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New Jersey beats Pennsylvania 3-1 to advance at LLWS in winners’ bracket

By From staff reports 3 min read

In the battle of “Bayonne vs. Everybody,” everybody remains winless. And Bayonne, New Jersey is marching on to the U.S. winner's bracket semifinals.

Chase Klimkowski threw 5 1/3 gutsy innings without allowing an earned run; Gabe Garcia closed it out on the mound and Mason Rincon homered for a second straight game as New Jersey defeated West Chester, Pennsylvania, 3-1 at the Little League World Series, Friday. AJ Tapia and Joey Dwyer both went 2 for 2 and New Jersey shined under the bright Lamade Stadium lights as a huge crowd of 27,429 looked on.

Bayonne adopted the slogan "Bayonne vs. Everybody," early this all-star season, perceiving itself as an underdog. And it continues playing like the top dog, improving to 15-0 this summer and 2-0 at the Series.

"It feels great for the kids. The kids worked their butts of today," New Jersey manager Justin Smith said. "They executed pitching; executed defense; our at-bats were great. The kids deserve every second of this right here."

Klimkowski scattered six hits and was money under pressure, twice leaving runners on second and third. Garcia walked the first batter he faced after Klimkowski following his 85th pitch but produced a strikeout and induced a game-ending grounder.

Up next is a showdown against Iowa Sunday with the winner facing either Washington or Nevada in the winner's bracket final.

New Jersey scored all the runs it would need in the second inning. Jett Bridges walked, Tapia doubled, Bridges scored on a wild pitch and Dwyer hit an RBI single.

Rincon continued his dominant all-star run three innings later. The slugger homered for the second time in three at-bats, blasting a 1-0 pitch the opposite way over the right center-field fence and making it, 3-0. Opponents have pitched to Rincon seven times since regionals and he has taken three of them yard, including a walk-off homer Wednesday against Massachusetts.

Ryan Donnelly went 2 for 3 for Pennsylvania, but the Mid-Atlantic champions could never get the key hit with runners in scoring position. It scored its lone run in the fifth inning after Dillon DiGuilio hit a lead-off double and came home on a two-out error.

Pennsylvania will play again Monday in an elimination game against the winner of Saturday's California-Alabama game. The Mid-Atlantic champions have experience rallying from an early tournament defeat after winning five games in six days to capture the Pennsylvania state tournament.

"That's something we've done in the past. I think these boys will take the challenge and run with it," Pennsylvania manager Bob Hennessey said. "Obviously, we've been through it. When we lost to Blue Mountain in the second game of states, we asked them if they're ready to go home yet and they said no, so I think it's going to be the same message. We're asking the guys to dig deep down and play your best baseball."

Starting at /week.