Lafayette Rallies for Another Win

Call them the comeback kids.

Andrew Stevenson reached base on a bunt single with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, then scored from third on a throwing error to help Lafayette, La., overcome a seven-run deficit in a 9-8 victory over Owensboro, Ky., on Sunday in the Little League World Series.

On Saturday against Westbrook, Maine, Lafayette (2-0) scored three times in the sixth to overcome a 2-0 deficit and win, 3-2. Connor Toups, one of the smallest players on Lafayette at 4 feet 10 and 78 pounds, drove in the winning run in the sixth.

On Sunday, Lafayette Manager Mike Conrad said he called for Stevenson, who is the same height but is five pounds heavier, to bunt to take advantage of his speed.

Stevenson then advanced to third and scored on a throwing error after teammate Andreas Duplantis hit a grounder to short. Stevenson also had two hits.

“He may be the fastest player up here,” Conrad said.

In other games Sunday, West Oahu of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, downed Davenport, Iowa, Northwest, 7-3; Guam shut out Canada, 5-0; Japan blanked defending champion, Willemstad, Curacao, 9-0; and Rancho Buena Vista of Vista, Calif., defeated Westbrook, 7-3.

Lafayette, Rancho Buena Vista and West Oahu all clinched berths into the next round of the 10-day tournament.

Owensboro (0-2), the Great Lakes region winner, had raced to an 8-1 lead by the bottom of the third inning on Dalton West’s two-run homer down the left-field line and Luke Daugherty’s three-run shot.

In Rancho Buena Vista’s victory, Kalen Pimentel, who had tied a Little League World Series record for a six-inning game with 18 strikeouts on Saturday, smacked the first pitch from Westbrook, Maine, reliever Joey Royer soaring over the center field fence for a grand slam in the fifth inning to lead his team (2-0).

Ewa Beach (2-0) used early homers by Vonn Fe’ao and Quentin Guevara to jump out to a 7-0 lead.