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A closer look at the 4-1 Hooksett, New Hampshire win over Nolensville, Tennessee on Saturday at Volunteer Stadium.
PLAY OF THE GAME -- Keith Townsend: Townsend added some cushion to New Hampshire's lead immediately after Tennessee cut it in half. Up 2-1, the second baseman hit a line drive out to center field to bring home two runs.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PLAYER OF THE GAME: -- Tristan Lucier: Lucier was dialed in on the mound for New Hampshire. In five full innings and across 85 pitches, Lucier lit up Tennessee's batters with 10 strikeouts with just two hits allowed. Lucier also pitched two 1-2-3 innings with two strikeouts in both frames. He walked two batters as well.
TENNESSEE PLAYER OF THE GAME -- William Dreussi: With just one hit in the game and only three thus far in the Little League World Series for Tennessee, Dreussi stepped up to the plate. With a runner on second, Dreussi delivered a fly out to left field to drive in Tennessee's first run in Williamsport to cut New Hampshire's lead to a manageable 2-1.
BIG INNING -- Bottom of the first: Tennessee made mistakes early, and New Hampshire took full advantage of them. A plethora of wild pitches advanced base runners, and Mason DeVall and Lucier plated two runs because of them. This prompted Tennessee to make the first pitching change in the very first frame, and although New Hampshire didn't get any more out of the inning, bases were still loaded on different at-bats, creating early pressure.
BEST EFFORT -- New Hampshire's field: New Hampshire allowed just two hits and a run to stay alive in the losers' bracket. Across two pitchers, a combined 11 strikeouts were thrown, and two 1-2-3 innings kept Tennessee's offense under consistent pressure all game.
FLASHING LEATHER -- After a productive half inning offensively, Lucier carried that same energy defensively for New Hampshire. Lucier hit Tennessee with three strikeouts to put away another scoreless top inning and keep New Hampshire's momentum on both sides of the ball. He added another two strikeouts to cap off a 1-2-3 the following inning. He later replicated that effort in the top of the fifth.
WHAT THE ADULTS SAY: "We did a lot of work in the cage. 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," New Hampshire manager Timothy DeVall said. "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. Us coaches can't really throw that way, so the closest thing was the underhand soft toss."
"I just kept the boys together and I just wanted them to know that it wasn't the result that we wanted, but they have nothing to hang their heads about," Tennessee manager Randy Huth said about his message to the team after the game. "I mean, the entire town of Nolensville was jumping, they had an entire stadium in Tennessee that was watching. I told them it's okay to be sad. It's okay to feel this because it does hurt, and you can't take that away. It hurts for 12-year-old kids, and it hurts for me too. I wanted to reassure them that no matter what, they're going to be remembered forever as a team that made it to the Little League World Series from our area."
WHAT THE KIDS SAY: "It's changed a lot for us," Townsend said on how the World Series has changed the way New Hampshire prepares. "It really changed a lot of things we're coming up with."
"It's amazing. We get to keep going and it's not our last game," Lucier said.
WHAT IT MEANS -- Tennessee is the first team to be eliminated in the 2021 Little League World Series and out of title contention. New Hampshire moves on in the losers' bracket and will play again at 3 p.m. Monday.