NY No-Hits Maryland To Win Mid-Atlantic Title, Earns LLWS Berth

BRISTOL, CT – It was a win for the ages. New York pitcher Gregory Bruno dazzled Sunday, confounding Maryland's bats to the tune of six perfect innings, allowing no runs, no hits and no walks. The Mid Island Little Leaguers from Staten Island (4-0) beat the Berlin Little League team (2-2) to win the Mid-Atlantic Region championship and a trip to the Little League World Series. New York will go on to play the Midwest champion, Iowa, on Aug. 16.

With everything to play for, Bruno needed just 64 pitches to mow down batter after batter in the title game. He struck out 12 of the 18 batters he faced. The offense was lead by Steven Martinez, who had two hits and a walk on the day, knocking in two runs. While Staten Island's bats certainly didn't light the world on fire — the team managed six hits on the day — they came through when it mattered.

The boys from Berlin, Maryland, won four games in the tournament, but couldn't figure Bruno out. No player was able to get a hit and just 11 batters struck out. Pitchers Owen Knerr and Adam Gardner kept the team in the game until the very end. Knerr hurled 3.1 innings of two-run ball — both earned — while Gardner added 2.2 innings. Gardner allowed two runs, only one which was earned. They combined for three strikeouts.

Maryland had come into the game hot, riding a three-game winning streak, including an 11-1 thumping of New Jersey on Friday. Maryland's offense in the tournament had been lead by Knerr, Lukas Loring and Alex Navarro. Knerr ended the tournament with five hits — and he made them count. All went for home runs and he knocked in a team-high nine RBIs and scored six runs. Loring ended the tournament with seven hits, including a home run. He knocked in five RBIs and scored five runs. Navarro lead the team in hits with nine.

New York came into the game as the lone unbeaten team in the region and was also riding a three-game winning streak. The boys from Staten Island came into the championship exhibiting a balanced offense, with eight players scoring at least two runs and 10 notching at least one RBI.

Rosters

Maryland

#0 Owen Knerr

#1 Alex Navarro

#2 Gavin Solito

#6 Kannon Cropper

#13 Nate Berzonski

#14 Briggs Pugner

#16 Adam Gardner

#24 Lukas Loring

#27 Waylon Hobgood

#30 Case Tilghman

#37 Ryder Swanson

#44 Stephen Wade

#48 Riley Calloway

#50 Foster Smith

New York

#6 Jayson Hannah

#8 Frank Scerra

#13 Chris Cancel

#17 Thomas Puglisi

#21 Derek Mendez 22 Logan Castellano

#23 John Calabrese

#24 Gregory Bruno

#26 Chris Bedford

#27 Steven Martinez

#29 Robert Cavalieri

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