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Chicago Tribune
2 days ago
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Clarendon Hills drops game 3; bows out of ‘best experience' at Little League World Series
A magical summer came to an end Sunday for Clarendon Hills in the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Playing in an elimination-bracket game, Clarendon Hills, the Great Lakes Region champion playing in its first World Series, lost, 9-1, to the West Region winner from Hawaii. Clarendon Hills fell behind early, as Hawaii scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning, added three more in the second and one in the third for a 9-0 advantage. Clarendon Hills scored its lone run in the top of the fourth on an RBI-single by Liam Harrigan, scoring Jack Kaczmarski. 'Their team came out and was very aggressive,' Clarendon Hills manager Brian Herold said, 'Everything I had scouted about them — that we should be throwing breaking balls early — it was like they knew what my strategy was, They sat on off-speed stuff. I thought (pitcher) Jack (Kaczmarski) did terrific. Kudos to them.' Left-hander Kaczmarski was the starting pitcher for Clarendon Hills, working 1 2/3 innings, before giving way to Jack O'Malley for 1 1/3 innings and finally Luca Striltschuk for two. Hawaii taking a big lead early in the game definitely created a challenge. 'It affected us,' said infielder Matthew Kalish. 'It lowered our momentum. They just hit the ball.' Teammate Henry McMahon agreed. 'We just were tying to keep our heads up, stay with it and tryi to bounce back,' he said. Clarendon Hills found itself in the elimination bracket after losing Wednesday to the Mountain Region champion from Nevada, 16-1. The local team bounded back Saturday with a 3-2 win over the Mid-Atlantic Region winner from Pennsylvania. Hawaii, which won World Series titles in 2005, 2008, 2018, and 2022, dropped its opening game Friday to the Metro Region champion from Connecticut, 5-1. Clarendon Hills showed resiliency multiple times during its summer run, as it lost a game in district competition to Naperville, before beating the same team for the championship. After winning the Illinois state championship without a loss, Clarendon Hills was defeated by Ohio in the Great Lakes Region tournament, but came back again to beat that same team, which earned a berth in the World Series. While no World Series championship was in the cards for Clarendon Hills, it did bounce back from its opening-round loss to Nevada to beat Pennsylvania. Despite being eliminated from the World Series with Sunday's loss, the positives of the experience of making it there weren't lost on the team. 'My dream was to play with my friends as long as possible,' Kalish said. 'Just being here, learning new things about different cultures, was amazing. We spent a lot of time with the team from Japan, and being here with the international teams and all the other teams was incredible. This experience meant so much. I love and live baseball.' McMahon called the experience of participating in the World Series, 'the best experience I've have had in my whole life.' 'It went by so fast,' McMahon said. 'We've been practicing for a long time. Knowing there are no more games is hard to take in.' Herold said all along that his team wasn't satisfied to 'just be there' for the World Series. But there was plenty to be positive about, even after being eliminated. 'It's an amazing experience, an accomplishment that was our goal,' he said. 'We quickly shifted gears when we reached this level. To play the best teams from across the world and to elevate your game, that is what we did. 'We're also very proud of our community and where we're from. We've had great support, and we're excited to come home and share our experiences with our community.' Details have not been set, but Clarendon Hills officials say there will be some organized celebration for the team when they return.
Chicago Tribune
6 days ago
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Clarendon Hills sets Saturday watch party for Little League World Series game 2
Clarendon Hills will be hosting an outdoor watch party at 5 p.m. Saturday to show a live broadcast of the Little League World Series game in which the local team is playing at 6 p.m. Clarendon Hills will be playing in an elimination-round game against the loser of Thursday night's contest between teams from the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic Regions. The village hosted a first watch party, with an estimated 200 people attending, Wednesday for the Clarendon Hills team's first-round game, a 16-1 loss to the Mountain Region team from Las Vegas, Nevada. Clarendon Hills is representing the Great Lakes Region, after winning that title over Ohio and earlier claiming State and District championships. As was the case Wednesday, Saturday's watch party will feature the game being shown on a Jumbotron and will be held at Prospect and Park Avenues. Village staff and officials suggest that those attending bring chairs and wear clothing with the team color, which is a sky blue. Assistant Village Manager Mera Johnson said if Clarendon Hills wins Saturday a third watch party will be held for a noon Sunday game.
Chicago Tribune
6 days ago
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Clarendon Hills falls 16-1 in opening game of Little League World Series tournament
Clarendon Hills never really got going Wednesday and lost 16-1 to the Mountain Region champion from Las Vegas, Nevada, in the opening round of the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The game didn't get completely out of hand until the top of the sixth inning when the Nevada state champion scored 11 runs while sending 16 batters to the plate. After giving up a run in the top of the first, Clarendon Hills, the Great Lakes Region champion, had its best scoring chance of the game in the bottom half of the opening frame when it loaded the bases with one out on a hit batter, a walk and an error. But Nevada pitcher Garrett Gallegos struck out consecutive Clarendon Hills hitters to get out the inning without any damage. Nevada added four runs on five hits in the second inning as Clarendon Hills starting pitcher Luke Schaller gave way to Brody Herold along the way. Neither team scored again until the top of the sixth. Clarendon Hills avoided the shutout in the bottom of that final inning when Herold singled and eventually scored on an obstruction call on the Nevada third baseman. Clarendon Hills isn't scheduled to play again until 6 p.m. Saturday in the elimination bracket. The Clarendon Hills vs Nevada game was the first United States contest in the 2025 Little League World Series, which runs through Aug. 24 and includes 10 teams from different regions of the United States along with 10 from other countries. Along with Clarendon Hills and Nevada, U.S. teams regional tournament winners include teams from Fairfield, Connecticut (Metro); Uwchlan Township, Pennsylvania (Mid-Atlantic); Sioux Falls, South Dakota (Midwest); Braintree, Massachusetts (New England); Bonney Lake, Washington (Northwest); Irmo, South Carolina (Southeast); Richmond, Texas (Southwest); and Honolulu, Hawaii (West). International teams are from Taipei, Chinese Taipei (Asia-Pacific); Brisbane, Queensland (Australia); Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada); Santa Cruz, Aruba (Caribbean); Brno, Czechia (Europe-Africa); Tokyo (Japan); Barquisimeto, Venezuela (Latin America); Chihuahua (Mexico); Arraijan (Panama); and Yabucoa (Puerto Rico). The U.S. championship game is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Aug. 23, following the International championship at 11:30 a.m. The World Series championship contest, pitting the U.S. and International champions, is at 2 p.m. Aug, 24. All three championship games will be broadcast on ABC. Earlier-round games are being shown on ESPN. A year ago, Clarendon Hills' neighboring village Hinsdale made its first trip to the Little League World Series, but was eliminated with shutout losses in its first two games, to teams from the West and Metro regions. In the leadup to this year's World Series tournament, Clarendon Hills had a dominating, 6-0, record in winning the Illinois State championship while outscoring opponents 60-7. But the double-elimination format proved very important in claiming both the District and Great Lakes titles. A loss to Naperville Continental in the District round put Clarendon Hills on the brink of elimination, but the same teams met in the July 13 championship, and Clarendon Hills came out on top, 8-2. Herold said the confidence boost his team got from beating Naperville Continental after losing to the same team earlier in the tournament was a factor after Clarendon Hills lost 11-1 Aug. 4 to the state champion from Ohio. A 5-2 win over Kentucky a day later gave Clarendon Hills another shot at undefeated Ohio and this time it was Clarendon Hills that managed a 9-4 victory to win the Region championship and advance to the World Series. 'This team has a lot of confidence and they all believe in each other,' Herold said. 'Even after our losses, everyone believed we were going to come back and win.' The Mountain Region champion, Summerlin South Little League from Las Vegas, Nevada, won all three of its games in San Bernardino, California, defeating Colorado, 17-0, and then Utah, 22-12 and 6-3. Summerlin South is the fourth Nevada team to make the World Series.
