Pirates player Thomas Barchett jogs to first base after being walked in the last inning of the championship game with the Yankees.
If you like pitching, then Governors Field was the place to be Friday night.
The Yankees’ Eddie Tierney and the Pirates’ duo of Alan Mayoral and Tanner Hunt threw matching 1-hitters in what was a whale of a pitchers’ duel. Tierney struck out 14 and walked two, while the Pirate duo fanned 10 and walked five.
In the end, the Carson City Little League Majors championship game was decided by Jacob Campbell’s RBI single in the bottom of the fourth as the Yankees beat the Pirates 1-0.
“Some days pitchers beat hitters,” said Yankees coach Joe Tierney, whose team won the regular-season title. “This was a special game for the kids. Their guys threw a 1-hitter and our guy threw a 1-hitter. We were able to come out on top.
“I thought Eddie threw very well (83 pitches) for the way he felt. He’s been battling a virus all week.”
Tierney allowed just three baserunners the entire game — a first-inning walk to Max Gunkel and a fourth-inning bloop single and sixth-inning walk to Thomas Burchett. He yielded four infield rollers and everything else was a strikeout.
Tierney struck out the side in the first, third and fifth innings, and twice during the game and had five straight strikeouts.
Still, you had to wonder if his teammates were going to push across a run. Mayoral worked the first 2.2 innings and left for pitch-count limits. He allowed just a first-inning walk to Tierney and a third-inning walk to Xavier DeLeon. Hunt threw the last 2.1 and he allowed four baserunners, three of those in the fourth when the Yankees scored.
Tierney led off the fourth with a walk and stole second. Daniel Fitch walked. After an out, Campbell followed with a bouncing ball up the middle to score Tierney.
Fitch and Campbell moved up on a passed ball, but Hunt came up big by striking out the next two hitters.
The Yankees threatened in the fifth, but DeLeon was doubled off second on Dillon Damico’s liner to first.
Burchett walked with two outs in the sixth, but Tierney retired Gunkel on a comebacker to end the game.