Southeast 8, New England 0
Semi-Finals

(8/24) Williamsport, PA – The Southeast team from Northern is going to the United States finals after defeating the New England champions from Portsmouth, New Hampshire by a score of 8 to 0. The bats finally exploded for Southeast as they had their highest run production of the tournament. It all started in the second inning when the leadoff hitter Brady Hamilton was hit by a pitch. After a strikeout, Ryan Lang walked. Matthew Hollis advanced the runners to second and third with a bunt sacrifice. With first base open, New England intentionally walked Kyle Carter to bring Josh Lester to the plate with the bases loaded. Lester made them pay with a triple to right center field that scored all three runners. Cody Walker followed Lester and drove him in with a double just out of the reach of a diving shortstop causing the New England manager to make a pitching change.

The scoring continued in the fourth inning when Mason Meyers led off with a single. He was moved to second base by Matthew Hollis who picked up his second bunt sacrifice. Again, Kyle Carter was intentionally walked and again Josh Lester made 'em pay with a two-run double, this time to left center, and five big RBI's for the night. Cody Walker singled and Patrick Stallings was hit by a pitch to load the bases but Brady Hamilton hit into a fielder's choice to end the inning.

The final scoring came in the bottom of the fifth. The third pitcher of the night for New England started off by walking Matthew Kuhlenberg, who was out at second when Matthew Hollis hit into a fielder's choice. Hollis scored when Kyle Carter got back on track by hitting a 2-0 pitch out of Lamade Stadium for a two-run homerun to increase the lead to 8-0.

While all the hitting is going on, Carter is on the mound pitching 3-hit, shutout ball. In the first inning, all three New England batters made contact but the first was a ground-out to shortstop J. T. Phillips, the second a pop fly to right-fielder Ryan Lang and the third a short pop fly to center-fielder Matthew Hollis who made a diving catch to end the inning. The leadoff hitter in the second flew out to Kyle Rovig in left field before the next hitter doubled. Carter then picked up his first strikeout and the next hitter lined out to Phillips at short. Carter gave up a walk in the third inning and a single in the fourth inning but no damage was done on the scoreboard. Carter struck out all three batters in the fifth and started the sixth inning with a strikeout. The next hitter doubled for the third New England hit. The next batter hit a grounder off the shin of second baseman Josh Lester but he recovered enough to get the out at first. After some medical attention, he cheered up after Coach Randy's comment, "That's going to slow you down running ... if possible." The final out was a ground-out to Phillips at shortstop who threw to Hamilton at first for the out.

The Pool A runners-up from the Southeast advance to the United States finals to be played on Saturday at 3:30 against the Northwest champions and Pool B runners-up from Beaverton, Oregon. Northwest defeated Great Lakes on Wednesday to advance. The winner will advance to the World Series Championship game to play the winner of Saturday's game between Mexico and Asia.

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New England000000031
Southeast04022-860
2: Hamilton HBP; Lang BB; Hollis sacrifice; Carter IBB; Lester three-run triple; Walker RBI-double.
4: Meyers single; Hollis sacrifice; Carter IBB; Lester two-run double; Walker single.
5: Carter two-run HR.
Pitching: Carter 6IP, 22 batters, 8K, 0 runs, 3 hits.


Josh Lester began his 5-RBI night with this triple in the second inning.

Josh Lester celebrates hit triple at third base.

Cody Walker followed Lester's single with a run-scoring double.

Cody Walker stands at second after his second-inning double.

Josh Lester picked up his fifth RBI with a fourth-inning, two-run double to left center.

Kyle Carter scores the 8th run for Southeast with this two-run homerun on a 2-0 pitch in the fifth inning.