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Superb Pitching, Clutch Defense Key Yanks in Thriller
Danny DeSmit struck out ten and yielded only three hits and the Yankees played flawless defense in a thrilling 2-1 win over the Royals Sunday at Fleet Park. Jack Broach raced home from third base on a wild pitch in the third inning with the go-ahead run. Devon Donis caught a soft liner at shortstop to start a double play to end the game in the sixth.
DeSmit walked only three and yielded to Ryan Dixon, who recorded the final two outs.
The Royals threatened in the first with a double and a ground out to first, but DeSmit got a strikeout before Joe Morrison caught a towering pop to end the inning.
The Yanks struck in the bottom of the inning when Ryan Dixon singled and went to second on a wild pitch. He scored on DeSmit's two-strike single to center.
With two out in the third inning, Broach legged out an infield single, then took second on a wild pitch before Ryan Dixon walked. Broach reached third on another wild pitch before scoring on a pitch that escaped the Royals' catcher. His slide just beat the tag of the Royals' pitcher.
On defense, Antonio Howard made a game-saving play in the fourth when a ground single to center got through the center fielder and he backed up the play from right, holding the runner at first base to open the inning. One of several opposing coaches who was watching later called it the play of the game. "You tell right fielders to back up the center fielder, but you never see it on something like that, a ground ball single," he noted.
DeSmit then settled down and recorded two strikeouts and a short fly behind first base that Ryan Dixon snagged with a diving catch.
DeSmit struck out the first batter in the top of the sixth, but had to be removed because of pitch count rules. Dixon relieved and surrendered a lazy fly single to center before getting two strikes on the next batter, who lifted a soft liner to Donis at short. He gloved it and fired across the diamond to Broach for the game-ending double play.
Afterward, the umpires remarked that it was one of the best-played Little League game they'd seen in a long way, on a par even with some high school games. Zach Milligan, DeSmit's counterpart for the Royals, also struck out ten and surrendered only three hits. Neither side committed an error.
