Morristown Little League ends magical run in Metro Regional final loss to NY

A magical summer for Morristown Little League finishes one victory short of a trip to the Little League World Series. Dominant across their path through the state and regional tournaments, Morristown fell in a 5-0 loss to South Shore Little League from Staten Island in Friday's Metro Regional championship game.

Rain heavily impacted the week in Bristol, Connecticut and altered Friday's game repeatedly. Incoming storms forced Little League Baseball to move up the game from an original 7 p.m. start up to the early afternoon. Originally rescheduled to 1 p.m., the game would not begin until after 2 p.m. due to the finish of another regional final at the site.

With no score in the top of the fourth, rain would reappear just after 3 p.m. to delay the game for an hour and 26 minutes. Later in the sixth inning, a second weather delay came around 5:25 p.m. for another half hour delay.

Will Hery worked in and out of trouble through three-plus innings, leaving the bases loaded without allowing a run in the third. Hery allowed two hits and two walks while also striking out three. Hery also had the lone Morristown hit across the first four innings.

Metro: Recaps of Morristown Little League in Metro Region Tournament

Down two in the bottom of the fourth, Morristown had its best opportunity to draw even with a runner on as catcher Charlie Porter IV drove a ball to left center field that dropped at the base of the fence. Porter was stranded at first base as the tying run as New York wiggled out of trouble.

Earlier in the week, Morristown faced the same New York team and won 11-1 in five innings to advance to the region championship. Morristown managed only three hits across a long and soggy afternoon.

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It would have been the first time a New Jersey team won the Metro Region tournament since Little League expanded the field in 2022 and shifted New Jersey into its own region alongside teams from New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island.

New Jersey has seen 20 different teams qualify for the Little League World Series, most recently done by Toms River East in 2021. The only time a Morris County-based Little League team reached the Little League World Series was back in 2012, when Parsippany based Par-Troy East Little League won the Mid-Atlantic region.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Morristown Little League ends magical run in Metro Regional final loss to NY