Southern Mariners WALK OFF to advance to final

SENIOR LEAGUE WORLD SERIES



ASIA-PACIFIC (Southern Mariners) vs. Maine District, 5 August 2016

The Southern Mariners have done the impossible with a 5 run bottom of the seventh to record a walk off win against the undefeated team from Maine and advance to the Senior League World Series Final.

The Mariners were playing catch-up baseball for the majority of the day and trailed 6-2 with their final three outs remaining. What happened next is something these kids will never forget.

Jai Lyttleton led off the bottom of the seventh with his second hit of the game. Taj Clayton then walked and when Aidan Willis singled to left, the bases were loaded with none out and the door was ajar for the Mariners.

Jordan Barnett's third hit of the game plated Lyttleton to make it 6-3 and when Jack Dunn drove in two more with a base knock to left, the Mariners were back in the game: trailing 6-5 with runners at the corners and still none out.

Josh Meyer then struck out but not before Dunn was able to steal second, putting the winning run on second base and in scoring position. Maine pitched around Ciaran Palmer to put him on first and once again load them up, giving the hosts a chance to escape the jam with a double play ball. Enter John Callil for his first AB of the game.

With two strikes on him, Callil grounded a ball to third. The ball was fired to second for one out but bobbled in the transfer allowing Dunn to score from second, sending the Mariners to the Senior League World Series final.

Time Lane battled hard on the hill giving up 10 hits and six runs (three earned) for his 4.1 innings of work while Jordan Barnett picked up the win with his two innings of scoreless relief work. In the box, Barnett kept the scorers busy with three hits while Jai Lyttleton and Aidan Willis both recorded multiple hit games.

The Mariners will be the first team from the Asia Pacific region to play off in a Senior League World Series Final.

The Mariners will now play Central (the only team to beat the Mariners) in the World Series final on Sunday 7 August at 4:00AM AEST. The game will be broadcast on ESPN but stay tuned for more way you'll be able to follow all the action.