LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES : Yorba Hills Loses Badly Due to Lapses

The official scorebook at the Little League World Series listed only one error against Yorba Hills on Tuesday night.

Official books, however, don’t count mental mistakes, of which Yorba Hills had plenty in an 8-2 loss to Northwest 45 of Spring, Tex., in a second-round game at Lamade Stadium.

Spring qualified for the U.S. championship game, at 1:30 p.m. (PDT) Thursday, regardless of the outcome of today’s game against Little Lakes West of Arden Hills, Minn. Spring (22-2) has won 12 consecutive games.

Yorba Hills, which had its 10-game winning streak end, must defeat Toms River (N.J.) Little League at 10 a.m. today to set up a rematch with Spring in the U.S. championship. A loss and it’s an early flight home.

Three wild pitches, two passed balls that put runners in scoring position, several defensive lapses that allowed Spring runners to take extra bases and numerous bobbles contributed to Yorba Hills’ downfall before an announced crowd of 16,000.