Central Torrance Loses Bid for Little League Title to Dominicans, 3-2

The dream of winning a championship came to an end for Central Torrance in the Little League Senior Division World Series for 14- and 15-year-olds Wednesday night at Kissimmee, Fla.

Outfielder Henry Jose singled through a drawn-in infield with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Dominican Republic a 3-2 victory over Central Torrance.

The loss dropped Central Torrance into the placement bracket, where it will need to win three games to finish third. Central Torrance will meet Asbury Park, N.J., at 9 a.m. today and the loser will be eliminated from the tournament.

Early in the game, the prospects for victory appeared good for Central Torrance.

After a triple by Victor Perez and a walk to Oliver Turner with one out in the first, third baseman Anthony Martinez drove in Central Torrance’s first run with a single. After a walk to Johnny Knott that loaded the bases, pitcher Eric Fadeley executed a squeeze bunt to give Central Torrance a 2-0 lead.

Leading 2-1 in the third, Central Torrance had runners on first and second with no outs. But the inning turned into a nightmare when Knott lined to shortstop Alejandro Feliz, who stepped on second and threw to first for a triple play.

“For some reason, the shortstop was moving to cover second base,” Central Torrance Manager Ron Campbell said. “If he goes the other way, it probably falls in and we score a run.”

Dominican Republic tied the score in the bottom of the fifth as Jose hit a two-out single that scored pitcher Rafael Popoter.

Popoter started the game-winning rally when he led off the seventh with a triple. After Fadeley intentionally walked the next two batters to load the bases, Jose came through with his single to win the game.

Campbell said the ending was disappointing because of the improvement he saw in his team’s play.

“We probably played the best game we’ve had in the tournament,” he said. “We were hitting the ball very solid. At different times, we hit three line-drive shots that were right at people. The hitting started to come around today but (the balls) just weren’t falling in for us.”

After Central Torrance’s offense helped it win the Western Regional qualifying tournament, the team scored only six runs on 12 hits in the world series.

“I don’t know whether or not we expected more,” Campbell said. “But you also get a higher caliber of defense and pitching at this level.”

Left fielder Victor Perez had two hits for the second game in a row.

“Right now, he’s our hottest hitter, and you always like to see your No. 2 hitter get hot,” Campbell said.

Campbell is hopeful Central Torrance can finish third.

“They are still very much focused,” he said. “They want to win the placement bracket. There was disappointment after the game but they haven’t lost their focus. They want to be the U.S. champion. And they may have lost to Taiwan and the Dominican Republic, but if they win the placement bracket they can still be the best in the U.S. at this age level.”