08/05/2025
Congratulations to Naamans Little League on Win #1 at the JLWS - Junior League World Series, Taylor Michigan. Bonus baseball and a walkoff win 👏
AND BACK AND FORTH THEY GO … In a game that bobbed and weaved more than a championship boxer, Naamans Little League of Wilmington, Delaware rallied to beat the River Forest/Elmhurst Little League from River Forest and Elmhurst, Illinois in the final game of Day 2 of the Junior League World Series, 7-6, in eight innings.
Delaware’s Nick Rubino Jr. singled in the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Rubino’s base hit to left field plated Josh Stiebel from third base. The hit capped a wild final game on Day 2.
Delaware (1-0 after a first-round bye) advances to play Georgia (1-0) at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, August 6. Illinois (1-1) will face Texas (0-1) at 8 p.m. Tuesday, August 5.
Illinois jumped out to a 4-0 lead against Delaware by scoring four first-inning runs on just two hits. Delaware made two key errors in the inning. River Forest/Elmhurst kept it that way through three innings behind the pitching of Elliiot Buchner.
However, in the Delaware fourth inning, it was Wilmington exploding for four runs to knot the game at 4-all, the final two coming on a two-out, two-run error. The game remained tied at 4-4 until the bottom of the sixth, when Vinny Alfieri hit a two-run single, giving Wilmington a 6-4 lead.
Not to be outdone, it was Illinois time to rally in the seventh. Patrick Boeh singled home one run to cut the lead to 6-5 before Delaware booted Matt Robinette’s ground ball for a run-scoring error, knotting the game at 6-6. If not for that error, Stiebel may have finished out the victory on the mound for Wilmington. He had started the game, changed positions and then returned to try to close out the seventh.
There are now four unbeaten teams left in the JLWS – upstart Germany (2-0) and 10-time champion Chinese Taipei (2-0), who face in the International Bracket on Wednesday. That game will begin at 5 p.m., with Delaware and Georgia taking the field at 8 p.m. in the USA Bracket.