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Cooper Thissen used his left arm and bat to make quite an impact at the Little League World Series.
Anthony Johnson ensured the riveting story Thissen produced enjoyed a happy ending.
Thissen hit a lead-off home run and threw 5 1/3 dominant innings of no-hit baseball Friday afternoon at Lamade Stadium and Johnson closed with two clutch strikeouts as Davenport, Iowa defeated Bonita, California, 1-0 and the pitching duo combined on a no-hitter.
Thissen struck out 15 and his home run in the bottom of the first came after he fanned the side in the top half on 10 pitches. He golfed a pitch low in the zone over the center field fence and had fans chanting his name early and often from there.
Thissen allowed just one ball to be put in play, that coming in the fourth inning when shortstop Xavier Ludtke made an impressive backhand stop on a sharp grounder. Thissen walked consecutive batters with one out in the sixth, hitting his 85th pitch. Johnson walked the first batter he faced but came up huge after that, fanning the next two, including the final batter on a 3-2 pitch.
Johnson's save earned the league from Davenport Northwest its first Series win in three appearances since 2004. It also sent Iowa ahead in the winner's bracket, earning it a spot against the winner of Friday night's Pennsylvania-New Jersey winner, Sunday.
Noah Kirk also was fantastic for California, striking out 13 in 4 2/3 innings and not allowing a hit after Thissen's home run. Leo Gonzales threw 1 1/3 hitless innings and pitchers from both teams combined for 32 strikeouts, the most combined at a Series this decade.
California plays Saturday against Alabama in an elimination game.