 | | Members of the District 18 champion Lamar National 9-year-old All-stars are: Dylan Rock, Ryan Harris, Blake Palmquist, Christian Moore, Corbin Geisendorff, Karsten Fagan, Bo Hoeffken, Brad Armstrong, Josh Lapierre, Cody Love, Kyle Parker and Brandon Holy. Not pictured are manager Darryl Rock and coach Gene Hoeffken. (Staff photo by Gary Martin)
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| DANBURY - After two games, the District 18 championship was still up for grabs between Lamar National Little League's two 9-year-old All-star teams.
So it was fitting, after all the dust had settled, the final outcome Tuesday night would hinge on a close play at first.
An errant throw to first with two out in the fifth allowed the game-winning run to score as the Nationals came back from an early deficit to upstage the Americans 4-3 at Danbury Little League Field.
With the game tied, Lamar National used a two-out rally to scratch across the game winner.
Kyle Parker reached on an infield hit to second and stole second. Blake Palmquist then hit a grounder to short, and the throw across the diamond got past the first baseman, allowing Parker to score.
Parker took care of the rest. The right-hander came on in the second and tossed 4 2/3 scoreless innings after the Americans took a 3-1 lead in the first.
He stranded six Nationals and pitched out of a no-out, bases-loaded situation in the fourth. He benefited from a sparkling inning-ending double play when Corbin Geisendorff flagged down a liner in the upper webbing of his glove and threw on to first to double off the base runner.
The Americans got the leadoff runner on board in the sixth when Brandon Pruitt beat out a grounder to short. But after Parker struck out the next two batters, he reached his pitch count limit. Dylan Rock came on and recorded the final out.
Lamar National took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Geisendorff bunted his way on, raced to second on a wild pitch and scored when Brad Armstrong lined a two-out base hit just out of the reach of American second baseman Kyle Boudreaux.
The Americans answered swiftly, tallying three runs with two out in the bottom of the inning.
Boudreaux walked and tied the game when Hunter Goodwin doubled to left. Ryan Rickett hit the next pitch to left for a base hit, scoring Goodwin.
After Daniel Boehm's bad hop grounder went into right field for a base hit and Jack Johnson singled to load the bases, a wild pitch allowed Rickett to slide home safely for the third run.
Just as quickly, the Nationals tied the game in the top of the second.
Parker was hit by a pitch but was erased on a defensive gem by American first baseman Rickett, who made a diving catch of a liner and beat the runner back to the bag for a unassisted double play.
But Lamar National put on another two-out rally, getting base hits from Cody Love, Geisendorff and Bo Hoeffken to load the bases. Rock walked to force in a run and Ryan Harris hit an RBI single up the middle to make it a 3-3 contest.
From there, the game turned into a pitcher's duel between Parker and American hurler Goodwin.
Several spectacular defensive plays kept the game tied, including a play by American shortstop Pruitt, who ranged far to his left, fielded a grounder behind second and threw out the batter at first in the third inning.
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