Cypress Does What It Takes to Stay Alive
For the fifth straight game, Cypress Federal Little League all-stars weren’t the overpowering, take-charge kind of team it has to be to win the 52nd Little League World Series.
But for the first time in a long while, it didn’t have to be. Cypress got a break from the schedule makers and that was just what it needed to have a chance to advance.
Nathan Lara delivered a two-run home run and pitcher Matt Swims gave up five hits as Cypress beat Jenison, Mich., 4-1, in front of an announced crowd of 11,100 at Lamade Stadium.
The victory sets up a showdown at 5 p.m. today with Greenville, N.C., which lost to Toms River, N.J., 5-3, earlier in the day. Toms River finished atop the U.S. division with a 3-0 record and will face the winner of the Cypress (19-1, 1-1) vs. Greenville (15-2, 1-1) game on Thursday in the U.S. final.
“At least, we’re back on track,” Cypress Manager Greg Novy said. “I felt very comfortable with Matt out there tonight. We got enough runs tonight, but there’s still room for improvement.”
The Central Region champion has never advanced to the U.S. final, and is 4-17 since pool play began in 1992.
That was fine with Swims, who is rarely overpowering, but nonetheless effective. He pitched out of jams in the third and sixth innings.
With two out in the third, Sean Markle, who reached first on a fielder’s choice, advanced to third after Swims threw two wild pitches. Tony Clausen walked and stole second base. But Swims got pitcher Derek Stempin, a left-handed batter, to fly out to deep left field, ending the inning. Jenison (16-6, 0-3) got three straight singles to open the sixth. After a double play, it scored its only run on a wild pitch by Swims.
Novy, concerned over the team’s hitting slump, shook up his lineup to get more punch out of the bottom half of the order. While that part of the lineup still wasn’t impressive, it did produce a little more, thanks to Lara, who batted sixth. He drove the ball over the center-field wall for his second home run of the season.
“I was just trying to get a single,” said Lara, holding the home-run ball after the game.
Novy also moved the No. 2 batter, Cory Campbell, into the leadoff spot and dropped Pat Cassa, a good contact hitter who has struggled at the plate, down a notch. Campbell responded, getting on base three times and scoring the first run of the game in the first inning on a single by Alex Alba, who eventually scored.
But Cypress likely will be done after today if it doesn’t produce more offensively with runners in scoring position, Novy said. He will choose among Alba, Bryan Pepperdine and Zach Wesley, who suffered a bee sting on his glove hand at practice Tuesday, to pitch today.
North Carolina also has a lot of pitching decisions to make. “We’re not sure who we are going to pitch against them,” Greenville Coach Wayne Hardee said. “We have six pitchers on our team, so we’ll have to go back and see what our options are.”
In other games:
Langley, Canada 10, Kashima, Japan 5--The Canadians (18-0, 2-0) scored four runs in the last of the sixth to tie, then rallied to beat the Japanese (15-1, 2-1) in the seventh. No Canadian team has advanced to an international division championship game, but a victory today over Saudi Arabia would clinch a spot for the British Columbia team and likely set up a rematch Thursday in the title game with Japan.
Dhahran, Saudi Arabia 8, Guadalupe, Mexico 7--Third baseman Sammy Al-Rajhi went two for three, drove in a run and scored twice as the European champions (8-1, 1-1) sent the defending World Series champions (22-5, 0-3) packing.
Toms River, N.J. 5, Greenville, N.C. 3--With strong pitching and defense, the Eastern champions (21-5, 3-0) completed a sweep of the U.S. division and are idle until Thursday’s U.S. final.
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The Schedule at Williamsport
Cypress’ schedule for U.S. bracket pool play at the Little League World Series:
* Today, vs. Jenison, Mich., 5 p.m., ESPN2
* Wednesday, vs. Greenville, N.C., 5 p.m., ESPN2