WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — The pregame ceremonies Sunday at the Little League World Series featured Major League Baseball players from both the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals as both teams greeted and spent time with the teams.
It was all smiles and high-fives through the leadup to Santa Margarita taking on the Southeast at the Little League World Series. But once the game started, the day belonged to the boys from North Carolina.
Three Southeast pitchers combined on a no-hitter and the North Carolina team pounded Santa Margarita pitching for 18 hits on the way to a 16-0, five-inning victory.
Santa Margarita, which saw its 17-game winning snapped, will drop into the loser’s bracket to face the Mid-Atlantic, which bounced back with a with a 15-5 win over Great Lakes after dropping its opener against New England, Monday, Aug. 21 at noon on ESPN.
The Southeast representatives from North State Little League in Greenville, N.C. became the first U.S. team with consecutive no-hitters in Little League World Series history.
In a 6-0 victory over the Midwest in its opener, the Southeast used three different pitchers to combine for a perfect game. Those pitchers, who were all available Sunday, were led by the efforts of Chase Anderson, who kept the perfect game going through the the first three innings against Santa Margarita.
It all added up to trouble for the West, which just could not find a groove against Anderson, who continued to deal throughout the day. The run support was not too far behind either, as Carson Hardee connected with a grand slam in the second inning.
It was all Anderson, Matthew Matthijs, and Will Casey needed as they retired 10 consecutive batters to open the game.