West Side falls to Kentucky team 14-7

But one more win should get locals into the semifinals on ESPN2.

GARY STELZER/MBR

West Side's Alex Weller hits a home run against Kentucky on Saturday during Hamilton's second pool-play game during the Great Lakes Regional at Ferguson Field in Indianapolis. Staff photo by Gary Stelzer

GARY STELZER/MBR West Side's Alex Weller hits a home run against Kentucky on Saturday during Hamilton's second pool-play game during the Great Lakes Regional at Ferguson Field in Indianapolis. Staff photo by Gary Stelzer

ENLARGE PHOTO

Photos: West Side vs. North Oldham

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By Jay Morrison, Staff Writer Updated 10:50 AM Sunday, August 7, 2011

INDIANAPOLIS — After watching the Kentucky team lose its opening game of the Great Lakes Regional the night before, Hamilton West Side Little League coach Josh Sams said he wasn’t impressed.

He changed his opinion Saturday.

Kentucky pounded 13 hits and scored in every inning but the fourth to deal West Side a humbling 14-7 setback in each team’s second pool-play game at Ferguson Field in Indianapolis.

“We watched them play (Friday) night, and they didn’t hit anything,” Sams said. “We threw everything at them. We changed speeds and moved it in and out, and they just hit the baseball today. They were the better team today.”

In addition to surrendering the 13 hits, West Side pitchers Korren Thompson, Jake Pennington, Austin Broshear and Cameron Stapleton combined to throw 15 wild pitches, four of which let runs cross the plate. Another run came in on a wild pickoff attempt, one of four errors charged against a normally sound Hamilton defense.

“I’m disappointed,” Sams said. “We weren’t focused, and we kicked the ball around. We just didn’t have it today.”

After falling behind 4-1, West Side got even in the bottom of the second on a three-run home run by Alex Weller. But it was all Kentucky after that, as the state champs from La Grange tacked on four in the third, fourth in the fifth and two in the sixth.

“It was a slugfest for a while there,” Kentucky coach Brad Bates said. “Hamilton has a great team. We know they hit a lot of balls out of the park, so we told our pitchers to keep the ball down and let’s play some defense.”

Shaun Brandenburg added a home run that made it 12-5 in the fifth, and West Side scored two more runs that inning to get within five. But Hamilton gave those runs right back in the top of the sixth and went down 1-2-3 in the bottom half to suffer its first loss in 10 games of international tournament play.

“The good news is it’s not an elimination game,” Sams said. “I thought coming in Kentucky was the best team in our region, and we got to see them up close and personal. Hopefully we’ll get to see them again and it’ll be a different game.”

Ryan Kellum added an RBI double, while Pennington and Broshear also doubled as part of Hamilton’s seven-hit attack.

West Side (1-1) will play at 7 p.m. today against Wisconsin (1-1) and 1 p.m. Monday against Michigan (1-1). One more win should get the team into Wednesday’s single-elimination semifinals, and two more wins would guarantee it.

The semifinals will be broadcast live on ESPN2.

Little League Great Lakes Regional

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Today’s games

Illinois vs. Kentucky, Ferguson Field, 2 p.m.

Indiana vs. Michigan, Stokely Field, 4 p.m.

Hamilton West Side vs. Wisconsin, Stokely Field, 7 p.m.

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