Everything is on the line Saturday afternoon for the Little League team from Braintree, Massachusetts.
Braintree American has to win to stay alive in the World Series tournament, after they were blown out in their first game on Thursday.
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The Irmo, South Carolina, club, representing the Southeast region, that defeated Braintree in its LLWS debut on Thursday got a big boost from slugger-pitcher Joe Guiletti.
With the bases loaded in the second inning, Guiletti smoked a line drive to left-center field that cleared the fence for a grand slam that gave his team an 8-0 lead.
“I wish I (walked him),” Massachusetts manager Frank Fasoli said. His assistants suggested the move, but Fasoli ultimately decided to let Guiletti see a pitch. “That’s on me, though.”
South Carolina ultimately won 13-0 in three and a half innings — the game was stopped under Little League scoring rules. It was the largest opening game shutout by an American team since 2015, when the Mid-Atlantic region defeated the Midwest, 18-0.
The first couple days of the tournament were not particularly competitive, with the eight winning teams scoring a combined 59 runs and the losers getting just three.
Early wins give teams a valuable break. Thursday’s winners earned three days off, which are pivotal because of Little League’s pitch count rules requiring rest days depending on how many pitches players throw.
Saturday’s elimination bracket game is set for 3 p.m. at Lamade Stadium in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where Braintree will face the Southwest’s team from Richmond, Texas, which lost to Fairfield, Connecticut, on Thursday.
No matter what happens, the boys’ families say they are proud of everything they have accomplished this summer.