New Albany pounded Kentucky on Thursday to the tune of 15 hits and nine runs and now advances to the Little League Great Lakes Regional semi-final, where possible redemption awaits. The hits kept coming for the New Albany Little Leaguers (2-1), who will get another crack at the boys from Indiana, who beat Ohio earlier in the tournament. The winner of that game Friday will play Grosse-Pointe, Michigan, in the regional championship and play in the Little League World Series.
Thursday's game was played in Westfield, Indiana. Ohio was lead by Garrett Givin, Zach Casey and Ben Liebel, who each had three hits on the afternoon. Givin scored three runs while Casey and Liebel each scored two. Liebel also had a team-high three RBIs. Pitcher Ben Clark went 4.1 solid innings and allowed just one earned run on two hits and three walks. He struck out seven batters.
New Albany came into the game fresh off a 4-0 win over Illinois and will ride a two-game winning streak against the other New Albany team from Indiana.
On the other side, the St. Matthews Baseball Little League team (1-2) out of Louisville has been eliminated from the tournament. The team's bats once again struggled to get anything going, amassing just one run on four hits. Jake Schweitzer went 1-3 with the team's lone RBI. Alex Johnson scored the team's lone run. Pitcher Bennett Holdener labored through 2.1 innings, giving up four runs – three earned — on seven hits. He struck out three batters. Daly Penick and Ryan Marks pitched 2.1 innings in combined relief, each giving up a pair of earned runs.
The boys from Louisville had entered the game coming off a hard-fought 2-1 win over Wisconsin, a game that saw a grand total of just five hits. Kentucky's offense was all but absent in the tournament, as the team collectively mustered just 10 hits and four runs total.
You can watch today's game with New Albany and root on the boys at 5pm on ESPN!
Here's the Team Roster:
#2 Malcolm Karzmer OF
#4 Brandon Ecleberry 2B
#7 Garrett Givin SS
#9 Ronan Bussewitz OF
#11 Ben Clark C
#12 Max Purper 1B
#14 Josh Richardson OF
#19 Zack Barienbrock 3B
#22 Ben Liebel P
#24 Zach Casey OF
#27 Kai Bounemany OF
#33 Charlie Oakleaf P
#54 Aidan Booth