Heartbreaker: Seattle’s run in the Little League World Series ends

Seattle’s run in the 2023 Little League World Series has come to an abrupt end.

The team from Northeast Seattle lost 2-1 Thursday night to the squad from El Segundo, California, in what turned out to be the finale of their run in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Northeast Seattle, the representative from the Northwest region, had a chance to tie the game against the West representative in their final at-bat in the top of the 6th inning as they had the bases loaded with two outs. But they couldn’t get the equalizing run across the plate.

Kirkland remains home to the state of Washington’s only Little League World Series championship, when the club representing the city won the title in 1982.

El Segundo will move on to the U.S. Championship game Saturday and take on the team representing the Southwest, Needville, Texas. The team from Texas is undefeated in the tournament.

The winner of that game moves on to play the winner of the International Final between Taoyuan, Chinese Taipei and Willemstad, Curaçao in the World Series final Sunday.

The team from Texas defeated Northeast Seattle 1-0 in nine innings Wednesday in a game some labeled an “instant classic.”

Little League baseball in Pennsylvania: Northeast Seattle falls to Needville, Texas in extra innings

That matchup was filled with great defense and pitching. The game was scoreless until the top of the 9th inning (a game is six innings in the tournament) when Texas hit a sacrifice fly to bring the only run of the game in. Seattle was unable to match Texas’ score in the bottom of the inning.

Dr. Christian Shewey is a dentist by trade, but coaches his son’s Little League team by night. Since the boys have played so well this summer, he has had to take time away from his practice.

Earlier coverage: Northeast Seattle gets off to a hot start in Williamsport

He recently joined “The Gee and Ursula Show” on the phone to talk about keeping the kids grounded through the national media attention, managing the parallel team of awesome and supportive parents, and his own history in baseball as he was a catcher at the University of Washington in the ’90s.

“As a coach, it’s a different level of pleasure. You just take so much pride in the entity of his team,” Shewey said when comparing the thrills of the sport as both a player and as a coach. “As a coach, I take so much pride in how all these kids are doing. You feel like you’ve got 12 kids that are yours on this team. It’s been more enjoyable on this side of things.”

“You’re already winners,” Ursula Reutin said. “And as a View Ridge mom, I’m especially proud.”