Cranston Western Advances in World Series with Dramatic Game Ending DP

The boys of the Cranston Western Little League team came to Lamade Stadium for their second game in the Little League World Series with something to prove.

After being dominated by 6-foot, 80-mph-fireballer Alex Edmonson of South Carolina on Friday in a tough 7-1, no-hit loss, Cranston Western showed the world they’re in this thing.

And they didn’t waste time proving they had shrugged off any bad feelings about the night before, scoring five runs in the first inning against Missouri, setting the tone for the rest of the night during which they racked up 11 hits.

Talk about a turnaround.

It began with a walk by Dylan Demers, a single by Jason Patalano to drive in two runs, an RBI single by Jake Bender and another RBI single by Tommy Harper.

Cam Adamec got the win for New England, giving up two runs over 2 2/3 innings. He earned four Ks, walked three and gave up one hit.

Adamec also contributed behind the plate, going 2-4 with an RBI.

Missouri started to claw back early with Dervin Weathers homering in the first to drive in two runs. But their comeback stalled from there and Cranston was able to tack on another run in the fourth when Demers scored on an Adamec single to right.

Missouri made it 6-3 when Cale McCallierster homered and then, in the bottom of the sixth, when it looked like Cranston was about to cruise to victory, things got interesting.

Jared Olson came in to close the game and struck out the first batter on three pitches.

The Cranston crowd at Lamade was on its feet but the next batter walked, then came a single, and another single, which loaded the bases and brought the game winning run to the plate.

With just one out, Cranston Coach Gary Bucci came to the mound to talk to his pitcher, who stood with the fate of the game in his hands and a national TV audience sitting at the edge of their seats.

This was a team with some players who took the Friday night loss hard, Bucci told reporters on Saturday. But they put their heads down, had a good practice and were not ready to go home. Not yet.

Bucci left the mound and what happened next captures perfectly why Little League baseball is the purest form of the sport.

Jaxson Cartright of Missouri grounded to Nick Mason at third, which set up a sweetly-executed 5-2-3 double play to end the game and continue Cranston’s quest for the world championship.

This story is being updated.