Michigan, Ohio to meet in championship
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Cameron Thorning hit a two-run homer and struck out seven over three innings as Michigan defeated Hawaii 2-1 in a semifinal Saturday at the Little League World Series.
Michigan’s win set up a championship game Sunday against Ohio, 5-2 winners over South Dakota earlier in the day. It will be the firstever meeting between teams from the same region in the title game.
“Two good teams coming out of the Great Lakes, it’s such an awesome thing to be able to say,” said manager Rick Thorning, Cameron’s dad. “It shows we are a powerhouse this year.”
Both Taylor North Little League, from Taylor, Michigan, and West Side Little League from Hamilton, Ohio, advanced out of the Great Lakes as this year’s tournament awarded LLWS bids to two teams per region because COVID-19 travel restrictions meant international clubs couldn’t participate.
Michigan’s squad beat Ohio 9-1 when they last met at the Great Lakes region championship.
Cameron Thorning homered over the right-field wall in the top of the first inning, racing around the bases to meet his teammates at plate. He followed that up by striking out the side in the bottom half.
“That’s obviously one of the greatest moments of my life because it’s in the Little League world Series, so it means a lot more,” he said.
The team from Honolulu Little League got to Thorning in the bottom of the third when Kaikea Patoc-Young singled to right to drive in a run. But reliever Jakob Furkas kept Hawaii scoreless and hitless the rest of the way.
A championship game win by Taylor North would bring a LLWS title home to Michigan for the first time since 1959.
OHIO 5, S. DAKOTA 2
Cooper Oden struck out six and allowed two runs over five innings as Ohio hung on to beat South Dakota.
The West Side Little League squad from Hamilton, Ohio, became the first team from the state to reach the LLWS championship game.
Wearing his cap just slightly crooked, Oden stared straight though the South Dakota order, locating and mixing his pitches efficiently. Despite his successful outing, he said it wasn’t easy.
“That first inning was pretty nerve-racking because this is probably the biggest game I have pitched in in my life and probably will ever pitch,” he said. “Every 12year-old that plays baseball, this is basically their dream.”
Trailing 5-1 entering the bottom of the sixth, South Dakota rallied for three straight singles off Oden to score a run. South Dakota then loaded the bases off reliever Kaleb Harden and brought the winning run to the plate with nobody out. But Harden got three outs, the last on a force at third, to send Ohio into the title game.
Ohio became the first team in LLWS history to reach the championship game without winning its regional tournament, finishing as a runner-up in the Great Lakes to Michigan. Then again, COVID-19 protocols have made this year’s tournament unlike any other. Because of travel restrictions, international teams aren’t playing for the first time since 1975.