Shore Little League bounces back in must win game

The Shore Little League Major boys team emerged victorious in dramatic fashion in Sunday’s must win match against Abington 4-3.

Christian Lewis started his second game of the tournament and was once again outstanding through 5 complete innings of ball, giving up 3 hits and no walks with one hit batter. Eason Willis came on in relief in the 6th in an attempt to close out the game. However, Abington’s bats came alive, scoring 2 runs in the top of the 6th, erasing the small lead and pushing Shore to the brink of elimination. In the bottom of the 6th in an exciting string of plays, Shawn Charnock beat out an infield single, bringing Troy Savage to the plate. Savage delivered his biggest hit of the tournament so far, a deep triple to right/center that scored Charnock, tied the score and brought Wyatt Brassfield to the plate. After missing his bunt attempt on the first pitch, Brassfield delivered on pitch two, laying a perfect bunt down the third base line. A desperate throw to first from the Abington pitcher was not in time, prompting manager Ben Willis to send Savage home in an attempt to win the game. The throw from the first baseman to home plate was low and Savage slid safely, prompting a wild celebration on and off the field by coaches, players and well over 100 fans who made the 3 hour journey from the Eastern Shore.

Offensively for Shore, Willis continued his torrid hitting pace in the tournament, going 1-2 at the plate with a monster homer to left field on the second pitch of the game, which set the tone of the game for Shore until the 6th inning. Lewis finished the day 1-2 at the plate and pushed his pitching record to 2-0 for the state tournament.

Overall, Shore and Abington finished with 5 hits each. Both teams had a combined 5 walks, demonstrating once again that superior pitching and timely hitting are keys to wins at the state tournament level.

Shore finishes 2-1 in pool play and will begin bracket play on Monday with a 10am game against Loudoun South. The game can be watched live at this link.