The South Portland American Little League all-stars had their work cut out for them when last weekend started. They needed to beat their undefeated cross-town rivals – South Portland National – in two straight games to claim a spot in the District 6 final. And it may not have been easy, but they certainly proved it was possible with Monday evening’s 4-3 win over National at Yarmouth’s DeLorme Field.
American scored two runs in the top of the fifth inning to overcome a 3-2 deficit and they used the strong relief pitching of Connor MacVane over the final two innings to secure the win.
The American all-stars scored first with two runs in the top of the third as Sam Leishman and Jordan Muller crossed the plate for a 2-0 lead. But National answered with three runs in the third for a 3-2 advantage. National used a pair of walks, a hit batter, a fielder’s choice and a single from Dominic Desjardins to overtake American in the home half of the fourth.
But American had faced adversity before. They battled their way through the losers’ bracket after suffering their only loss in the tournament – an early round setback to National.
Calvin Carr led off the top of the fifth with a walk and Max Knutsen reached on another base on balls. Brendan Horton singled to drive in Carr and that was followed by a Connor MacVane two-out single that plated Knutsen with the eventual game-winning run.
National pitcher Ben Burkey then struck out his second batter of the inning to end the American rally.
Neil Maietta opened the bottom of the fifth for National with a sharp single to centerfield and Burkey followed with a single to center as well. Aaron Flowers walked to load the bases with no outs. Andrew Cloutier then hit an infield grounder to third and Maietta was forced out at home plate and National’s next two batters struck out by MacVane to keep the score at 4-3.
American survived one last scare from National in the bottom of the sixth when Will Bushey nearly tied the game with a deep drive to centerfield. But his two-out hit went off the fence instead of leaving the field and what was nearly a home run was instead a long double. A ground out ended the game and National’s hopes of reaching the district final.
South Portland American was scheduled to play Portland North on Tuesday evening for the District 6 championship.
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