Virginia’s Lee has no-hit stuff again
Little League pitcher whiffs six batters in game shortened by margin of victory
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, PA. — Justin Lee is turning into a known quantity for baseball fans of all ages.
The 12-year-old from South Riding threw the second no-hitter for Loudoun South American Little League on Sunday here at the Little League World Series.
The boys from Virginia, the southeast region champion and one of 16 teams playing for this year’s world championship, are the dominant team in the early going in the tournament.
And they’ve yet to allow a hit. Lee, middle reliever Liam Thyen and closer Chase Obstgarten combined to shut down New England champion Rhode Island, 3-0, on Friday.
Lee returned to the mound Sunday and went the distance against Midwest champion Minnesota in a 11-0 win before a crowd of 15,447 at historic Howard J. Lamade Stadium.
In 54 pitches, 32 of them strikes, Lee struck out six batters and walked only two.
The game ended after four innings because of Little League margin-of-victory rules.
“I have no words. It’s just, I guess sometimes you get lucky and this week has been very fortunate for me,” Lee said.
“I’ve been getting to meet a lot of cool people. This whole thing, being here is all great and getting to throw two no-hitters feels amazing.”
Virginia is the sixth team in Little League World Series history to throw multiple no-hitters in the same tournament.
Pitchers have already thrown three no-hitters this year, including the two from Virginia and one from Caribbean champion Curaçao.
Virginia will face the winner of West regional champion Hawaii and Mid-Atlantic champion New Jersey on Wednesday in the United States semifinal.
And Sunday, fresh off the win over Rhode Island, and with close to a week to get used to the attention that surrounds the players here — games are broadcast nationally on ABC and ESPN, and fans hound players for autographs as they walk through the ballpark village — Loudoun South was ready for Minnesota.
Lee cruised through the first two innings with three strikeouts while inducing weak contact. Centre-fielder Liam Thyen robbed Minnesota of its best chance at a hit with a diving catch on a blooper behind second base to end the inning.
Lee barely needed help from the defence after that, as teammates calmly made routine play after routine play.
At the plate, Virginia pushed across three runs in the first off Thyen’s bases-loaded-clearing double, then added five more in the second with a pair coming on another double from second baseman Colton Hicks.
But even without that offence, Lee was rolling on the mound mixing a curveball with a fastball at a velocity hitters this age seldom encounter. After walking the first batter in the third, Lee retired the side in order on a strikeout, pop-out and bunt. He walked the leadoff man in the fourth, too, but got the first out on a fielder’s choice and the second on a punchout.
Virginia manager Al Bowden asked the official scorer to verify Lee’s pitch count (pitchers are limited with how many pitches they can throw based on mandatory days of rest) as the potential final out came to the plate. Lee had a few more pitches to give before he’d be forced out of the contest.
“I was thinking to myself, ‘I’m not going to walk this kid,’ “Lee said, “because I really wanted this.”
He blew a one-ball, two-strike fastball past the batter on the outside corner. Lee threw his hands up in the air in triumph. First baseman Matt Coleman ran toward Lee and jumped on him as teammates gathered around.
Lee said he didn’t know if he’d ever thrown a no-hitter before during his regular season at Loudoun South.