Goodlettsville Advances to LLWS Championship in Thriller

Goodlettsville's Lorenzo Butler celebates one of his three home runs he hit in his team's 24-16 win over Petaluma. (AP Photo) 

The Goodlettsville (Tenn.) Little League All-Stars appeared to be moments away from a berth in the Championship Game of the Little League World Series. With a 15-5 lead over Petaluma (Calif.), they were just three outs away from the huge win. However, the boys from Petaluma refused to go down. They slowly chipped away at the lead. When Danny Marzo flied out to center field for the second out, Petaluma still trailed 15-11. The next batter, Bradley Smith, came up with a clutch RBI double. The clutch hitting wasn't over for Petaluma. Kempton Brandis crushed a two-run bomb to pull Petaluma to within one run. The incredible comeback was completed when Hance Smith hit a solo shot to tie the game up 15-15. The game was suddenly headed to extra innings.

Despite blowing their ten-run lead, Goodlettsville wouldn't let themselves get discouraged. Their first six batters reached base to score five runs before they even got one out. Goodlettsville scored two more runs before Jayson Brown hit a two-run homer to cap off their offensive explosion in style. In total, they combined for nine runs on seven hits to take a 24-15 lead. In the bottom half of the inning, Logan Douglas got a run back on an error by Goodlettsville. A murmur could be heard from the crowd as they wondered if Petaluma had another improbable comeback in them. It turns out they did not as Bradley Smith struck out for the final out, sealing Goodlettsville's 24-16 win.

As if the game wasn't amazing enough, one player in particular had an extraordinary, record-setting game at the plate. Goodlettsville would not have won the game if had not been for Lorezo Butler's incredible performance. Butler hit a trio of three-run home runs to lead the way for Goodlettsville's offensive barrage. His nine RBIs set a new Little League World Series record, and his three home runs tied a single-game record of its own.

The game was superb in every way. Well unless you were one of the pitchers. Regardless, the players from both teams should be proud. They showed great heart and desire to win. The teams' combined 40 runs set another new LLWS record. Butler's performance on this kind of stage was phenomenal. In fact, his day at the plate was so big that he was even trending on Twitter during one point in the game. Goodlettsville now advances to play Tokyo, Japan in the Championship Game. If that game is anything like this one, we are going to be in for a treat to be sure.