MARYSVILLE Two one-loss Little League teams the Reds and the Nationals walked on to the field at Cedarcrest Middle School, but only the Reds walked off with their one-loss record intact.
The May 31 win gave the Reds first place in the Minors South division and avenged their only earlier season loss.
The game was close, but playing as the home team forced the Nationals to play catch-up to Reds runs, giving the visitors a mental advantage.
Second baseman Kyle Phillips and starting pitcher Alex Rosten took advantage of walks while third baseman Sudin Johnson landed a hit on his first pitch. All three scored in the first inning, to put the Reds up 3-0.
The Nationals came back in the bottom of the first, answering the Reds runs with three of their own. Leadoff hitter Jonathan Cole had a double and the next two batters walked, allowing catcher Ryan Adams to bring in Cole and starting pitcher Spencer Simenson.
Shortstop Austin Maganas made it 3-0 with his RBI single to send in Ryan Rice. A few batters later, the Nationals looked like a threat to score again with bases loaded, but a Reds strikeout left the Nationals stranded.
In the second, Connor Russell hit a home run to give the Reds the 4-3 advantage. Then in the third, the Reds extended their lead with a four-run inning.
With Phillips on base for the Reds, Simenson struck out two of Phillips teammates. Then, Johnson got another hit on his first pitch, as usual and the inning looked alive again.
The next three Reds players catcher TJ Rosten, shortstop Jake Zimmerman and first baseman Dylan Smith each had RBI hits, with Smiths double bringing in Rosten and Zimmerman for an 8-3 game at the end of the third.
The Nationals moved Maganas to the mound in the fourth inning, and though Maganas pitched three shutout innings for his team, the Nationals struggled to catch up to the Reds at the plate.
The Reds also called on relief in the fourth inning, putting Johnson in at pitcher.
Simenson and Rice each got hits, putting the Nationals in scoring position. Maganas narrowed the Reds lead as his single brought in Simenson.
A walk of Phillip Hofmann filled the bases for the Nationals, and another, of Alex Garcia, made it 8-5.
Johnson struck out the next three Nationals batters in the bottom of the fifth and another to start the sixth.
Then Adams got on base. He stole second, in good position for Maganas final at bat. Another single, another RBI, and the Nationals closed the gap to 8-6.
But Johnson answered by striking out Zack Ripperger and Hofmann to close out the game.
I think you saw the two best teams in the minors right now, Reds manager Jeff Rosten said after the game.
Rosten added that it was a credit to both teams development this season that both the Reds and Nationals had a nine-year-old pitching.
It seems like with these kids, with the wide range of nine- to 12-year-olds its hard to adjust, Rosten said, adding of Nationals manager Dan Simenson, Dan and I, I think, have about the same coaching philosophy about the kids, making sure they get trained and taught how to do everything fundamentally. I think thats why were the two teams that had one loss going into the game.

At Cedarcrest M.S.

Reds 3 1 4 0 0 0 8
Nationals 3 0 0 2 0 1 6