Hagerstown, Md. (Mid-Atlantic), knocked off unbeaten Lake Charles, La. (Southwest), 6-4 on Tuesday. It got a gem of a pitching performance by Andrew Yacyk, who struck out eight Lake Charles batters while surrendering just one hit in five innings. Hagerstown’s top three batters – Ryan Byard, Yacyk and Zach Schreiber – proved that it may be the most lethal trio in the Little League World Series by going a combined 6-for-8 with si!http://community.active.com/servlet/JiveServlet/download/38-20818/Slide-home.jpg?blogID=8913&blogPostID=9721|height=246|style=padding:8px;|align=right|width=249|src=http://community.active.com/servlet/JiveServlet/download/38-20818/Slide-home.jpg?blogID=8913&blogPostID=9721!x RBI and five runs scored. And the Maryland champions put up four runs in the third inning and two more in the fourth against a pitching staff that had allowed just one run and three hits in two LLWS games thus far. Hagerstown went 2-1 in Pool A play. But, alas, none of it mattered.

Hagerstown’s 15-5 loss to Mill Creek, Wash., was too much to overcome as three teams tied for the Pool A lead. The tie-breaker went to which team surrendered the most runs in pool play. That was Hagerstown’s 21. "Our game against (Mill Creek), we were well aware of what we needed to do. We only needed, what, 27 runs,” Hagerstown coach Bill Abeles joked as he was corrected and told 17 by one of his players. “You start to overthink this wonderful game a little bit. We knew we wanted to win and leave on a positive note, but we knew it was going to be a bear to make the formula work in our favor.”

“It was a great experience. What an experience – win, lose or draw. I hope the kids always remember getting to play in the Yankee Stadium of Little League baseball.” Bryce Jordan went 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI for Lake Charles. Peyton McLemore had a two-RBI double.

*BOX SCORE

Lake Charles, La. 000 004 – 4 4 0

Hagerstown, Md. 004 20x – 6 8 1*

W – Andrew Yacyk (1-0). L – Gunner Leger (0-1). S – Josh Barron (1). 2B – Bryce Jordan (LC), Peyton McLemore (LC). HR – Ryan Byard (H), Andrew Yacyk (H), Zane Schreiber (H).

Pool A Records – Lake Charles 2-1, Hagerstown 2-1.