Columbus Eliminated From Little League World Series After 5-2 Loss To Hawaii

The Little League World Series team representing the Southeast regional, Georgia’s Columbus Northern has been eliminated from the annual affair after losing to Hawaii Friday afternoon 5-12 in South Williamsport, Pa.

Shortstop Brandon Pugh doubled home two runs and then scored on the same play following a throwing error to help Georgia take a 4-0 lead in the top of the third. Unfortunately, Hawaii’s bats came alive to tie the game in the bottom stanza of the inning and would never look back on their way to the victory.

Columbus finished its World Series appearance with two wins and two losses.

Let's play three! Columbus and Hawaii to meet one more time, and winner takes all

Hawaii jumped out to another lead, and this time they made it stick — the Waipio All-Stars scored the first five runs against Columbus Northern on Thursday night, then held on for a 7-4 victory. That sends Hawaii and Georgia to a decisive third game tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m., with the winner advancing to the U.S. championship on Saturday.

Hawaii pitcher Noah Shackles stymied Columbus for a good part of the game, striking out nine batters and holding the Georgia kids to just two hits through the first five innings. Columbus made a valiant comeback attempt in the sixth, though, scoring three runs on two hits against Shackles before reliever Keolu Ramos finished the game with a strikeout and a groundout.

Columbus will have an ace in the hole on Friday, though — or, rather, on the mound: Troy Gilliland, who pitched all six innings of the team’s shutout victory over Ohio on Tuesday. The winner of Friday’s game heads to the U.S. championship, where they’ll face Pearland, Texas, 7-5 winners over Washington in Thursday’s early game.

Columbus headed for rematch with Hawaii

Aloha means hello and goodbye: The Waipio All-Stars’ victory over Hamilton, Ohio, means that Hawaii has earned a rematch with Columbus, Georgia, in the Little League World Series. That game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Thursday at Lamade Stadium.

Hawaii was Columbus’ first victim in the LLWS back on Saturday — Columbus spotted their opponents a 2-0 lead in the top of the first but powered back with four runs in the bottom half of the inning; pitchers Jared Pate and Troy Gilliland combined to allow just one more hit for the remainder of the game, which meant the Columbus Little Leaguers were able to coast to a 6-2 win.

If Columbus loses in the rematch, they’ll face a rubber match against Hawaii at 2 p.m. Friday, with the winner advancing to the U.S. championship on Friday; if they beat Hawaii tonight, they advance to the U.S. championship outright.

Little League World Series: Columbus, Georgia's Southeast Team Beats Great Lakes 6-0

The LLWS team repping the Southeast, Georgia's Columbus Northern, trounced the Great Lakes team from Hamilton, Ohio 6-0 earlier today. Winning pitcher Troy Gilliland threw six scoreless innings, giving up only five hits.

The Georgia boys' biggest output came in the bottom of the first, with a double by shortstop Brandon Pugh scoring leadoff man Blake Hicks, followed by third baseman Kobie Buglioli swatting a two-run homer. Leftfielder Knox Carter later batted in first baseman Jacob Pat, and Hicks and rightfielder Matthew Lang hit solo shots of their own.

The victory mimicked Southeast's 6-2 Saturday victory over the West team from Hawaii, as that game also featured a first-inning onslaught that would provide all the offense the team would need.

Now 2-0 in its pool, Southeast's next game is scheduled for Thursday night against the winner of Great Lakes and West. A win would put Southeast into the U.S. championship game.