Hazel Dell Metro’s run at the Babe Ruth Baseball World Series for 14-year-olds ended with a loss in the semifinals on Friday afternoon at Pine Bluff, Ark.
Atlantic Shore, N.J., beat Hazel Dell Metro 4-0 behind a strong pitching performance by Hunter Rich. Rich limited HDM to two hits, struck out six and walked three in six innings of work. Nick Abrams pitched the seventh to end the game.
The Mid-Atlantic Region champions scored two unearned runs in the first inning. Atlantic Shores added two more in the fourth thanks to a pair of doubles.
Hazel Dell Metro had only nine base runners, two who reached third base. Sam Lauderdale singled and was caught stealing to end the third inning. Jasper Rank led off the fourth with a double, but three groundouts followed and he was stranded at third base.
Hazel Dell Metro manager Scott Binder said it was the first time all year – dating to his team’s first tournament in February – that his team was flat-out beaten by a better team and without his team helping the opponent.
“They shut us down and definitely deserved the victory,” Binder said.
“It was a good day. The goal of the day was to win the first game, then regroup and give it our best and that’s what we did.”
Hazel Dell Metro reached the semifinal by beating White Hall, Ark., 3-2 on Friday morning in a quarterfinal game.
In that game, Lauderdale singled with one out in the bottom of the seventh, stole second and scored on a Rank single.
HDM took a 2-0 lead into the seventh inning, but White Hall used four consecutive hits with one out to tie the score. Alex Miller – bouncing back from a rough outing in pool play – pitched six strong innings. He was relieved by Lauderdale with one out and the bases loaded in the seventh. A single on a two-strike count plated the tying runs, but the go-ahead runner was thrown out trying to score.
In the first inning, back-to-back doubles by Andrew Hensley and Liam Kerr gave Metro a 1-0 lead. In the fifth inning, Hensley hit a two-out single to score Isaiah Rupp.
Hazel Dell Metro, the Pacific Northwest Region champion, went 4-3 at the World Series.
