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Sports

Pearland Too Much For Fairfield American

Fairfield falls 14-1 to the Texas town, setting the team up for a losers bracket play-off against Auburn, Wash.

Fairfield American suffered its first loss in the Little League World Series Sunday, falling, 14-1, to a hot-hitting team from Pearland, Texas.

Pearland, which advanced to the pool B finals, cranked out 13 hits in a game called after four innings due to the 10-run mercy rule.

Despite the lopsided setback, all is not lost for Fairfield American, as it takes two losses to send a team home from the LLWS. But the locals now will have to win three straight games in the losers' bracket to reach next weekend's semifinals.

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That quest begins at 8 p.m. Monday, when Fairfield American faces Auburn, Wash., which eliminated Plymouth, Minn. on Saturday. The contest will be televised by ESPN2.

Fairfield American defeated Auburn, 3-1, in the opening game of the LLWS on Friday afternoon.

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"It's an elimination game, we'll be ready," Fairfield American manager Chris Daley said.

The Fairfielders ran into a buzzsaw Sunday night, as Pearland continued its offensive fireworks after belting four homers Friday in a 10-8 win over Plymouth.

"We got beat by a great team tonight," Daley said. "They came out swinging. We hope we have the chance to see them again Tuesday."

Beau Orlando put the Texans on the board when he took a 1-0 pitch from Eddie Magi over the center-field fence to lead off the game.

Tom Ryan doubled to center to lead off the bottom of the frame but was stranded when Mason Van Noort struck out the next three Fairfield batters.

In the second inning, Pearland sent 13 batters to the plate and scored seven runs to up its lead to 8-0.

Big blows in the inning included doubles by Jake Orlando, cousin Beau Orlando and Jorge Gutierrez. Daley replaced Magi with Patrick O'Leary and later with Patrick Calabrese.

Jake Orlando, who was 4-for-4 with two home runs and five RBI against Plymouth, had two hits Sunday and is now 6-for-6 in the tournament.

The Texans had the bases loaded when Calabrese got pinch-hitter Jaron Roblyer to hit into a fielder's choice to end the frame.

Fairfield mounted a mild threat in the bottom of the second when Connor Daley led off with a double and Nate Klein walked. But Van Noort struck out Billy McGrath and got Calabrese and O'Leary to ground out.

Being unable to score in either the first or second innings was a "big momentum killer," said Daley, whose team was held to four hits.

The hit parade continued in the third, as four more Texans crossed the plate to make it 12-0. Shortstop Nick Nardone's jumping catch of Hunter Smith's liner that appeared headed to left field ended the inning.

Fairfield finally scored in the bottom of the third when Van Noort was pulled after throwing 35 pitches, making him eligible to pitch on Tuesday against the Fairfield American-Auburn winner.

After Ryan struck out, Chris Howell singled off Roblyer, went to third on two wild pitches and scored on Nardone's double. Roblyer walked Jack Quinn but struck out Daley and Klein to end the inning.

Pearland got back that run in the fourth, plus one more. All three Fairfield batters struck out in the bottom of the frame.

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