WILLIAMSPORT, Pennsylvania. – The Boerne Little League All-Stars’ run at the 2024 Little League Baseball World Series ended with another devastating loss.
The team from Barquisimeto, Venezuela, the Latin American regional champions, defeated Boerne 4-3 in the third-place match on Sunday at Howard J. Lamade Stadium in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
About 16 hours after Boerne used four different pitchers and lost a back-and-forth U.S. championship game to Lake Mary, Florida, the All-Stars’ offense looked fresh for the 10 a.m. first pitch in Pennsylvania.
First batter Julian Hurst, Boerne’s starting pitcher on Saturday who had left the mound due to injury, hit the first pitch he saw from Venezuelan pitcher Willian Mora for a base hit into right field.
After Hurst was forced out by a ground ball from Gray Collins at second base, Cooper Hastings hit a single to left. Cleanup hitter Doc Mogford reached third base on Mora’s miss.
Mora’s error forced Collins and Hastings across the plate, but Mogford didn’t stop running. He grounded out to third base and Boerne took a 2-0 lead.
With Kole Newson at bat, Mogford, who was hit in the leg by a line drive in Saturday’s U.S. final, took advantage of Newson’s attempt to miss a ball that bounced off home plate.
Mogford stole the goal and extended Boerne’s lead to 3-0.
Despite initial nervousness, Mora calmed down on the mound for Venezuela, striking out Newson and pitcher Caden Guffey to end the first inning. Mora did not allow another Boerne baserunner until Mogford got on base with an infield single at the top of the fifth inning.
Meanwhile, the Barquisimeto, Venezuela offense went to work in the second inning. Diego Biarreta hit an RBI double to put Venezuela on the scoreboard. Three batters later, Simon Vicheria’s RBI groundout with the bases loaded cut the Boerne lead to 3-2.
In the third inning, Venezuela’s last-place batter tied the game at 3-3 without scoring a single hit. Jonathan Landaeta opened the inning with a walk and advanced to second base on a wild pitch.
The next batter was Beiker Zarraga, who got on base on an error by Guffey. The error allowed Landaeta to score from second base.
Later in the inning, with all the bases loaded, Samuel Carrasquel managed to get a 3-2 at-bat against Guffey. On the next pitch, Carrasquel stuck with the fourth ball, giving Venezuela a 4-3 lead.
The Boerne All-Stars had a golden opportunity to extend the game in the last inning. Aiden Munoz started the comeback with a single.
The next batter, Dylan Burke, struck out with a swing on Mora’s 85th pitch of the game. Under Little League rules, starting pitchers are limited to 85 pitches, which forced Mora to leave the mound.
Carrasquel was called upon to get the final two outs for Venezuela. He walked Kaleb Christ and struck out Ben Burkhart with a swinging hit, but the lineup was about to change.
Hurst, who was 8 of 12 in the LLBWS before his at-bat, quickly fell behind by two strikes behind Carrasquel.
But he remained calm. Hurst dropped a few balls before earning a walk and loading the bases.
Collins was next to go up, taking a 3-1 lead, but Collins hit a line drive to second base to end the game.
The Boerne Little League All-Stars are scheduled to return to the Hill Country on Monday afternoon. After their arrival, the city of Boerne plans a parade on Monday at 4:45 p.m.
If you can’t attend Monday’s parade, KSAT will provide live coverage of the parade on KSAT 12, KSAT.com and streaming on KSAT+.
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