Home-run eruption powers Mill Creek at LLWS

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Some home-run derby helped Mill Creek Little League save its season.

Mill Creek crushed four home runs, including three in a seven-run fifth inning as it pounded Hagerstown, Md., 15-5 in five innings Monday at Lamade Stadium and evened its Little League World Series record at 1-1.

A loss would have ended Washington's U.S. semifinal hopes, but Alec Kisena hit two home runs and Jason Todd added another while going 4 for 4 as Mill Creek put itself in good position entering the final day of pool play.

Mill Creek is all but certain to advance to the U.S. semifinals if it defeats Jeffersonville, Ind., at 11 a.m. PDT today on ESPN. The only way Mill Creek would not advance despite winning would be if Maryland beat Louisiana, causing a three-way tie. That scenario is highly unlikely, since Louisiana has allowed one run and Maryland 17 through two games.

"The bats came alive," Mill Creek manager Scott Mahlum said. "We wanted to show everybody what we were capable of doing, and I'm very happy with the way the guys responded."

Any doubt whether the Northwest champions would be demoralized after the 5-1 loss to Louisiana in their World Series opener Saturday were answered in the top of the first inning.

After a ground out, seven straight batters reached base, six via hits, as Mill Creek built a 5-0 lead. Joakim Soderqvist started the scoring, belting a two-run double before Kisena provided the big blow with a three-run home run off and over the top of the right-field wall.

Kisena hit a two-run homer four innings later as part of a seven-run outburst that triggered the 10-run mercy rule. While Kisena's first home run just cleared the wall, this one carried over the wall and bushes beyond a second fence in right-center field before landing on the hill.

"I got a good swing on a curveball and got lucky enough to put the ball in play," Kisena said as he held his second home-run ball. "I knew it was gone because it was a longshot."

Kisena was hardly a one-man show. Todd was another headliner in Mill Creek's offensive ambush. The hard-hitting shortstop finished only a triple shy of the cycle, hitting a single, two doubles and a home run, while driving in four runs and scoring three.

Todd also hit a three-run home run in the game-breaking fifth inning. Like Kisena's second home run, Todd's was a mammoth shot, clearing the bushes well beyond the right-field wall.

Maryland hung in, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first and, after Mill Creek had gone ahead 8-4, pulling to 8-5 when Andrew Yacyk hit a fourth-inning homer.

All hopes of a Maryland comeback, though, disappeared in the fifth. Alek Baumgartner capped the rally and put the 10-run rule into effect when he followed Kisena's second homer by hitting one over the center-field wall two pitches later.

In other action Monday, Matamoros, Mexico, shut out Yona, Guam, 10-0; Waipahu, Hawaii, beat Rapid City, S.D., 6-4; and Willemstad, Curacao, smacked four homers in a 14-1 win over Emilia, Italy.

The nightcap featured an elimination game, with Tampa, Fla., posting an 8-2 win over Shelton, Conn., in seven innings to advance to the U.S. semifinals.