The Ankeny Intermediate All Stars suffered a 7-0 loss to the West Regional champs in their opening game at the Little League World Series on Sunday at Livermore, Calif.
The West Region squad from the Scripps Ranch Little League in San Diego took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, then added another run in the second to knock out Central starting pitcher Greg McClure. The West team then broke the game open with a four-run third inning to make it 6-0.
Ankeny had two runners on with one out in the bottom of the third, but left both runners stranded.
“I felt those pitchers were no better than the Michigan or Indiana kids we faced at the Central Regional,” said Cory McClure, who is one of Ankeny’s three coaches. “We were just not ourselves. We had four hits and a lot of hard-hit balls, but we will get a win (Tuesday) and get back on track. The kids stayed positive, and I think we had just the one bad inning.”
Ankeny will play again on Tuesday at 5 p.m. CT. Its opponent will be the loser of Monday night’s game between the East and Southwest region champs.