“Yeah, there’s disappointment, but I’m still proud of the kids,” West Side manager Ken Coomer said. “I mean, Lord. We get to the regional finals, and we’re still battling until the last inning.
“I think with some people, I think we’re just so spoiled with the success that we’ve had. They may not think it’s a success if they don’t win. But to get to the regional finals and play on ESPN — national TV — I just hope people won’t take that for granted how special this is.”
West Side was searching for its sixth trip to the Little League World Series. The storied program reached Little League’s pinnacle event in 1991, 1993, 2007, 2010 and 2021.
Clarendon Hills will represent the Great Lakes Region in the Little League World Series, which takes place Aug. 13-24 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
West Side got down 2-0 in the top of the first and threatened to get those runs back in the bottom half of the second.
Jonathan Lineback and Boone Treadway walked before Gavyn Spears drove a deep fly ball to the left-field wall that was caught at the warning track.
“We got some bad breaks,” Coomer said. “The baseball Gods weren’t with us today. Gavyn still hit it 220 (feet) but just barely got underneath it a little bit. That could have changed the game. Our attitudes change.
“It’s hard to come back when things are tumbling down a little bit. These are 12-year-old boys. You can try and talk all you want and try and get them motivated all you want, but at the end of the day, these are 12-year-old boys.”
Clarendon Hills had a four-run fourth, and a bases-clearing triple in the fifth that made it 9-0.
West Side saved its best offensive push for the bottom of the sixth. Boone Treadway singled and later came around on a bases-loaded walk. Then Anthony Saurber’s three-RBI triple cut West Side’s deficit to 9-4.
But the rally fell short for West Side, which was 9-0 and outscored all nine of its previous opponents by a 98-15 margin — including 26-1 in Great Lakes Region play — heading into Wednesday’s title game.
West Side defeated Clarendon Hills 11-1 in four innings two days prior in the winner’s bracket.
“I knew they were good,” Coomer said of the team located 20 miles and a half hour east of Chicago. “I kept on telling people, you can’t take this team for granted. They fight. They’ve got some big sticks — one through five. Their sixth hitter, too.”
Cash Jones got the start on the mound for West Side, while Saurber, Bobby Frazier and Preston Baker came in for relief. Saurber went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs to pace West Side at the plate.
West Side consisted of Anthony Saurber, Jordan Malloy, Oakley Turner, TJ Madden, Cash Jones, Teegan Lay, Bobby Frazier, Preston Baker, Lennox Brown, Boone Treadway, Gavyn Spears and Jonathan Lineback.
Ken Coomer was the manager, while Tim Nichting, Chris Craft and Danny Adams were assistants.
“I just told them to be proud,” Coomer said of what his message was to his team after the game. “They made it this far. How many people make it here? They’ll learn from the mistakes today. We made some goofy mistakes today. But they’ll learn from it.
“We’ve just got to take it for what we did and take this as an opportunity to get better at the game of baseball.”
Great Lakes Region Schedule
Aug. 2 — West Side 7, Kentucky 0
Aug. 2 — Illinois 4, Indiana 3
Aug. 3 — West Side 8, Michigan 0
Aug. 3 — Kentucky 4, Indiana 3
Aug. 4 — Kentucky 6, Michigan 1
Aug. 4 — West Side 11, Illinois 1
Aug. 5 — Illinois 5, Kentucky 2
Aug. 6 — Great Lakes championship game, Illinois 9, West Side 4
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