BRISTOL, Conn (WTAJ) — The Hollidaysburg League defeated Naamans Delaware 7-3 Friday to advance to the Little League World Series for the first time.
With the win, Hollidaysburg Little League claims the Mid-Atlantic Championship and will play Southwest Region Champion Pearland from Texas on Thursday, Aug. 18 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania at 7 p.m. The game will be played at Lamade Stadium and available on ESPN2.
Hollidaysburg becomes the first team to advance to the Little League World Series from Blair County. Additionally, Hollidaysburg crowns Pennsylvania with their sixth Mid-Atlantic Region Championship, tying them with New York. Hollidaysburg becomes the 35th team from Pennsylvania to advance to the Little League World Series.
Hollidaysburg finishes 3-1 in Regionals, rebounding after losing on Tuesday to the same Delaware team 5-4.
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Below is a recap of the game:
Hollidaysburg started off by scoring one in first following a bases loaded walk. In the bottom half though, Delaware tied it up after a solo homerun from Luke Luzader.
To keeping things going, they scored three more in the second. An RBI double came from Caleb Detrick to put Hollidaysburg up 3-1 following by an RBI single by Braden hatch to making it 4-1. Braden Hatch shut down Delaware in the bottom half of the second inning, striking out the side.
Hollidaysburg’s Beau Rabel made a huge heads up play to extend their lead 5-1 in the top of the third. In the bottom half of the inning, Ty McGough took the mount with two on and no outs. After letting up a walk, he came back with two straight strikeouts and a ground ball to keep Delaware off the board.
Flip to the fourth inning and Hollidaysburg scores again thanks to a single by Chase Link. In the bottom half of the fourth, Delaware’s Peter Hudson double to center, bring in two and closing the gap to 6-3.
The fifth inning went quick on both sides as Hollidaysburg left one stranded on second, while on the defensive side, McGough recorded two strikeouts and kept Delaware off the board.
Hollidaysburg added one more run in the top half of the sixth as Detrick homered to center field. McGough stayed on the mound in the sixth, recording two quick strikeouts and snagging a line drive to send Hollidaysburg to the Little League World Series.