Golden Hill Little League from Fullerton came from behind to defeat Arizona and advance to Wednesday’s semifinals.
It took more than nine innings for Golden Hill Little League from Fullerton to score a run at the Little League Baseball West Region tournament, but once Gavin Janicke crossed home plate on a wild pitch, Southern California’s 11- and 12-year-old champions finally got moving.
Eli Simon smashed a three-run home run after a replay review, and Janicke went 3 for 3 with a double and a two-run home run as SoCal came from behind to defeat Arizona 7-3 in an elimination game at Al Houghton Stadium on Monday morning.
“Eli’s hit was that one crazy hit that’s got everybody on the bus and let’s roll,” said Joe Janicke, SoCal’s manager. “It’s follow-the-leader and everybody’s on board.”
Shut out 1-0 by Hawaii on opening night, Golden Hill (1-1 overall) now moves on to play the Hawaii-NorCal loser in a West Region elimination semifinal on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
“We got hits (five) versus Hawaii but they just weren’t timely hits,” Joe Janicke said.
