Massachusetts and Russellville, Kentucky faced off in the third game. Peabody took control of the game in the third inning by scoring nine runs.
Lead by pitcher Austin Batcher who struck out seven Russellville hitters and allowed only five hits, Peabody went on to win 12-3. Batcher did his job while at bat as well. He hit a home run at his final Little League at bat.
There was a lot riding on the outcome of game four. Both teams went into the game undefeated and heading to the semifinals. What they had to decide was who was going to be the top seed for Pool D. The rankings from round one determines who each team plays in the semifinals and gives one team some bragging rights.
Mexico and Chinese Taipei were playing for the top seed in Pool D. It was a close low scoring game compared to some of the games earlier in the day.
Mexico was lead by pitcher Marcello Martinez who struck out twelve hitters and allowed no hits. Martinez reached the 85 pitch limit in the fifth and had to be taken out of the game.
Luis Trevino, Luis Perez and Raymundo Berrones all hit home runs to score Mexico’s three run giving Mexico a 3-2 win and the top seed for Pool D.
As with the fifth game, game six of the final day of round one was being played to determine who would have the top seed from Pool B going into the semifinals. San Antonio, Texas and Chula Vista, California could arguably be the top US teams in the tournament.
San Antonio’s pitchers stepped up to the mound and basically shut down the Chula Vista’s bats. Over their first two games, Chula Vista had scored 29 runs. The San Antonio pitchers allowed only seven hits during the whole game. They also struck out ten batters.
A close scoring game all the way through, Chula Vista took an early 2-0 lead. San Antonio took the lead for good by scoring four runs in the fourth and added two more in the sixth. Chula Vista also scored one run in the fourth losing to San Antonio with a final score of 6-3.
The win gives San Antonio Pool B’s top seed position for the semifinals. As the games from day five ended, the Little League World Series 2009 results for round one was in the history books. The semifinals start on Wednesday.
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