New Hampshire recently kept its Little League World Series title hopes alive by knocking off Tennessee 4-1 in an elimination game at the Little League World Series.
“Congrats to North Manchester-Hooksett, defeated Tennessee 4-1 to stay alive in the Little League World Series,” Kathy Sullivan, former chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, posted on Twitter. “ESPN announcers refer to ‘New Hampshire’ instead of just ‘Hooksett,’ so that’s better. MHT back from limbo.”
New Hampshire struck early, registering all the runs it would need in the first inning, when they scored twice in wild pitches to chase Tennessee starter Ryan Newell. The winners scored twice more in the fourth inning on a two-run single by second baseman Keith Townsend, giving starter Tristan Lucier all the support he would need in a 10-strikeout outing where he allowed just two hits over five innings.
“It’s amazing,” Lucier told the Williamsport Sun-Gazette. “We get to keep going, and it’s not our last game.”
Manager Timothy DeVall didn’t try to hide his proud feelings. “We did a lot of work in the cage,” he said, according to the Sun-Gazette. “We would scout (Tennessee) on ESPN+ there, and they had a lot of left-handed pitching, and we didn’t really face too much of that. In the cage, we did a lot of soft toss on their knees, kind of on that side armor. We thought we were going to see them, so we did a lot of soft toss on their knees to make sure that it was solid to try and prepare for it.”
Following this victory, New Hampshire clobbered Oregon 14-6 on Aug. 24 and then narrowly lost to Ohio 4-3 on Aug. 25, according to the Little League World Series website.
