East Side Little League, a 12-and-under baseball team from West Chester, saw its run in Williamsport, Pa., end in a heartbreaker.
On Monday, East Side fell 6-5 to Phenix City Youth Baseball LL and was eliminated from the Little League World Series. Powered by its stellar hitting, East Side came out to an early 5-0 lead. However, a big third inning from Phenix City led the Alabama team’s comeback.
Trailing 5-0 with two outs in the third, Phenix City left fielder Cooper Champion stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and hit a two-run single to right field. Phenix City added two runs before the inning was capped off by an RBI single from pitcher Kinley Rasmus that tied the score.
Rasmus is just the 25th girl to appear in a Little League World Series game.
The game stayed tied at 5-5 through the regulation six innings until Phenix City catcher Brooks Cameron’s single scored Urijah Berklite with the winning run in the bottom of the seventh.
For East Side, Cole Warner scored a run in the first inning before hitting a two-run homer to center field in the third. After starting the game at center field, Warner moved to the mound in the fourth inning. He allowed just one run while collecting six strikeouts to close out the game.
East Side outfielder Ryan Hennessey, the son of coach Bob Hennessey, scored two runs and had a two-run double before Phenix City stormed back.
The loss marks East Side’s second of the tournament in as many appearances. The team, which battled out of the loser’s bracket in the Pennsylvania state tournament, gained significant support from the Greater Philadelphia area after cruising through the Mid-Atlantic regionals. In West Chester, watch parties, filled with East Side alumni and fans, sprung up around the borough.
In Williamsport, the East Side players were able to interact and befriend peers from all over the world — even bunking with Japan’s 12-and-under team. They also had the chance to meet players from the Milwaukee Brewers and Atlanta Braves before the Little League World Series MLB Classic.
“It’s just a dream come true, to be honest,” Bob Hennessey previously told The Inquirer. “That’s every Little Leaguer’s dream. It was my dream growing up to see these boys get here and get to experience it. Nothing but amazing.”
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