Northwest 1, Walpole American 0: Can't bring the magic back

That sixth inning magic that the Walpole American 12-year-old All-Star baseball team found in the opening game of the Little League World Series showed signs of returning in yesterday’s game against Lake Oswego, Oregon, the Northwest representative.

 Down again by one run, this time heading into the bottom of the sixth, the Americans had runners on first and second with two outs.

 But Walpole American could not muster its special ability for a late-innings rally, as Lake Oswego induced a groundout to end the comeback as it prevailed, 1-0, at Lamade Stadium.

 The loss drops Walpole American (20-2) to 1-1 in Pool A play, while Lake Oswego (15-5) also evens its pool record to 1-1, along with West Side (Hamilton, Ohio) and Warner Robins, Ga. Now Walpole American must win tonight’s pool play finale against Warner Robins to advance to the United States semifinals. A loss ends its season.

 “It was just another great Little League baseball game,” said Walpole American manager Brian Oberacker, who’s team was shutout for the first time this summer. “That’s what you expect here at the World Series and this time we came out on the other side of it.”

 For the second game in a row, Walpole American’s fate was decided in the sixth inning. In the top half, Lake Oswego first baseman Reid Penney turned on a 1-0 pitch from Walpole American starter Joey Guarino and blasted it over the fence in left field to give his team a 1-0 lead.

 “It was a hanging curveball and I just tried to hit it on the barrell and try to do as much as I could for my team,” said Penney, whose round-tripper was his 25th of the summer including the regular season.

 That was all that Lake Oswego could muster on Guarino, though, who pitched masterfully in defeat, squirming out of one jam after another, striking out three, walking two and allowing just six hits.

 Walpole then put on its biggest threat since the first inning in the bottom half. Matt Bender led off with a rip that looked destined for a base hit in right field but Michael Gallagher made a diving catch for the first out of the inning.

 Johnny Adams then lifted what looked to be a harmless pop fly, but it rose and fell in the Bermuda Triangle between the second baseman, shortstop and center fielder to drop in and Adams hustled around the bases for a double.

 Johnny White followed with a hard shot to left but it went right to Michael Weiss in left field for the second out.

 That ended starter Mitch Lomax’s day, who was nearly unhittable for most of the afternoon with nine strikeouts and just two hits allowed.

 In came Calvin Hermanson, who walked Mike LaVita as Tim Sullivan came in for him as a special pinch runner. But Sam Falkson’s ensuing ground ball went to shortstop Harrison Ramey, who flipped to Austin Andrews at second base for the forceout to end the game.

 Until that point, Walpole American’s best chance for a run came in the bottom of the first. Sullivan led off with a ball that bounced off the third baseman’s glove for an error and walks to Bender and LaVita loaded the bases. But Sam Falkson popped out to the catcher with two outs as Lake Oswego avoided any damage.

 Guarino faced his first trouble in the top of the second, as singles by Brennan Malagamba and Ramey put runners on first and third with one out. But Guarino got a big strikeout on pinch hitter Hermanson and induced a grounder to Adams at short, who flipped to Sullivan to end the inning.

 In the top of the fourth, Guarino got in more trouble when he allowed a leadoff single to Malagamba and a walk to Penney. But after shortstop Johnny Adams scooped up a grounder and fed third baseman Matt Bender for the forceout, Bender made a diving play in the hole to get a runner out at third again. Guarino then sent down Cooper Hummel looking to retire the side.

 Guarino dodged another bullet in the top of the fifth, as Lake Oswego’s Duncan Campbell walked and Lomax had a base hit up the middle to put runners on with two out for Malagamba, who came to the plate with two hits already. But Guarino induced a pop fly to Johnny Adams at shortstop to end the threat.

 Now Walpole American regroups for a make-or-break game against Warner Robins.

 “The scoreboard said 1-0, technically we lost the game. I don’t feel as if we lost the game. I can take a lot of positives out of this one,” said Oberacker. “The infield was awesome. Any time you can take the positives away from a loss, this is it. We’ve played two games and we’ve only given up three runs. That can help us out and we can bounce back tomorrow and take on a tough Georgia team.”