McLarty, defense help Kentucky beat home-favorite Pennsylvania in tense 1-0 win at LLWS
Central Pennsylvania’s favorite sons drew such a huge crowd that fans sat shoulder-to-shoulder on the grassy, terraced hill above the outfield fences.But it was the Kentucky contingent that was celebrating loudest by the end of a tense night that had the atmosphere of a major league playoff game. The 13-year-old McLarty calmly walked off the mound after getting a strikeout to end the game with runners on second and third.Pennsylvania twice had the potential tying run thrown out at the plate, including Tyler McCloskey in the sixth after Brandon Miller beat out an infield single.As if McLarty’s night wasn’t memorable enough, the ace also hit an opposite-field fly that just landed inside the left-field foul pole for a homer.Earlier Friday, Colby Ring scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth inning to give Langley, British Columbia, a 6-5 victory <a href="http://www.trading666.com/rayban-sunglasses-rayban-AAA-sunglasses-f2-49-c3-66.html"><strong>cheap rayban sunglasses for sale </strong></a> over Dhahran, Saudi Arabia; Maracay, Venezuela, defeated Rotterdam, Netherlands, 6-1; and Huntington Beach, Calif., topped <a href="http://www.trading666.com/others-brand-cigarettes-f2-66.html"><strong>wholesale marlboro red cigarettes from china </strong></a> Cumberland, R.I., 11-0.But even California manager Jeff Pratto knew all the attention Friday night would be on the blue-clad Keystone league team from Clinton County.Little League officials said the game drew 41,848 fans, breaking the record of 40,000 that had been set in the 1989 and 1990 championship games. “It’s Pennsylvania out there on their home turf. It’s a sea of blue out there,” Pratto said. “It’s going to be a fun one.”Nerve-wracking, too.There were hard plays that landed players on the turf; a Pennsylvania double that was called back after the third-base umpire called it foul even while the left-field umpire called fair; and a critical double play that prevented Pennsylvania from scoring the tying run in the fifth. “It was pretty crazy, but I had to block it out of my head and not be distracted by the all the fans and the questionable calls,” said McLarty, who overpowered hitters with his fastball and kept them off balance with his curve. “Keystone! <a href="http://www.trading666.com/brand-bags-t1-8.html"><strong>wholesale juicy handbags online</strong></a> Keystone,” the fans chanted after Mike Keibler came to the plate with one out and Wyatt Koch on second in the fifth. A wild pitch moved Koch to third.On a 2-0 pitch, Keibler hit a slow bouncer grabbed by McLarty, who looked Koch back to third before throwing to first for the out. Koch then broke for home, but first baseman Jacob Bates threw to the plate to just get the runner. “The environment was unbelievable,” said Bates’ father, manager Brad Bates. “We were glad to see all that royal blue out there. It reminded us of a Kentucky football or basketball game.”The loss overshadowed an effective outing by Pennsylvania starter Cole Reeder, who allowed three hits, walked three and struck out two over four innings.
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