Little League Softball World Series: Pitt County reaches final four with exciting 6-5 win over Rowan County

Posted: Aug 11, 2023 / 07:50 PM EDT

Updated: Aug 12, 2023 / 03:36 PM EDT

GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) — The Pitt County Little League Softball World Series team scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning to get a thrilling 6-5 win over Rowan County in a game played at Stalling Stadium at Elm Street Park.

Pitt County now has a rematch with defending champion Hewitt, Texas, on Saturday at 5 p.m. in the Purple Bracket final. The winner of that game will play in the World Series title game on Sunday at 3 p.m.

Hewitt beat Pitt County last Sunday, 6-1, in a game where they pulled away late to win.

Pitt County trailed 5-3 but scored a run in the fourth and fifth to tie it up. It stayed tied at 5 until the bottom of the eighth, when the game went into an international tiebreaker. Riley Shaw was placed on second and Lily Whitehurst laid down a sacrifice bunt, moving Shaw over to third.

Aurora Edwards then singled on a ground ball to shortstop, leaving runners on first and third for Pitt County. With one out, Johnson then hit a hard single up the middle to score Shaw for the winning run.

Pitt County got on the board in the first inning after Kailey Garner singled, scoring two runs. Rowan County pushed a run across in the second inning thanks to a single by Makenzie Melchor, cutting the deficit to one, but a single by Braelyn Johnson extended the lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the third inning for Pitt County.

Rowan County scored four in the top of the fourth to take a 5-3 lead. CJ Haines doubled in a run to make it 3-3. Remi Hagerty’s RBI groundout and a single by Melchor that drove in another run made it 5-3,

In the bottom of the fifth, Pitt County’s Aurora Edwards hit a sacrifice fly that scored Shaw to tie the game at 5-5.

Monica Jones was the starting pitcher for Pitt County, allowing seven hits and five runs over 3 and 2/3 innings. Brooklyn Medhus pitched 4 and 1/3 innings in relief for Pitt County, allowing one hit, one walk, no runs and five strikeouts.

Rowan County pitcher Remi Hagerty pitched the entire game for Rowan County, tossing 135 total pitches.

The win was a measure of revenge as Pitt County lost to Rowan County, which went on to win the North Carolina state tournament earlier in the season to earn a berth in the World Series. Pitt County won the Southeast Regional to reach the World Series.

Thursday’s games

Mid-Atlantic Region 5, Latin American Region 2

Southwest Region 4, North Carolina Region 1

Friday’s games

Southeast (Pitt County) Region 6, North Carolina Region 5

New England Region 10, Latin American Region 0

Saturday’s games

Massapequa Park, NY (Mid-Atlantic Champion) vs. Milford, Connecticut (New England Champion), 2 p.m. (ESPN2)

Hewitt, Texas (Southwest Champion) vs. Pitt County (Southeast Champion), 5 p.m. (ESPN2)

Sunday’s games

Third-place game, noon (ESPN2)

World Series title game, 3 p.m. (ABC)