World Series Teams Enter Critical Stretch

By  //  August 16, 2012

Semifinal Berths Within Reach

BANGOR, MAINE – Both Brevard-area Little League squads are still contenders for World Series titles following a win Wednesday by the South Beaches/West Melbourne All-Stars in the Senior League Baseball World Series in Bangor, Maine.

Carson Jackson was 2 for 2 with a single and two RBIs for South Beaches/West Melbourne against New Zealand on Wednesday in the Senior League Baseball World Series in Bangor, Maine. (Image by Derek Suomi)

South Beaches/West Melbourne beat Bayside Westhaven, New Zealand 5-1 at Mansfield Stadium to improve to 2-1 in the World Series and tied for second place in its pool.

A three-run outburst in the first inning against New Zealand (0-4) was all South Beaches/West Melbourne essentially needed to claim the win.

Carson Jackson’s single knocked in South Beaches/West Melbourne’s first run and a throwing error led to second score.

Gabriel Rodriguez’s sacrifice fly plated South Beaches/West Melbourne’s third run.

Three walks in the bottom of the fourth inning and Jackson’s sacrifice fly led to two runs and closed out the scoring for South Beaches/West Melbourne.

River Horning was the winning pitcher for the U.S. Southeastern Regional champions against New Zealand.

South Beaches/West Melbourne plays European Regional champion Emilia, Italy (1-2) at 10 a.m. today in its final pool game.

Lemon Grove, Calif. leads the pool with a record of 3-0, followed by South Beaches/West Melbourne and West University, Texas at 2-1. Emilia Italy is 1-2 and New Zealand closed out pool play at 0-4.

West University and Lemon Grove play each other at 8 p.m. tonight, so a South Beaches/West Melbourne win today would be a big step toward staying alive with a chance of advancing to Friday’s World Series semifinals.

The top two teams in the pool qualify for the semifinals.

The Rockledge Little League All-Stars are in first place in the U.S. pool in the Junior League Baseball World Series in Michigan. (Image courtesy Rockledge Little League)

Junior Division

Rockledge (3-0 Pool A, 19-0 overall in All-Stars competition) had the day off Wednesday, but will return to action with a pool game against Eastern Regional champion Franklin Square, N.Y. (0-0) at 8 p.m. tonight at Heritage Park in the Junior League Baseball World Series at Taylor, Mich.

Rockledge currently leads its pool and  a win over Franklin Square (1-2) will clinch a berth for Rockledge in Friday’s 8 p.m. United States championship game.

The winner of the United States championship meets the International champion for the Junior League Baseball World Series title at 11 a.m. Saturday in a game televised live on ESPN 2.