New York Beats Texas 2-1 In Little League World Series

WILLIAMSPORT, PA — Stout pitching allowed New York to beat a good Texas team Sunday in the second round of the Little League World Series. The Mid Island all stars (2-0) from Staten Island defeated Post Oak (1-1), out of Houston at the Howard J. Lamade Stadium in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Staten Island's Gregory Bruno hurled 5.1 innings of one-run ball. He gave up just three hits and three walks while striking out six.

Texas pitchers Ryan Selvaggi and Carter Pitts were nearly as good in their 5 combined innings, giving up just two runs, three hits and striking out eight.

The game remained tied until the bottom of the 3rd inning. Selvaggi, who had been dealing up to that point with a mid-70s fastball, gave up back-to-back singles to Cavalieri and Bedford. The runners advanced to second and third bases on a wild pitch. Cavalieri then scored on another wild pitch. Steven Martinez later singled in a run when Carter Pitts came in in relief.

Staten Island moves on to the U.S. semi-final and will play the winner of Sunday's game between the Great Lakes, represented by Michigan's Grosse-Pointe Woods-Shores Little Leaguers, and the West, represented by Hawaii's Honolulu team.

Meanwhile, Texas will play Georgia on Monday in an elimination game.

Both teams came into the game hot. Staten Island, representing the Mid-Atlantic region, beat a tough Iowa team Thursday 5-2. Hits were hard to come by in that contest, with New York collecting five hits — three of which were doubles — and Iowa getting just four. Pitchers Steven Martinez and Gregory Bruno have been the backbone of the team. They combined to throw five innings and stuck out 11 batters. Martinez gave up two runs, both earned, on three hits and two walks. Bruno gave up no runs on just one hit.

Post Oak stifled Rhode Island on Thursday in a low-scoring affair 3-1. Justin Michaelis had three of the team's six hits, including a double. Pitchers Carter Pitts and Ryan Selvaggi confounded Rhode Island's bats in the contest, allowing just one run combined on two hits over six innings. They struck out nine batters in all.

New York

#2 Jayson Hannah

#3 Chris Cancel

#4 Logan Castellano

#5 John Calabrese

#10 Robert Cavalieri

#12 Chris Bedford

#13 Gregory Bruno

#14 Frank Scerra

#17 Thomas Puglisi

#19 Derek Mendez

#24 Steven Martinez

Texas

#2 Charlie Wylie 2B

#3 Ethan Goldstein P, CF

#5 George Kugle P, OF

#6 Carter Pitts P, 3B, SS

#9 Parrish Facciponte P, OF

#10 Kaleb Rook P, SS

#11 Andy Guy C

#14 Matthew Hedrick P, RF

#16 Cade West P, C

#17 Richie Klosek P, 1B

#19 Ryan Selvaggi P, 3B, CF

#23 Andrew Stover P, C

#24 Justin Michaels LF

Photos courtesy of Little League Baseball and Softball / Graphics by Kristin Borden