Sweetwater Valley Falls to Texas Team in Little League World Series

For its first 17 games, Sweetwater Valley Little League’s bats were unstoppable, that is, until the Bonita all-stars faced West Pearland’s starting pitcher Ben Gottfried today.

In 4-2/3 innings, Gottfried limited Sweetwater Valley’s high-powered offense to one run on seven strikeouts and just three hits. Texas went on to defeat Sweetwater, 8-4.

Not only was it the team’s first loss, it was also the first time their offense scored less than six runs.

The struggles also were present on defense as Sweetwater Valley committed five errors, made mostly in a rough third inning when West Pearland plated five runs.

The bats did not wake up until the bottom half of the sixth, when a three-run homer by outfielder Dante Schmid made a dent in the deficit.

Bonita’s starting pitcher, Antonio Andrade, went 2-2/3 innings and gave up five runs on five hits. He also scored the team’s first run on a double by Levi Mendez in the third inning. Andrade reached first on a dropped third strike.

Sweetwater Valley will play Cranston Western of Rhode Island in the losers’ bracket at 5 p.m. Monday.

--City News Service