Bayonne continues Little League World Series march with second straight win

Bayonne’s dream run through the Little League World Series isn’t slowing down.

Behind another home run from Mason Rincon and a stellar outing from Chase Klimkowski, the New Jersey squad beat East Side Little League from West Chester, Pa., 3-1 on Friday night in Williamsport.

Bayonne broke through in the bottom of the second inning after Jett Bridges reached and AJ Tapia ripped a one-out double down the left field line.

Mason Rincon continued blasting homers in Bayonne’s LLWS win over West Chester on Friday. littleleague.org

Bridges slipped while rounding third and had to stop there, but he came home moments later on a wild pitch to give New Jersey a 1-0 lead.

Joey Dwyer then blooped a single into left field to score Tapia and extend the advantage to 2-0 over West Chester, which represents the Mid-Atlantic region.

Klimkowski made sure it held up.


A Little League Baseball player on first base.
Leandro Anaya completes a double play at first base. littleleague.org

West Chester put runners on second and third with one out in the fourth, but Klimkowski responded with a strikeout before inducing a sharp one-hopper to shortstop to escape the jam.

Then came Rincon’s blast.

Two days after crushing a walk-off home run to give Bayonne a dramatic 2-1 victory over Bridgewater, Mass., in its LLWS opener, Rincon went deep again.

He launched a solo shot to right-center field in the bottom of the fourth to stretch the lead to 3-0, giving him home runs in each of Bayonne’s first two games in Williamsport.

Rincon also homered in Bayonne’s win over Port Washington to reach the Metro region final before being intentionally walked three times in the win over Darien, Conn., that gave them a spot in the Little League World Series.

West Chester finally broke through for an unearned run in the fifth and threatened for more, putting runners on second and third with two outs.

But Klimkowski again slammed the door with a strikeout to preserve the 3-1 advantage.

He returned for the sixth and recorded one more out before his night was finished, giving a tip of the cap as he left the mound, before Gabe Garcia Jr. got the final two outs to secure the win.

Klimkowski allowed just one unearned run on six hits over 5 ¹/₃ innings, striking out six without issuing a walk over 86 pitches.

Bayonne finished off the final two outs to secure the 3-1 win and continue its historic first appearance in Williamsport.

The win extended the Hudson County team’s winning streak to 15 games.

New Jersey will face Iowa at 1 p.m. Sunday for a spot in the U.S. winners bracket final.

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