SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – South Shore was hoping for the same fourth-inning magic that played such a big role in back-to-back Little League World Series victories last weekend.
And indeed, the ground was laid for history to repeat itself once again.
But reliever Lathan Norton limited the damage and shut down South Shore’s offense for the rest of the game. Florida scored five times in the final two innings to secure a 6-1 victory in the losers’ bracket on Tuesday at Lamade Stadium.
South Shore, only the seventh club on the island to reach the prestigious LLWS, ended an incredible two-month run that included District 24, Section 3 South, New York State and Metro Region championships. Manager Bob Laterza’s team went a respectable 2-2 in the World Series and finished the All-Star Game with a combined score of 19-4.
“Hey, listen, we had a great run and not everyone is going to win, but they fought until the end so I have no problem with that,” Laterza said. “It was a better experience than I could have ever imagined. We won two games, we had a little run, I would have loved to finish it with a couple more but it wasn’t meant to be.”
“They tried their best. They could have been eliminated (several times) — they could have been eliminated at the state or regional level — but they did a great job to get here and be competitive.
“Florida is a good team. They’re good.”
Florida’s two pitchers, starter Garrett Rohozen and reliever Lathan Norton, were sensational.
Rohozen, making his LLWS debut on the mound, threw up catcher Landon Bono’s glove early and ended up allowing just two hits, no walks and hitting two batters while pitching through the fourth inning. The hard-throwing right-hander, who was on the radar for over 60 points, finished the game with five strikeouts.
When Rohozen ran into trouble in the fourth inning, Florida manager Jonathan Anderson called in fireball pitcher Norton to put out the fire. The right-hander allowed three hits, no walks and struck out six times, earning the win.
“The plan was to get Garrett, and I knew he wasn’t going to be too wild, he was going to stay in the zone,” said Anderson of Rohozen, who hadn’t pitched for him since playing in Florida’s state tournament. “He throws over 60 miles an hour, and I thought they (hadn’t seen that) too often and they were (swinging) a little too late.”
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But after striking out SSLL in the first three frames, Rohozen hit Jason Rocchio in the helmet early in the fourth inning and leadoff hitter Vin Ruggiero hit a double to left-center field, putting runners on second and third base with no outs. Anderson replaced Rohozen with Norton, who immediately allowed a sacrifice fly to center field by Stephen Grippo to tie the score at 1-1.
Ruggiero advanced to third base on the same play, but Norton struck out the next two batters to tie the score.
“You’ve all seen Lathan pitch,” Anderson added during the postgame press conference. “The kid knows how to close a door better than anyone.”
South Shore ace Stephen Grippo was equally effective in his second LLWS start. The left-hander allowed just a single earned run on two hits, two walks and one hit batsman in 4 2/3 innings. The hard-throwing Grippo struck out seven times, but with the score tied 1-1 and a runner on second base on an error and a passed ball, he was forced to leave the game after reaching the mandatory 85-pitch mark.
Laterza called in right-hander Dean Scarangello, who issued a walk to Teraj Alexander to put runners on first and second base. Left-hander Christopher Chikodroff then hit a grounder to the right of first baseman Grippo. Alexander did a great job of dodging the live ball while also temporarily blocking Grippo as the ball flew into right field, scoring the game-winning RBI single.
“That was great,” said Anderson, who watched Laterza call on Alex Torres to get the final out in the fifth inning. “If the ball hits him, the inning is over and that’s a rally killer. He makes a weird move, the first baseman doesn’t know – ‘is he going to hit him or not’ – he kind of flinches and hesitates, and the ball goes by him and a run is scored.”
After Norton again shut out South Shore in the fifth inning, Florida staged a one-out rally in the sixth to decide the game. Leadoff hitter Chase Anderson hit a triple down the right field line and JJ Feliciano followed with a sacrifice fly to center to make it 3-1.
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Rohozen and Landon Bono were then hit by pitches, and after Laterza made his second pitcher change in the middle of the count, Florida’s DJ Mieses put the game out of reach with a three-run dinger to left center field.
“I don’t regret it at all,” Laterza said of the mid-count substitutions. “You have one more guy and I can see him, I can read minds. It worked out well when I brought Torres in (in the fifth) and we got out of that inning. And then when he faltered, I brought in somebody else. I do that all the time, whether it’s 2-0 or 3-0, I don’t care. I can see your mind, if you don’t have it, come out. The guys know me and I’m an equal (opportunist) when I get a pitcher out. It’s just business.”
Norton allowed a one-out single by Zach Weiss in the sixth inning at home, but finished the game with two consecutive Ks.
