WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Needville is going to the U.S. Championship game in the Little League World Series!
The team from Fort Bend County, southwest of Houston, bested Northeast Seattle 1-0 in the semifinals Wednesday in a nailbiter.
Needville needed nine innings to get the win and punch a ticket to the U.S. Championship game on Saturday.
Starting pitcher Easton Benge held Seattle scoreless for 6 1/3 innings before Easton Ondruch finished the job.
Ondruch also drove in Needville's only run in the ninth to break the scoreless tie.
In the bottom of the ninth with runners on first and third, shortstop Dalyn Martin made a diving catch, spin and throw to first for the final out.
The winner of the U.S. Championship will face the International Champion for the world title.
Needville, a town of just over 3,000 people, represents the Southwest Region at the tournament in Williamsport, Pennsylvania while NE Seattle represents the Northwest Region.
How did they get here?
- Needville beat El Segundo 3-1 Monday night to advance to the semifinals.
- On Friday, they beat the Midwest Region team from Fargo, North Dakota 6-2.
- Last Wednesday, Needville won their first game of the tournament 2-1 over the Mid-Atlantic team from Media, Pennsylvania.
Second chances
Needville was just two games from clinching a LLWS spot in 2021 when they were disqualified after a positive COVID test.
"It was very devastating because we did so much work," Needville catcher Lincoln Wyatt told us then.
"We were on cloud nine. We were ready to rock and roll. We're ready for a game," Wyatt said. "We're about to go to practice, and then this hits us, and it's just devastating because all of our hopes and dreams are basically gone now."
Two years later, the team is turning heads on a national stage.