Long Beach Reaches Final as Burroughs Pitches Gem

When all the second-guessing in the third base dugout ended Thursday at Lamade Stadium, Manager Larry Lewis of the Long Beach All-Stars reached for his lineup card and made a switch that he now hopes he won’t regret.

Lewis and coach Jeff Burroughs decided to start the ace of their pitching staff, Jeff’s son, Sean, against light-hitting Bedford, N.H., in the United States title game at the Little League World Series.

It was a risky bet, because most people thought hard-hitting Long Beach would defeat Bedford again after rolling over the East representative, 21-1, in round-robin play. Bedford had scored only three runs during the tournament and had a .135 batting average.

Had Long Beach not used Sean Burroughs, he would have been available for Saturday’s World Series final against Panama before a national television audience.

Long Beach trounced Bedford again Thursday, this time 11-0 on young Burrough’s third consecutive no-hitter. But Little League rules prohibit the 12-year-old, who helped his own cause with a pair of home runs and two singles, from pitching more than one inning in the six-inning world championship game.

Jeff Burroughs wasted no time after the game explaining the decision.

“This game meant too much to us,” he said. “There was no way in the world that Sean wasn’t going to pitch. There’s no such thing as looking ahead to the next game, Larry and I have always played them one at a time. You can’t look ahead in my book.”

But Lewis had listed Brady Werner, the team’s No. 3 pitcher, in the starting lineup that was distributed to reporters. Lewis explained that he made the switch to Sean Burroughs moments before the game started after consulting with the elder Burroughs.

Had Long Beach, which was the visiting team, scored a few runs in its first two at-bats, Lewis said, he was prepared to pull Burroughs. Under Little League rules, he then could have pitched a full game Saturday.

The defending world champions stranded two runners in the first inning, and managed only a solo home run on the first pitch of the second by second baseman Chris Miller, his third of the all-star season.

Whether or not it was the right pitching move, Burroughs lived up to his billing before a crowd of 19,000 and a live cable television audience. He recorded his fifth consecutive shutout and was in control throughout, striking out 16 for the second time in the tournament.

Three Bedford runners reached base, and one of those figured in the no-hitter, an apparent single off Burroughs’ glove in the bottom of the third inning by Steven Boselli. The ball was hit to the left of Burroughs and the young right-hander touched it as it rolled by him. Chris Miller picked it up, but his throw to first was late.

Official scorer Mike Witherwax took several seconds to make his decision, then drew boos when he ruled the play an error.

“I think I could have had it,” Burroughs said. “I just missed it. I stumbled a little when I came off the mound.”

Bedford never hit a ball out of the infield.

Long Beach, which pounded 15 hits against Bedford in their first meeting, came back with 16 Thursday. The team has scored 52 runs in its last four games.

Panamanian pitcher Carlos Arauz started the day with a no-hitter of his own in a 5-0 victory over Kaiserslautern, Germany, in the international title game.

Long Beach and Panama meet in the final Saturday at 12:30 p.m. PDT.