The Irmo Little League baseball and softball teams were at the Senior League World Series last week where both advanced to the championship game but lost in the end to finish second.

Both teams were representing the Southeast and looking good through the tournament bracket. But they ran out of steam in the final game. In the championship match, the boys lost to the team from Latin America, 9-3, and the girls lost to the Central team 11-0.

The baseball team dominated in its first two tournament games. The team opened bracket play with a 16-0 win over the Southwest team after scoring 11 runs in the sixth inning. Charlie Mejia had three hits in his four trips to the plate to score three runs for his team in the win.

Three players pitched for Southeast in the win. Reese Jolley started on the mound and pitched for 3.1 innings, recording two strikeouts. Raleigh Salters came on in relief before Colby Smith pitched the final inning.

This momentum carried into game two as the boys from Irmo defeated Team West 8-0. Denzel Posey had a huge performance in this game going 3-4 from the plate, while also starting on the mound, pitching six innings and giving up just one hit.

The team won its next game by five runs but broke its shutout streak, beating West for a second consecutive game. This time, West had a bit more success finding hits and reaching base but was still outclassed by Southeast.

Both teams scored two runs in the first inning, but it was the only inning the West scored. From there, Southeast shut the West out again, keeping their runners stranded on base.

With the victory over the West, Irmo’s senior league team clinched the U.S. championship and punched their ticket to the World Series championship against team Latin America.

The Latin American team had a similar dominance to the Irmo boys in their first few tournament games. The team won its first two contests by a combined score of 25-0 before beating Canada in consecutive games to advance to the World Series.

Against Latin America, the team struggled as their opponents reigned in hits and RBIs. Salters tried his hardest to pull his team into the game, going 4-4 from the plate, but the rest of the team struggled to find consistency.

Latin America took the lead after scoring six runs in the fifth inning and put the game away there. Team Southeast concluded its tournament as runner-up and U.S. champions.

The softball team played seven games between pool play and the tournament. Unlike the boys, the girls’ games were much closer except for two, a pool play game against the Europe-Africa team and the championship game against the Central team.

After going 1-3 in pool play, the team was the fourth pool B seed and would be matched with the top team from pool A, the Southwest. Despite being the underdog, Southeast beat Southwest 14-10 to advance in the competition.

The two teams combined for 28 hits but the Southeast team made more of their opportunities to seal the win. Eason Davis had three hits, including a home run in the fifth inning.

In the second round of bracket play the girls from Irmo were put up against the team from out West. The Southeast won another close match 8-5 to defy the odds and advance to the championship game as a four-seed.

The team’s momentum came to a halt in the championship game against the Central team, losing 11-0. It was the second time Irmo faced the Central team after losing 3-1 in pool play.

While both teams came up short in the end, they finished second in the world. The Irmo Little League group has had success sending teams to World Series tournaments, but it has yet to win one. The senior baseball and softball teams will lose some players, but those who will return can use this as a learning moment.