It’s a Gray day and a great day for O.C. Little Leaguers
Bobby Gray flirts with a no-hitter; brother Joey belts a slam and drives in five runs.
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — The second day of the Little League World Series started with rain Friday. Then it turned Gray, with twin brothers Bobby and Joey Gray pitching and hitting Rancho Santa Margarita to a 9-0 victory over Walla Walla, Wash., in the opening game for both teams.
Bobby Gray took a nohitter into the final inning and his brother drove in five runs with a grand slam in the first inning and a single in the third.
And neither one of them was playing to his strength.
Back home in Orange County, Joey said, the roles usually are reversed.
“I think I’m the better pitcher,” said Joey, who played third base Friday.
Said Bobby: “He’ll throw
more strikes. And I’ll hit it harder. When we come to the games, we have that same level of competitiveness.”
Joey may get his chance on the mound Sunday when Rancho meets Greensville, N.C., which threw a perfect game against Sioux Falls, S.D, in Friday’s late game. If he does, he’ll have a tough act to follow since Bobby gave up just one hit in 51⁄3 innings, striking out seven. He allowed only three other baserunners, on two walks and a hit batter.
That performance was a lot smoother than Rancho’s pregame preparation. Because of the rain, which caused two of Friday’s four games to be rescheduled, the team had to rush its warmups
“We were extremely late to the batting cages,” coach C.J. Ankrum said. “There was some confusion on whether we were going to play at 4 or weren’t going to play at 4.”
Despite that, Ankrum said he kept his focus on his team and not the weather.
“I didn’t even think about it. I didn’t even care about it,” he said. “It is what it is. If we’re going to play, we’re going to play. If we’re not, we’re not. You can’t sit there and stress about it.
“Weathermen are the only other thing besides professional baseball players that can be right 30% of the time and make millions of dollars. So I didn’t really worry too much about what they were saying. We knew we were going to get it in.”
Batting practice was another story, with the rain limiting the players to seven pitches apiece. Joey Gray saw almost that many in his first at-bat, which ended with him lining a full-count fastball over the right-field fence.
Rounding the bases, Joey said, “was amazing.”
He went two for two with a walk and two runs. Mason Kellerman scored two runs and drove in another. Drew Rutter reached base three times with two hits and walk, scoring three runs.
All that support allowed Bobby Gray to relax after a tough first inning in which he threw 22 pitches.
“He did a phenomenal job,” Ankrum said. “Remember, they’re 12.”
Rancho also may have gotten a break in that it didn’t have to face Brixen Betzler, one of Walla Walla’s best hitters. Betzler was rushed to the hospital Thursday night after the tip of his right pinkie was torn off when it got caught in a door frame.
He watched Rancho’s win from his team’s dugout.
“The first game’s always the toughest,” said Rutter, playing in his fifth tourna- ment of the summer for Rancho, which has yet to lose in 17 games. “If you win, it gives you a little confidence, a momentum boost.
“I hope we can take that into the second game.” Friday’s other results:
Greenville (N.C.) 6, Sioux Falls (S.D.) 0 — Three pitchers teamed to throw the first perfect game since 2008.
Tokyo 8, Sydney 0 — Japan, which has won the Little League World Series three times in the last five years (2012, 2013, 2015), opened with a shutout.
Seoul 10, Pontezuela (Dominican Republic) 1 — Jinwon Shin drove in four runs to lead Korea.