New City Falls 4-3 In Extra Innings At Little League World Series

The New City Little League softball All Stars, the East Regional champions, fell to the the Southeast Regional All Stars from Wilkes County, NC, 4-3 Saturday afternoon in its second of five pool play games at the Little League World Series in Portland, OR.

Sarah Brauer wasn’t striking batters out at the rate she has done in previous appearances but she remained cool throughout the game and her stuff was good enough to get the job done. New City just didn’t have the pop in their bats to get the win.

“We made a few defensive mistakes that we don’t normally make,” said New City Manager Mike Herskowitz. “Point at one defensive play is always the wrong way to look at it. We didn’t hit well today.”

One girl did hit well. Sara Herskowitz was 3 for 3 with 2 RBI and a run scored. New City drew first blood in the bottom of the first when Sara Herskowitz ripped an RBI triple to center field. Deana Prochnau scored on the play giving New City an early 1-0 lead.

“Sara was just focused today,” said Herskowitz. “She had a good day in batting practice and was locked into the pitchers.”

Herskowitz came up to bat with a runner on third and two outs in the bottom of the third inning. The outfield was play very deep as a reaction to the bomb Herskowitz hit in the first inning. This time, the New City catcher blooped a base hit into shallow center. Had the outfield been playing at a standard depth, it would have been a routine pop up. Herskowitz hustled all the way and got herself her second RBI of the game and a double on the play.  Herskowitz  advanced to third on an error and would eventually score, giving New City a 3-0 lead after three innings.

“Sara has great instincts on the base path,” said Herskowitz. “I was waving her to third but she already decided to go on her own. That earned us a run.”

Reese Guevara came in to relieve Brauer in the fifth inning after she allowed to runners to get on base with no outs in the inning. An error and a double later and the game was tied at three.

The game went to the bottom of the sixth in the 3-3 tie. New City got the lead off runner on but was unable to score the winning run.

The Southeast had the top of their lineup up to bat to start extra innings. A single for the Southeast and an error by New City and suddenly there were runners on second and third with none out. Sarah Brauer, who came back into the game in the seventh inning, Brauer, again, kept her cool and fought through the inning only allowing a single run to score.

“We just picked the wrong moment to have the worst inning of our summer,” said Herskowtiz. “Carolina is a good team and when you make mistakes against a good team, they make you pay. I could point at a defensive play here or there but when it comes down to it we need to get more than three hits to win.”

New City was unable to score the run they needed in the bottom of the seventh and took their first loss of the tournament.

“The girls are already over the loss and having a good time,” said Herskowitz at around 9:15 PM, Satuday night. “They are going to have a good time tonight. Little League is hosting a party for the girls tonight which is much better than the girls sitting in their rooms dwelling on a loss. They will come out ready tomorrow.”

The biggest game of the year for the New City All Stars is against Muntinlupa Little League from the Phillipines at 5 p.m. on Sunday. Muntinlupa is currently 2-0 in pool play. However, their two wins came against an Italian side that New City already defeated and the hometown team of Portland, who only had to win their district to qualify for the Little League World Series.

Reese Guevara will get the start for New City tomorrow in what is a must-win situation.

NOTEBOOK: New City Little League softball fans were cheering for the team today at Lexington Grill in Bardonia, where the game was being shown on TV.

OVERHEARD: At Provident Bank Park in Pomona, as Rockland Boulders fans were watching the team take on the New York Federals, one of the most common questionas in the stands was "How are the girls from New City doing tonight?"