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Vantastic! Vancouver, Wash., rallies for dramatic 7-inning victory
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) -- Call it "TJ" magic. With their inspirational leader watching, Vancouver, Wash., recorded the first triple-play in Little League World Series history, and rallied from a 4-0 deficit. "TJ," the letters stitched into Vancouver's hats, stands for Tyler Jacobs, a six-year-old who underwent surgery in mid-June to remove a benign brain tumor, who has become the team's inspirational leader. Jacobs was on hand -- after a long cross-country flight -- as Vancouver rallied back for a 6-4, 7-inning win over Goffstown, N.H. on Tuesday. Dustin Corl completed the comeback with a two-run homer over the left-center field wall. Vancouver improved to 2-0 and all but mathematically clinched a berth in Thursday's U.S. Pool championship game. Goffstown fell to 0-3 but did manage to score its first runs of the Series. The dramatics all began when Jay Ponciano hit a three-run homer to cut Goffstown's lead to 4-3 in the fifth. Then Vancouver made what is believed to be a first in Series history in the top of the sixth. With Goffstown runners at first and second, Ben Bradley grounded to Jackson Evans at third. Evans tagged out the lead runner, but overthrew second base. Right fielder Jesse McLean threw home where catcher Dustin Corl tagged out Ben Collins. Corl then threw to third where Evans completed the triple-play, tagging out Bradley. Score it: 5-9-2-5. Although not all scorebooks have been kept throughout the years, a Series official said it's believed to have been the first Triple play in the event's 54-year history. Vancouver then tied the game in the sixth as McLean scored on Korey Dunkel's two-out grounder to third. Goffstown third baseman Alex Sobolov's throw pulled McLean off the bag at first. The win went to Dunham who allowed a run on two hits in three-plus innings of releif. Corl finished with three hits, while Ponciano had two. Ben Collins took the loss in relief of starter Tom French. Two other games were scheduled for Tuesday. Dhahran, Saudi Arabia (0-1) played Tokyo (2-0); and Bellaire, Texas (1-1) met Davenport, Iowa (1-0).
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