Sacrifice fly by Garrett Giles gives Nevada a 1-0 win over Massachusetts.
All it takes is one.
In a pitchers’ duel between Henderson (Nev.) Post 40 Shane Spencer and Shrewsbury (Mass.) Post 397 Kevin Hummer, it was Spencer picking up the 1-0 win on Friday night at The American Legion World Series.
A day after giving up 21 hits to Nebraska, Nevada (55-8, 1-1 in ALWS pool play) took advantage of being the designated home team to notch this year’s first walkoff win.
Ryne Nelson doubled to lead off the bottom of the seventh. J.T. Wold was intentionally walked and Jesse Fonteboa singled to load the bases with no outs. Garrett Giles’ sacrifice fly then scored Nelson.
It was a hard-luck loss for Massachusetts (35-7, 1-1) and Hummer, who allowed just four hits over seven innings. ALWS officials shortened games to seven innings starting with Friday’s matchups because of rain.
There weren’t many opportunities for either team to score thanks to the pitchers. Spencer allowed just one hit, the first one-hitter in ALWS play since Tucson’s Chris Moon in 2005 vs. Bryant, Ark.
David Hudleson’s bunt down the third-base line in the third inning was the game’s first hit, but John Howard Bobo grounded into a double play to end the inning for Nevada.
Massachusetts’ Thomas Cue smacked a single for his team’s first and only hit to lead off the top of the sixth. But Spencer induced three straight outs.
With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Bobo singled up the middle. Bobo advanced to second on a balk by Kevin Hummer, but another groundout ended the inning.
A win by Massachusetts would have secured semifinal spots for them and Nebraska, which improved to 2-0 in pool play earlier Friday with a 6-3 win over Michigan. Massachusetts faces Nebraska in Game 9 Saturday night.
Nevada faces Michigan in Game 10 on Sunday with a chance to advance to Monday’s semifinals.
- Baseball