Newtown Survives Elimination In Little League World Series Play

WILLIAMSPORT, PA — The Council Rock Newtown Little League team avoided elimination Saturday night with a big win over New England in the Little League World Series.

Coupled with a strong pitching performance throughout the game by Tyler Neeld, Pennsylvania put up a strong four-run top of the 4th inning to lead them to an impressive 5-0 win over Salem, New Hampshire.

The win came one day after the team suffered a blistering 9-0 shutout by the Southwest Region in its first at bat of the series.

Before Saturday's game, Coach Brad Hamilton chose not to give the players a fire and brimstone speech. Instead, he kept it on the basics.

"This is what we do. We play baseball," he told his players. "You learn to bounce back in situations like this. You learn to pick yourself up. I didn't give them 'the' talk. I just told them, 'You know what to do. I told them that Ty was getting the ball and the boys, you're behind him. Let's go out there and play Newtown baseball. And they did."

The team got on the board first with a score in the top of the third inning, which proved to be the go ahead run to win Saturday's game. An inning later, Newtown chalked up four more runs to bring the score to 5-0.

Tyler Neeld. (Courtesy of Little League Baseball and Softball)

While the team was getting hits, pitcher Tyler Neeld kept New England in check on the pitching side. Neeld pitched nearly the entire game before Coach Hamilton patted the pitcher on the back at the bottom of sixth and sent him to the dugout for a much needed rest.

Neeld logged an impressive 70 percent strikeout rate against the New England team, powering his team to victory in Williamsport and averting elimination.

"When I heard I was getting the ball, I was excited. I knew I was going to throw strikes and I knew my defense had my back," said Neeld. "Whenever I hear I'm getting the ball or just going in in general, I'm happy and excited because I know that I'm going to do well even if I lit up a couple of runs or whatever, it doesn't matter. The next batter I'm just going to keep doing the same thing."

Neeld said one of the key plays that sparked the team's momentum going forward was when shortstop Brayden Peiffer completed an amazing catch out at shortstop.

"Right when he hit that ball, I was like a little mad because I left it over the plate a little bit," said Neeld. "Then when I saw he popped out, I was excited."

Newtown Shortstop Brayden Peiffer. (Courtesy of Little League Baseball and Softball)

"Brayden had struck out the first at bat. He had a little bit of tears and was emotional. But I said that was the catch that changed our momentum," said Hamilton. "And Ty picked up on that. He felt the momentum."

Peiffer added, "It pumped up the team, the crowd and everybody. It made me feel good."

Runs were scored by Peiffer, Neeld, Saverio Longo, Gavin Caudill and Brody Gage. On the pitching side, Neeld recorded eight strikeouts and one walk.

The Middle Atlantic now advances to a Sunday afternoon match up against Puyallup, Washington, at 1 p.m.