West Chester Boys Fall Just Short In Epic Little League World Series Classic

WILLIAMSPORT, PA — In a fine mist as darkness fell over Lamade Stadium Monday night, the East Side Little League boys from West Chester staged a cinematic duel with Alabama's Phenix City.

But the Pennsylvania state champions and mid-Atlantic region representatives in the tournament came up just shy, falling in extra innings to what looks like a team of destiny out of Alabama.

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East Side roared out to a 5-0 lead in the 3rd inning, and for a time, it looked like yet another one of their dominant performances that their fans have watched over the past month: excellent pitching and a very long lineup without a single weak spot in it.

But Phenix City rallied big in the bottom half of the third, scoring five runs to tie up the game and set up a dramatic final act that looked more like the Phillies vs. Braves proxy played out in the hats in the stands.

Bama was then backed by a historic performance by Kinley Rasmus, who turned in one of the most dominant outings by a girl in Little League World Series history. Rasmus took over in the 3rd inning and did not allow another run the rest of the way, pitching 4.2 scoreless innings, striking out six, and only allowing 2 hits.

The boys from West Chester were in it until the final moments. Star pitcher Cole Warner, who hit a home run earlier in the game, was also dominant, striking out six over three scoreless innings. That included a four strikeout inning, in which the bases were loaded with a past ball strikeout and two bunts. Warner bore down under the brightest lights and struck out the next three Phenix City batters that came to the plate to get out of the inning.

Headed into extra innings, West Chester had a chance with a runner on third and just one out. But a heads up play by Phenix City's third baseman Easton Allen triggered a run down that got the second out, and Rasmus struck out the final batter.

Bama went on to win in the bottom of the 7th on a walk-off single up the middle, one of just four hits that Warner allowed all night.

East Side lost to Bayonne, New Jersey, the Metro-region champion, 3-1 on Friday night. The second loss Monday night ends their season.

Despite the losses, this East Side squad will doubtlessly be remembered for an utterly domineering run through multiple championship levels of the tournament. And when the lights were brightest, in games nationally televised on ESPN, they held their own against some of the nation's greatest talent.