Evan Taylor hit two home runs Friday to lead the Ramstein, Germany, Little League to a 20-8 victory over Naples, Italy, in the European Regional Tournament’s Trans-Atlantic playoffs in Kutno, Poland.
Taylor’s first homer, a three-run blast to center field, helped Ramstein move out to a 9-0 lead in the top of the first inning. His second homer was a two-run shot in the second inning. Taylor went 4-for-4 with seven RBIs.
The victory moved Ramstein to a 3-1 record round-robin portion of the tournament. Ramstein faces undefeated Saudi Arabia (4-0) Saturday.
In Friday’s other games: Saudi Arabia beat Belgium (2-2) 2-0 and England (2-2) defeated Austria (1-3) 7-1.
The Netherlands (0-3) played Rota, Spain (2-1) in Friday’s late game.
The teams with the four best records after the preliminary round will advance to Tuesday’s semifinals. The winners will play in Wednesday’s championship game, with the winner earning a trip to the Little League World Series to be played Aug. 15-24 in Williamsport, Pa.
Jake Fritter went 4-for-4 with five RBIs and Colton Rhodes went 2-for-3 in Ramstein’s victory Friday.
The game was stopped in the fourth inning becaue of the 10-run rule. Pitcher Jeff Curry struck out three of the four Naples batters he faced.
Saudi Arabia has won the Trans-Atlantic playoffs nine straight years and 10 of the past 12.
“We know we have the sticks and all our pitchers are eligible,” Ramstein manager Staff Sgt. Andre Murray said. “We’ll be coming in very motivated and coming in loaded.
“We’re going to give them a challenge and hope we come out on top. We know for a fact they’re worried.”
England pitcher Wade Gorsett pitched a six-inning complete game, striking out nine and walking four while giving up four hits. England played error-free defense.
David Robertson went 3-for-3 while Gorsett and John Mensin each went 2-for-4.
“We’re in decent shape, but we’ve got to win two of the three [remaining games] to advance,” said England coach Allan Gorsett, Wade’s father. “The key will probably be hitting. We can play pretty good defense. We’re going to have to put some runs on the board.”
