Summerlin South faces rematch at LLWS for spot in U.S. title game

Summerlin South ran into a roadblock Wednesday on the path to a world championship.

The Nevada team’s smooth ride appeared intact after a strong start, but Fairfield, Connecticut, rallied for a 7-3 victory in the Little League World Series at Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

The win lifted Connecticut, the Metro Region champion, into the U.S. championship game at noon Saturday and dropped Summerlin South into the losers bracket final. The team will play Southeast champion Irmo, South Carolina, at 4 p.m. Thursday, with the winner advancing to meet Connecticut.

The game is a rematch of Summerlin South’s 1-0, seven-inning victory over South Carolina on Monday.

Wednesday’s loss was Summerlin South’s first in 14 postseason games. The team is 3-1 in the LLWS.

“An early lead can come back to be a nemesis,” coach TJ Fechser said. “You always want to start out with a lead, but you’ve got to follow up after the first inning.”

Summerlin South, the Mountain Region champion, took a 3-0 lead on Cache Malan’s three-run homer in the first inning. But Connecticut (4-0) tied the score with five hits and a key two-run single by SJ Taxiltaridis in the third.

That was the first time Summerlin South had trailed in the tournament and the third time Fairfield had overcome a deficit.

The Nevada team had a chance to regain the lead in the fourth after putting runners on second and third with no outs, but left the bases loaded.

“(Fairfield) played great defense,” Fechser said. “We hit some balls hard, and they caught them. We had opportunities to open things up, but we didn’t.”

Summerlin South starter Ethan Robertson hit his 85-pitch maximum and was pulled after four innings. Connecticut capitalized to take a 4-3 lead on an RBI single by Luca Pellegrini in the fifth.

Fairfield added three runs in the sixth on Tommy D’Amura’s two-run homer and Boden Dunlap’s RBI triple.

The loss created a predicament for Fechser, whose top two pitchers will be ineligible Thursday. Garret Gallegos pitched Monday against South Carolina and won’t be available unless Summerlin South reaches Saturday’s U.S. title game.

Robertson is done for the tournament, so Fechser probably will have to platoon his remaining pitchers against South Carolina.

Fechser declined to name a starter for the game, but it probably will be Malan or Luke D’Ambrosio. The coach said he pitched four relievers Wednesday to limit pitch counts.

“Everybody else is available,” Fechser said. “We can’t have an empty stable. Whoever’s on the bump (Thursday) needs to compete.”

The Nevada team was outhit 12-7. Malan and Brooks Fechser each had two hits and scored a run.

Robertson struck out seven while allowing eight hits and two earned runs. He got out of a bases-loaded jam in the first.

South Carolina rallied for a 7-6, seven-inning victory over Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on Wednesday. Irmo fell behind 6-1 in the top of the seventh, but rallied for six runs in the bottom of the inning.

South Carolina ace Joe Giulietti won’t be available to pitch against Summerlin South. He allowed no hits and struck out 12 in six innings in Monday’s game before hitting the 85-pitch maximum.

In the International bracket, Taipei (Chinese Taipei) will play the winner of Thursday’s elimination game between Barquisimeto (Venezuela) and Santa Cruz (Aruba) in the championship game at 9 a.m. Saturday.

The U.S. and International champions will meet for the LLWS title at noon Sunday.

Contact Jeff Wollard at jwollard@reviewjournal.com.