WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — The El Segundo All-Stars reached the United States Championship, relying on its pitching depth in a 2-1 win over the Northwest region champs Thursday at the Little League World Series.
Declan McRoberts pitched four innings, allowing a single run while striking out five and Brody Brooks finished the game with two scoreless innings, striking out three.
El Segundo will take on Southwest Saturday at 12:30 p.m. (PT) to determine which one will play for the Little League World Series Championship Sunday against the International bracket champ. Southwest beat El Segundo 3-1 in its second game of the Series.
McRoberts worked out of a couple jams to hold off Northwest to a single run. Brody Brooks entered in the fifth inning with runners on first and second. Brooks got the first out at third on a bunt back to the pitcher and a nice throw to cut down the lead runner. He induced a pair of ground balls to end the inning.
El Segundo got off to another strong start as Brooks opened the third straight game with a leadoff single. Jaxon Kalish singled and later scored on a McRoberts single to give El Segundo a 1-0 lead, but El Segundo had one runner thrown out at the plate and left the bases loaded.
In the second inning, El Segundo’s Quinn Boehle recorded his first hit of the series to lead off. One out later, he advanced to second on a passed ball and scored on a Finley Green single.
El Segundo had eight hits in the game, including a third-inning double by Brooks, but Northwest was solid and kept wiggling out of trouble.
If El Segundo gets past a tough Texas team on Saturday, it will face either the Asia Pacific champion from Taiwan or the Carribean champion, who play Saturday for the International championship. Taiwan features star pitcher Fan Chen-Jun, who throws 80 mph.
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