Monday, Aug. 8, 2011 | 8:34 p.m.
Silverado Little League overcame a three-run deficit Monday in its West Regional pool play game against Arizona’s Rio Rico, scoring three runs with two outs in the fifth inning for an 8-6 victory in San Bernardino, Calif.
Silverado improves to 2-1 in the six-team event, where the winner advances to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.
The decisive fifth inning was highlighted by a two-run home run from leadoff hitter Jayzen Ramirez to give Silverado an 8-5 lead. Earlier in the inning, Kyle Fuentes doubled to score Brock Hershberger and break a five-all tie.
"We had a long talk with the kids after yesterday's game (a loss) and guaranteed them we were going to come out today and have fun," Silverado coach Rob Adams said. "Even when we got down, the kids kept hitting the ball well. They weren't going to (back down)."
Silverado fell behind early when it yielded five runs in the top of the second inning to trail 5-2. But the team started chipping away at the deficit in the bottom half of the second, with Fuentes and Ramirez scoring runs. Fuentes scored on a fielder’s choice by Omar Ortiz and Ramirez came across on a passed ball.
Ramirez was also the starting pitcher, showing tremendous maturity by recovering after giving up the big five-run inning. That's something Adams has come to expect.
"The kid has all of the heart in the world,” the coach said of Ramirez. “He just wants to compete. The thing with Jayzen is the big moments don’t intimidate him. He thrives in those situations.”
Buddie Pindel surrendered one run in two innings of relief with a pair of strikeouts to get the win. Ortiz had the big-bat with a 3-for-4 performance, while Ramirez had three hits, two runs and two RBI. Hershberger, who is leading the team with a .571 average in the tournament, added two hits.
The comeback gives Silverado control of its own destiny in its quest to become the first Nevada league to advance to Williamsport. One day after being shut out in a 4-0 loss to Red Bluff of Northern California, and facing a tough three-run deficit, the team of children ages 11 to 13 didn’t fold.
They showed the same come-from-behind ability they used in winning the state tournament. Twice, they needed final-inning home runs in advancing to the regional.
Silverado’s final pool play game is 7:30 p.m. Wednesday against Southern California’s Ocean View, which is 2-0 in the tournament. If Ocean View beats Rio Rico (1-2) Tuesday, it would push Silverado into Friday’s semifinal round and make the Wednesday game purely for seeding.
While it's a long shot, Silverado could finish pool play in a three-way tie with Arizona and Northern California with 2-2 records. Silverado, based on its win Monday, would win the tie-breaker against Arizona. But because of the loss to Northern California, the tie-breaker would be settled on run differential.
Both semifinal games and Saturday’s championship will be televised by ESPN2.
