Las Vegas, Nev.'s Luke D'Ambrosio, right, celebrates following a baseball game against Irmo, S.C., at the Little League World Series, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, in South Williamsport, Pa. (AP Photo/Caleb Craig)

Using his right arm, pitcher Garrett Gallegos overwhelmed two opponents earlier this season, not allowing a run.

Turns out he is just as potent swinging a bat from the left side. And now he has Las Vegas, Nevada going where only other team from its state ever has ventured.

Gallegos lived a dream Thursday night at Lamade Stadium, slamming a go-ahead, three-run sixth inning home run which helped Las Vegas rally past Irmo, South Carolina, 5-3 at the Little League World Series. Now, Las Vegas is a victory from becoming the country’s best team and will play Fairfield Connecticut for the U.S. Championship Saturday afternoon. It will be just the second time, and first since 2014, that a Nevada team has done so.

“A big part of it is 80 % focus and 20 % fury. That 80 % tonight was we had a big guy over here (Gallegos) take care of a ball tonight but we needed to get guys on base,” Las Vegas manager TJ Fechser said. “We worked good pitches, we took good at-bats. That encompasses that whole thinking.”

Joe Giulietti hit a game-tying fourth inning home run and Irmo took a 3-2 lead when Sutton Gravelle drew a two-out RBI walk an inning later.

Las Vegas, however, remained calm. Brooks Fechser and Cache Malan hit one-out singles and set the stage for Gallegos.

After working a 2-2 count, Gallegos produced a powerful swing and walloped a no-doubt home run over both fences and the bushes beyond right field. Las Vegas led 5-3 and produced the most exciting moment–at this point–in Summerlin South Little League history. It was one Gallegos he said he has dreamed about for nearly his entire life.

“My mindset was just to do my job and to find a way to get that run in but it ended up being a big hit that led us to a win,” Gallegos said. “It (his emotion) was almost tears.”

Luke D’Ambrosio and the defense took it from there. Nevada catcher Grayson Miranda threw a laser to shortstop Ethan Robertson who made an alert tag when a runner overran second base. It was a perfect throw by a player who started the game at first base and who replaced standout catcher Dustin Greusel after he suffered a third inning thumb injury.

“It’s amazing just knowing that we now have two outs there,” said D’Ambrosio after earning his second win in relief against Irmo. “It’s amazing to have two outs and nobody on.”

D’Ambrosio then produced a game-ending strikeout. A split second after he did so, both D’Ambrosio and his teammates through their gloves high into the night sky as jubilant parents stood and applauded.

“South Carolina are great people on and off the field and great competitors and we knew they were going to fight from inning one through inning six and we knew we could compete. We took good at-bats and we never quit. We kept grinding and we got it done.”

Irmo nearly produced its second straight thrilling comeback win in as many nights. The Southeast champions were down to their last strike five times the previous night against South Dakota but forced extra innings and then won, 7-6, erasing a five-run seventh inning deficit.

Irmo also reached the Series for the first time since 2015 after turning a four-run sixth inning deficit into a 5-4 Southeast championship win against defending world champion Lake Mary, Florida. Irmo now stands alone as the best Little League team in state history, winning three games here after the four previous squads had won one combined.

“We reminded them of that, third in the country. I told them at our first parent meeting that this group could be special. They went well beyond my idea of what special means,” Irmo manager Dave Bogan said. “The heart, the grit this group showed is going to be legendary in Irmo for sure. There are going to be a lot of accolades coming to them over the next few months and next year based on this and they’ve earned it. That was our saying, ‘Earn it,’ and they’ve absolutely earned everything that’s coming their way.”

Las Vegas was the only team to beat Irmo at the Series, twice winning dramatic contests, including a 1-0 seven-inning game three days earlier. The Mountain champions struck early in the rematch after being no-hit for six innings the first time, as Ethan Robertson hit a lead-off double and scored on Gallegos’s RBI double.

Brody Miller pulled Irmo even when he crushed a lead-off home run in the second inning. It stayed that way until the fifth inning. After Irmo took the lead, Las Vegas remained confident, especially with the top of its order coming up.

Giulietti hit his second home run at the Series and Ware went 2 for 3 while continuing to dazzle at shortstop.

“What I told them was is their baseball journey is not over. They’re 12-years-old. They have high school baseball coming; travel baseball coming,” Bogan said. “There are a lot of great things coming for these kids. They should cherish this and use it to grow and continue to work hard and figure out how you can achieve.”