Little League: Dixie rebounds, eliminates Nevada at West Regional

Dixie Little League, representing Utah, defeated Nevada 8-5 on Tuesday | Photo courtesy Dixie Little League

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – Kyler Terry didn’t have his best game pitching Monday, but the St. George 12-year-old made up for it with a big bat on Tuesday.

Terry hit a grand slam and had five total RBIs as Dixie Little League beat Nevada 8-5 at the West Regional at Houghton Stadium, eliminating the team from the Las Vegas area in the process.

A two-run homer by Parker Andrus put the Utah team ahead 2-0 in the bottom of the first inning. Andrus’ long ball came on a 3-0 pitch and cleared the left field fence. The two-RBI shot also scored Matt McArthur, who had doubled.

Nevada tied it up in the top of the second. Reese Lueck doubled home William Sullivan, who had led the inning off with a single. Two batters later, Nicolo Guevara singled Lueck home to tie the score at 2-2.

Andrus was pitching well for Dixie and the score stayed tied until the bottom of the fourth. Andrus led off with a single and Terry picked up his first RBI of the game with a double over the center fielder’s head. That made it 3-2, but the southern Utah boys weren’t done. Terry went to third on a bunt single by Seth Wells and ended up coming home on a double steal in which Wells swiped second and Terry slid home safely.

Andrus got in a jam, allowing two hits in the top of the fifth with just one out. But his defense backed him up and got a groundout and a line out to retire the side.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Dixie Little Leaguers got what they wanted – a big inning. Mason Kesterson came in as a pinch hitter and got on base via the hit batsman. Jaxon Barben moved him over to second with a sacrifice bunt.

Nevada pitcher George Holt walked the next two batters, McArthur and Andrus, to load the bases. Terry then stepped up and watched the first pitch sail wide for a ball. He fouled the next two pitches off, then went hard after the 1-2 delivery from Holt, sending the ball on a soaring arc over the center field fence.

The grand slam turned a tight 4-2 game into an 8-2 one-sided affair.

Holt got a measure of revenge in the top of the sixth when he hit a three-run homer to cut the lead to 8-5, but it wasn’t nearly enough as Dixie advanced in the elimination bracket.

Andrus got the win on the mound and Wells picked up the save in relief. Andrus allowed three runs and nine hits in five-plus innings of work.

Andrus also had two hits and scored twice to aid the Dixie cause. Terry ended up 2 for 3 with five RBIs and two runs scored.

Dixie advances in the West Regional and will play Northern California in the only game scheduled in the Regional on Wednesday. First pitch will be at 7 p.m. (PST). The winner gets a bye until Friday with the loser being eliminated.

NoCal survived Tuesday by defeating Arizona 5-2. Aidan Camberg had three hits and two RBIs in the win. NoCal had opened the tournament with a 3-2 loss to Southern California on Monday.

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