Pearland deals Abilene Wylie first loss at Little League Southwest Regional
WACO – Manuel Castillo’s grand-slam highlighted a 14-run fourth inning as Pearland beat Wylie 19-0 in a battle of Texas state champions at the Little League Southwest Regional on Sunday at Norcross Stadium.
Pearland pounded out 20 hits in a game that was stopped after four innings on the 10-run rule. The Texas East state champions had 13 hits in the pivotal fourth inning, including a two-run homer by Kaiden Shelton two batters into the frame.
Two Pearland pitchers combined on a one-hitter. Jackson Wolfe, Pearland’s starter, hurled three innings, striking out three. Cooper Arbaugh pitched the fourth.
Landon Cofer had the Texas East state champions lone hit, a two-out single in the third. Myles McCarty was the only other Wylie batter to reach. He was hit by a pitch to leadoff the bottom of the fourth. Wylie (13-2) hadn't lost a game since a 10-9 decision against Lubbock Western at the Texas West state tournament in Abilene. Wylie came back to beat Lubbock 16-1 in a winner-take-all title game later that day.
Pearland got the only run it needed on Jacob Zurek’s leadoff homer to start the game between the tournament's last two unbeaten teams. Zurek added a two-run double to spark a four-run second.
The loss drops Wylie into a must-win game against Tulsa National at 2 p.m. Monday. The game will be televised on ESPN. Wylie beat the Oklahoma state champions 3-2 in seven innings on Friday.
Tulsa scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth to beat Starkville, Mississippi 4-3 earlier in the day Sunday to set up the rematch.
Pearland awaits Monday’s winner at noon Tuesday in the championship game, which also will be on ESPN. The tournament champion advances to the Little League World Series on Aug. 17-28 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Little League Southwest Regional
At Marvin Norcross Stadium, Waco
(All games on Longhorn Network, unless noted otherwise)
Thursday games
Game 1 – Starkville (Mississippi) 7, Albuquerque Eastdale (New Mexico) 1
Game 2 – Pearland (Texas East) 14, White Hall (Arkansas) 2
Game 3 – Tulsa National (Oklahoma) 10, Glenwood Springs Three Rivers (Colorado) 0
Game 4 – Abilene Wylie (Texas West) 4, Kenner Eastbank (Louisiana) 3
Friday games
Losers Bracket
Game 5 – White Hall (Arkansas) 9, Albuquerque Eastdale (New Mexico) 3
Game 6 – Kenner Eastbank (Louisiana) 8, Glenwood Springs Three Rivers (Colorado) 4
Winners Bracket
Game 7 – Pearland (Texas East) 6, Starkville (Mississippi) 4
Game 8 – Abilene Wylie (Texas West) 3, Tulsa National (Oklahoma) 2
Saturday games
Losers Bracket
Game 9 – Tulsa National (Oklahoma) 15, White Hall (Arkansas) 7
Game 10 – Starkville (Mississippi) 7, Kenner Eastbank (Louisiana) 5
Sunday games
Losers Bracket
Game 11 – Tulsa National (Oklahoma) 4, Starkville (Mississippi) 3
Winners Bracket
Game 12 – Pearland (Texas East) 19, Abilene Wylie (Texas West) 0
Monday games
Losers Bracket
Game 13 – Tulsa National (Oklahoma) vs. Abilene Wylie (Texas West), 2 p.m. (ESPN)
Tuesday games
Championship
Game 14 – Pearland vs. Game 12 winner, noon (ESPN)
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Pearland wallops Abilene Wylie at Little League Southwest Regional
