West Side wins D9 Little League title game

Photos: Photos: D9 Little League Tournament

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Hamilton West Side defeats East Hamilton/Fairfield Twp. in the District 9 Championship game Sunday, July 19, 2009 at the West Side Little League complex in Hamilton, Ohio.

Nick Graham/Staff photo by Nick Graham Hamilton West Side defeats East Hamilton/Fairfield Twp. in the District 9 Championship game Sunday, July 19, 2009 at the West Side Little League complex in Hamilton, Ohio.

Strong pitching from Brandenburg, Thompson and a five-run fifth advance squad to the state tournament

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By Jay Morrison, Staff Writer Updated 8:04 AM Monday, July 20, 2009

HAMILTON — It’s a far cry from going to Disney World, but Hamilton West Side 10-year-old Shaun Brandenburg certainly earned the right to celebrate however he sees fit.

“I’m gonna go home and lay on the couch and eat a cheeseburger,” Brandenburg said Sunday afternoon, July 19, after pitching his West Side team to an 8-4 victory against East Hamilton in the District 9 Minor League championship game.

West Side advances to the state tournament, which begins Aug. 1 in Cambridge.

“He did a great job,” West Side coach Josh Sams said of Brandenburg, who struggled early, allowing three runs in the first inning and another in the second as East Hamilton raced out to a 4-0 lead.

But Brandenburg rebounded from the shaky start to retire eight of the final nine batters he faced, and Korren Thompson threw 12/3 innings of no-hit relief to earn the save.

“I was trying to stress to the kids that we needed more runs, but we didn’t get them,” said East Hamilton coach Damion Sneed, whose squad also surrendered a 5-0 lead in a 16-7 loss to West Side earlier in the double-elimination tournament.

In the title game, West Side used a five-run fifth inning to take the lead for good.

“That was big having the top of the order up in the fifth,” Sams said. “(East Hamilton pitcher Charlie Faraci) threw the ball so well, we were just trying to get some runners on and make something happen.”

Jake Pennington led off with a single, Thompson followed with the first of his two doubles, and Brandenburg drove in both runners with a double on his way to a 3-for-4 performance.

Austin Broshear added an RBI single to chase Faraci, and Broshear eventually scored on an error. A few batters later, Reid Ruhl plated Christian Acus with an infield single to cap the big inning.

The other members of the championship West Side team are Zachary Evans, Austin Hibbard, Ryan Kellum, Devon Sizemore, Lamont Miles, Alex Weller and assistant coaches Kris Kimbrell and Dick Plemmons.

The other members of the runner-up East Hamilton squad are Noah Bauman (1-for-2, RBI, run), DaVaughn Sneed (1-for-2, triple, two RBIs, run), Vince Sanford, Eric Jackson, Michael Hollandsworth, Tyler Colwell, Trent Allen, Jared Combs, Parker Bowling, Kristian Hamilton, Jeremy Zambo and assistant coaches Brian Edgerton and Matt Bauman.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2193 or jmorrison@coxohio.com.

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