BANGOR- Cherry Hill Atlantic Little League, the State Champions from New Jersey, would win both games of the Senior Little League East Regional Championship Round over Warrior Run, Pennsylvania at Mansfield Stadium on Monday afternoon to advance to the Senior Little League World Series later this week in South Carolina.
Cherry Hill needed to win the first game to force a winner take all game two against Warrior Run, and would get a gem of a pitching performance from Austin Hanni in the must win contest to do just that as part of a 2-0 victory. Hanni went the distance (7.0 innings) and allowed no runs on two hits with no walks and four strikeouts in his 85 pitch performance. The only offense needed came in the top of the fifth inning with no score, with noone on base and two outs. Brody Connors would single on a soft flyball to left centerfield, and then three consecutive walks by Warrior Run starting pitcher Griff Harrington forced a runner in to make it 1-0. Hanni helped his own cause by adding an insurance run with a sacrifice RBI flyout in the top of the seventh. The lefthander was in command on the hill, allowing a leadoff single in the first inning to Landen Wagner and then retiring 19 straight batters before a one out single in the last of the seventh by Harrington.
In the decisive game for the East Regional Title, Andrew Bechtel hit a two-out and two-strike double to bring in the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning to advance Cherry Hill to the World Series with a 7-6 walkoff victory. After trailing early 4-2, Warrior Run had taken a 5-4 lead after three innings with Harrington helping that with a two-run homerun. Cherry Hill would tie it 5-5 in the bottom of the fourth, before the Pennsylvania State Champions took their last lead of the afternoon on an RBI double by Avery Reiff in the fifth. Cherry Hill made it 6-6 in the sixth, before getting the game winner in the eighth by Bechtel. The NJ State Champions scored their last three runs all with two outs. Cherry Hill now advances to the Senior Little League World Series in Easley, South Carolina that begins Saturday.
Recaps/photos/videos by Chris Lessner
