Port Washington Little Leagues historic season falls short of Williamsport with loss to Darien
Port Washington’s best-ever season came to a disappointing end, as the New York state champs were eliminated in the Little League World Series Metro regional round by Darien, Conn., 8-4 on Wednesday night.They were two wins away from a berth in the full-fledged Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., which would have been the Nassau County team’s first in its 63-year history.Darien moves ahead to the championship game against Bayonne, N.J., Friday at 7 p.m.on ESPN.The Long Islanders started falling behind in the bottom of the first inning when Darien catcher Hugh Butler homered off Carlo Cafferata to make it 1-0 at Leon J.
Breen Field in Bristol, Conn.They had a hard time converting runs against Darien starter Charlie MacLane, who pitched 2 ¹/₃ shutout innings.Chase Sutter replaced him with a runner on second base in the third.Cafferata atoned at the plate that inning by ripping an RBI single to tie the game 1-1.
Port went on to load the bases on Sutter, but couldn’t convert any more offense in the third inning.Darien regained the lead when right fielder Wells Johnson drove in a run on an infield error in the bottom of the third.The team poured it on with an RBI single from shortstop Luca Hidaka and an RBI double from Butler that extended the lead to 4-1.Drew Theoharis replaced Cafferata with runners on second and third with no outs, as Sutter drove in another pair with a double that pushed things to 6-1 in the same inning.Theoharis also drove in a run on an RBI single against reliever Rex Paquette in the fifth inning that made it a 6-2 game.Butler again took the wind out of Port’s sails with another big dent, this one for two runs in the bottom of the fifth to extend the lead to 8-2.Port fought valiantly until the end and loaded the bases in the sixth inning.
Theoharis’ younger brother, outfielder Luca, drove in a pair with a single, cutting the Darien lead to 8-4 in a one-out rally.Darien closer Roscoe Hurty entered and secured the final t...