By Thomas Grant Jr.

The road to the Little League Baseball World Series champion has taken an upward climb for Irmo Little League.

Summerlin South (Nevada) scored a run in the Bottom 7th to hand Irmo the 1-0 defeat. It was just the second loss in 14 post-season games for the Southeast Region champions.

The contest was dominated by a pitcher’s duel between Irmo’s Joe Giulietti and Summerlin South’s Garrett Gallegos. Both tied a tournament high with 12 strikeouts each, with Giulietti allowing no hits for the second straight start.

In the 13-0 win over Braintree American, he fanned eight batters and had a grand slam.
Irmo outhit Summerlin 5-2, with both hits from the Mountain Region champions taking place in the seventh inning.

In the Bottom 7th, Nevada’s Cutter Ricafort singled to right field. It was overran in right field, giving Griffin Vargas an opportunity to beat the throw at Homeplate.

Irmo now needs three wins to reach the United States World Series final. The road begin Tuesday afternoon against Hawaii in an elimination game.