Goodlettsville Little League Beats Bowling Green 8-4 to Advance to U.S. Title Game

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, PA — All that separates Goodlettsville and Bowling Green, Ky. is 52 miles of Interstate 65 and a Zach McWilliams grand slam.

Bowling Green intentionally walked Tyler Jones to load the bases for McWilliams who took his team from a 4-2 deficit in the top of the fourth to a 6-4 lead with one swing of the bat. It was McWilliams' third home run of the Little League World Series, which leads all batters in the 2016 edition of the LLWS. Goodlettsville added another run to stretch the lead to 7-4.

Bowling Green threatened in the bottom of the inning, but with Spencer Newman, who had been the hottest hitter in the Little League World Series, at the plate, Tanner Jones caught Devin Obee stealing at second to end the inning and snuff the rally.

Goodlettsville added a run in the top of the sixth with Ryan Oden scoring on a Jon Luke Simmons single, stretching the lead to 8-4, truly making McWilliams' grand slam the difference.

Goodlettsville fell behind early on a first-inning two-run double by Bowling Green's Spencer Newman, but tied it back up in the second, scoring the tying run, bizarrely, on a wild pitch on a strikeout.

And as if that wasn't weird enough, Bowling Green took its 4-2 lead by plating two runs after an error by McWilliams at third on an attempt to pick-off a runner.

Goodlettsville starting pitcher Oden worked four innings, giving up four runs (two earned) and striking out six. He gave way in the fifth to RJ Moore, who struck out five in two scoreless innings.

After four straight days of play, Goodlettsville finally gets the day off Friday before playing for the U.S. championship 2:30 PM Saturday against Maine-Endwell of New York. Maine-Endwell is the only team to get the better of Louisville this year, winning 3-1 Monday afternoon.

The International championship between Panama and South Korea is 11:30 AM Saturday. The winners of Saturday's games play for the Little League World Series title Sunday at 2. All of the weekend's games are on ABC.

Image via Little League Baseball.