Little League Softball World Series Day Four Recap
On a shortened day of play on Wednesday, due to the scheduled Softball games and amid the rain, Central's Briley Mercer continued to dominate in the circle, throwing a shutout, 2-0, against Latin America and eliminating them from the tournament.
The second game of the day was marred by inclement weather, resulting in several delays throughout the game. However, the Southeast Region rose above the distractions and won the game, 5-3, over the Northwest Region.
Game 13: Central Region, 2; Latin America Region, 0
The Central Region team was led by two-way player Briley Mercer, who shut out her opponents 2-0 and also went 1-for-1 from the plate. Mercer continued her dominance and ability to play in the big moments when the pressure is high, as she tallied eight strikeouts in the win.
Mercer now has 19 strikeouts through three games in the tournament. More impressively, she has only walked three batters and given up one earned run.
Offensively, catcher Reese Carroll scored in the second inning off her single and went 1-for-2 on the day.
Team Latin America concluded their play in the tournament with a loss. However, the team from São Paulo, Brazil, competed in the tournament for the first time, making history.
The Central Region team will have a day off to rest on Thursday and return to play on Friday at 7 p.m. EST on ESPN2.
Game 14: Southeast Region, 5; Northwest Region, 3
In the last game on Wednesday, the Southeast Region defeated the Northwest Region, 5-3, on the back of Alana Luu, who drove in four runs in the contest, including a triple in the seventh inning that scored three runs.
The game between the two teams started and ended dramatically with multiple rain delays, and the game remained scoreless until the fifth inning when Luu singled and notched the first run on the board for Team Southeast.
Trading blows, Liliana Delgado doubled down the left field line in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game.
It was the bat of Luu that struck again in the seventh and delivered the run support that Team Southeast needed to hold on, as Team Northwest tried to rally late in the seventh, scoring two runs, but ultimately came up short of tying or snagging the win from their opponent.
For the Southeast Region in the circle, Cayden Hugh and Sam Bradley combined for the win with four hits surrendered, three runs (all three earned), four walks, and three strikeouts.
The Southeast Region will resume play on Friday, against the Mid-Atlantic Region at 4 p.m. EST on ESPN.
Allison Smith is an expert in leadership and organizational behavior in collegiate and professional women’s sports. Smith is a professor (Georgia State University), researcher, and writer. Smith holds a Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee in Kinesiology and Sport Studies. Smith’s research centers on combatting the underrepresentation of women leaders in sport, lack of organizational structure for work life integration for sport employees, and lack of programming and oversight for preparing athletes to transition to life after sport. Since graduating with a bachelor’s in journalism in 2011, Smith has sought opportunities to write about sports as a contributing writer focused on the growth of women’s collegiate, Olympic, and professional sports in this new age and movement for multiple outlets including Athletic Director U, and now Forbes.com. As a former Division I and II pitcher and Division III pitching coach Smith will bring unique insight and expertise to Softball on SI.
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