Behind a complete-game two-hitter by Kyle Cotcamp, West Side Little League of Hamilton, Ohio, secured a 6-1 win over New Albany (Indiana) Little League to win the Great Lakes Regional tournament. The victory marks the third time a team from West Side L.L. will represent Ohio at the Little League World Series.
Cotcamp initially had trouble against New Albany. In the first inning, after hitting centerfielder Logan Striegel and walking an additional batter, Cotcamp surrendered the game's first run on an infield error that put New Albany up 1-0.
Cotcamp settled down, however, and was especially dominant in the later innings, retiring the last 12 batters he faced--eight of them on strikeouts. After striking out the first two New Albany batters in the top of the sixth, he nervously eyed his coach in the dugout while awaiting a verdict on whether he would have to be pulled for exceeding the Little League-mandated pitch count of 85 pitches per game.
A relieved Cotcamp sported an enormous smile upon learning he had tallied only 84 pitches, allowing him to pitch to one more batter and record his 11th strikeout of the game.
For awhile it appeared the game had all the makings of a pitcher's duel. Using a deceptive breaking ball and a fastball clocked at up to 67 mph, New Albany pitcher Josh Rogers appeared to have control of the Hamilton batters, recording four strikeouts in the first two innings.
In the bottom of the third West Side broke through. Derrick Best doubled, then scored the tying run after T.J. Nichting got into an intentional run-down--allowing Best enough time to cross the plate before Nichting was tagged out to end the inning. Yet was an inning set up in many ways by a few choice words from the West Side manager Tim Nichting.
"We're going to play a little game here," Nichting said to a batter in the bottom of the fourth, which an ESPN field microphone picked up. "If it's a curve ball and you like it, hit it."
Nichting's advice for his hitters to be patient worked as Hamilton belted hit after hit up the middle, adding three runs in the inning. Best--Hamilton's number-nine hitter and left fielder--contributed another double and picked up an RBI in the inning. After New Albany replaced Rogers on the mound in the fifth, Hamilton padded their lead with two more runs, bringing the score to 6-1.
Hamilton, which begins play in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, on Friday, August 17, is grouped in Pool A with Walpole, Massachusetts, Lake Oswego, Oregon, and Warner Robins, Georgia. The top two teams in each pool advance to the next round.
Active.com - Little League World Series 2007, Presented by Subway
