“That was insane.”
He was insane on the mound.
Spears threw a three-hit complete game with four strikeouts, and West Side got the bats rolling from start to finish in an 11-1 run-rule victory over Clarendon Hills (Ill.) in the Great Lakes Region winner’s bracket semifinals Monday night at the Little League Central Region Complex in Whitestown, Indiana.
“We’re getting the job done and playing as a team,” Spears said of what helped propel West Side. “Giving all the effort we can. Hit, pitch and field — that’s what we did.”
West Side will play the winner of Illinois and Kentucky — which face off Tuesday at 1 p.m. — on Wednesday at 7 p.m. on ESPN in the Great Lakes Region championship game. That winner will head to the Little League World Series.
“We’ve been practicing hard before practice and before games and after games,” Spears said. “We got the job done.
“We’ll keep practicing — working harder — in order to get to the World Series. We’ve got to go harder than we have, and we will. We’re just going to rest our bodies and go out there and win the next one.”
West Side is 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.
The Little League World Series is Aug. 13-24 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
“The first inning, we still felt like we were short a couple runs. We left the bases loaded,” West Side coach Ken Coomer said. “There were a couple more opportunities we thought we should have scored. But we busted right off the bat with two runs.”
West Side tallied at least two runs in all four innings at the plate. Aggressive baserunning and putting the ball in play helped West Side tally two in the first, two in the second, four in the third and three in the fourth.
West Side didn’t strike out once.
“First inning, we made a couple boo-boos defensively,” Coomer said. “We gave up a run we shouldn’t have given up. But I think the tide turned with that second or third inning when we kept on getting people on base with some good key hits.”
The only run Illinois scored was on a late throw to the plate during a rundown in the bottom of the first. Spears retired nine straight hitters after giving up a lead-off single in the bottom of the second.
“After Coach Coomer came out and talked to me, I just knew I had to dial in, and that’s what I did,” Spears said of a mound visit in the second inning.
West Side got some big hits. Lennox Brown laced an RBI triple in the second inning, and Teegan Lay added a two-RBI base hit in the third.
Nine different players had hits for West Side. TJ Madden went 1-for-2 with three runs and two RBIs, while Cash Jones was 1-for-1 with two RBIs.
Happy Birthday, Coach
Coomer said he’s had many birthdays that didn’t quite end the way he wanted. But not this one.
He turned 52 on Monday.
“I’ve had days where it’s my birthday, and we’ve lost,” the coach said with a laugh. “But it’s not a bad birthday present at all. We will take the win with a chance to go to the World Series, right?
“What do you call this? It’s just icing on the cake.”
By the numbers
Heading into Monday’s game against Illinois, the West Side defense had a .982 fielding percentage. Opposing teams were hitting .201 at the plate.
West Side was hitting .385 as a team, which included 77 total hits and 101 runs.
“It’s been a great experience, and we’ve also worked hard to get here,” Brown said. “We haven’t won anything yet. We’ve still got to work for it.”
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 vs. Illinois
Aug. 5 — Semifinals, 1 p.m. on ESPN
Aug. 6 — Great Lakes championship game, 7 p.m. on ESPN
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