What the Douglas Tigers avoided on Friday to advance in the 15-and-under United States Amateur Baseball Association World Series eliminated them the following day.
Douglas allowed five runs on either errors or wild pitches as it ended up in fourth place following a 7-4 loss to the Langley Blaze (B.C., Canada) on Saturday afternoon at James Lee Regional Park. On Friday, the Tigers went errorless in a 9-0 loser's bracket victory over the Seattle Bombers, which set up their elimination game against the Blaze.
"More than anything else, the errors cost us the game," Douglas coach Bill Whalin said. "We kicked around a couple balls and that was the difference."
In the top of the first, Langley scored two runs off only one hit. Shane Willson reached on error that allowed Bobby Foerster to score and Willson later scored on a wild pitch. Langley scored two more runs in the second after John Syrnyk's RBI double scored Matt Watt and an error allowed Syrnyk to score from second base.
Despite their six errors in the game, the Tigers, who went 2-2 in the double elimination portion of the tourunament, still had chances to win the game. They got a run back in the bottom of the first when Darren Brady walked and Chad Walling and Kyle Luken both singled to load the bases. Jeff Young's sac fly to center scored Brady to make it 2-1, but Douglas ended the inning with two runners on base. It also left the bases loaded in the third and stranded a total of eight runners on base in the game.
"We didn't hit the ball that well today and that was key," Whalin said. "We weren't able to hit the ball to stay in it and we didn't produce anything, especially in the middle part of the lineup. The errors are overemphasized when that happens."
With two outs in both the second and third innings, superb defensive plays from catcher Kyle Luken stopped potential scoring runs at the plate by tagging players out. Offensively, though, Douglas couldn't get much off starter Langley Brendon Osborn, who allowed four hits and two runs in four innings. The Tigers made it 4-2 in the third after Brady scored off an error late in the inning, but they didn't score again until the sixth.
"The three games yesterday played a part," said Whalin, whose team was forced to play three games on Friday because inclement weather canceled their game on Thursday. "A lot of the kids were worn down when they got here today."
The Blaze added three more runs in the sixth--one off an error, another off a wild pitch, and the last one off Foerster's RBI single that scored Syrnyk. In the bottom of the sixth, Douglas scored two runs to get within three runs of the lead at 7-4. Ben Brower, who was pinch running for Cory Eilers, scored off Brady's ground out to short, and Walling's RBI double scored Niko Salidas. Langley's Andrew Mallory was brought in to close out the game and did his job. After Nate Whalin reached on an error, Mallory struck out the next three batters. Douglas went 4-1 in pool play to finish with a 6-3 combined record in the tournament.
"It was a great tournament for a lot of the younger players," coach Whalin said. "This is the first time some of these kids have played on a big field and this is a pretty big tournament."
TWIN CITY 6, TRI-COUNTY 1
Jarred O'Barr scattered eight hits and allowed only one run in the complete game victory over Tri-County in the winners bracket of the USABA World Series.
Zach Marcartea went 2-for-4 for the Hurricanes, who lost for the first time this week after winning their first seven games. Jon Judd led Twin City offensively by going 3-for-4. Will Miller scored two runs for the Twins, who advanced to today's championship game against Langley, which beat Tri-County 5-3 on Saturday night at James Lee Regional Park.
The Blaze will have to beat Twin City twice if they are to win the World Series title. The first game is scheduled for 11 a.m. at James Lee Park.
