A spot in the Little League New England Regional championship is on the line on Wednesday.
Bridgewater (Massachusetts) and Salem (New Hampshire) will play at 1 p.m. on ESPN with the winner advancing to Thursday's championship. Waiting there is Portland (Maine) for the final on 7 p.m., which will also be broadcast on ESPN. The winner of Thursday's final, which is a winner-take-all game, advances to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Penn.
We'll have live updates from today's action, starting about an hour before first pitch.
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FINAL: Salem 4, Bridgewater 3
Cam Goodwin struck out swinging for the third and final out of the sixth inning. Salem survives and moves on to the regional championship against Maine. Bridgewater is now eliminated.
Florence advanced on a past ball to third as the tying run.
Luke Fantasia struck out looking for the second out, but Florence advanced to second.
Brycen Buker struck out for the first out of the inning. Bridgewater is now down to two outs.
Jake Florence hit a lead off single in the bottom of the sixth for Bridgewater and is now the tying run at first for Brycen Buker.
Middle of sixth inning: Salem 4, Bridgewater 3
After moving to third base, Brendan Moyer made the first two outs for Bridgewater, and Micah Poulter struck out the next batter to record a 1,2,3 inning. Bridgewater is down to its final three outs, needing one run to tie, or two to walk off and advance to the championship.
End of fifth inning: Salem 4, Bridgewater 3
A fifth inning rally has gotten Bridgewater within one run.
Landon O'Hearn struck out to end the inning, but not before Bridgewater put up three runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Hunter McHargue hit a swinging bunt back to the pitcher but Micah Poulter was ruled out at home attempting to score the tying run. The play was reviewed and the call stands.
After a pair of singles from Logan Brady and Brendan Moyer, Micah Poulter hit a line drive into center field to make the score 4-2. Jeremiah Gonzalez ripped a line drive to first that Jacob Guerrero-Lomba was unable to handle, scoring Moyer to make it 4-3.
Middle of fifth inning: Salem 4, Bridgewater 1
Micah Poulter started the fifth inning in relief for Brycen Buker. Owen Griffin hit a lead-off single for Salem, and was moved over to second on a sacrifice bunt by Patrick DeFrancesco. No damage was done though as Poulter struck out Kevin McDonough and right fielder Landon O'Hearn made a diving catch in foul territory to end the inning. Bridgewater is down to it's final six outs, needing three runs to tie the game.
After a tough start, Buker settled in nicely and gave his team a chance to stay in the game, allowing only one run over his last three innings before being taken out for Poulter in the fifth after reaching the pitching limit.
End of fourth inning: Salem 4, Bridgewater 1
Bridgewater managed to get on the board in the fourth with a sacrifice fly from Cam Goodwin to get within three runs, but William Briggs limited the damage by retiring Jake Tayag to end the inning.
Another review held up the fourth inning following a Brycen Buker infield pop up that landed in fair territory. It appeared to have touched the glove of a diving William Briggs before going into foul territory, making Buker safe at first. However, the call was overturned after video review showed that the ball did not touch Briggs' glove. Buker still managed to reach base, and scored Bridgewater's first run of the game after tagging from third base.
Middle of fourth inning: Salem 4, Bridgewater 0
After a three-run first inning, Brycen Buker has only allowed one run over his last three innings, and is keeping his team within striking distance. It only took him eight pitches to complete the fourth inning.
End of third inning: Salem 4, Bridgewater 0
Bridgewater remains scoreless after three innings. Hunter McHargue drew a full count walk with two outs, and advanced to second on a wild pitch, but William Briggs was able to get Landon O'Hearn to ground out to first to end the inning. Bridgewater is now 0-5 with runners in scoring position.
Middle of third inning: Salem 4, Bridgewater 0
Salem scored another run in the third after Jacob Guerrero-Lomba scored on a close-call infield single. The call was reviewed and it stood after it was deemed that first baseman Luke Fantasia's foot came off the bag. Guerrero-Lomba reached base as the leadoff batter on double down the third base line.
End of second inning: Salem 3, Bridgewater 0
Jake Tayag got a single up the middle to leadoff the bottom of the second for Bridgewater. After advancing on a passed ball, Logan Brady moved Tayag to third with one out, but William Briggs struck out Brendan Moyer and got Micah Poulter to ground out to keep Bridgewater scoreless through two innings.
Middle of second inning: Salem 3, Bridgewater 0
It was a complete 180 from the first inning for Buker, who settled in, needing just 16 pitches to finish the second inning, recording two strikeouts.
End of first inning: Salem 3, Bridgewater 0
After Bridgewater leadoff man Landon O'Hearn was hit by a pitch, Salem starting pitcher William Briggs retired the next two batters. Luke Fantasia drew a walk to get runners on first and second with two outs, but Johnson got Cam Goodwin to fly out to end the inning.
Middle of first inning: Salem 3, Bridgewater 0
Salem was patient at the plate in the top of the first against Bridgewater pitcher Brycen Buker, with Jacob Guerrero-Lomba, Nolan Dupuis, and Colton Johnson drawing three straight walks to begin the game. With a full count, cleanup batter Brayden Miller drove in the first run of the game with an RBI single. Wes Boudreau recorded a two-RBI double with two outs to give Salem a 3-0 early lead. Buker is up to 44 pitches after just one inning.
Salem starting lineup
Here is Salem's starting lineup:
Jacob Guerrero-Lomba, 1B
Nolan Dupuis, CF
Colton Johnson, P
Grayson Buckley, C
Brayden Miller
Jackson Lemire
Wes Boudreau, 3B
William Briggs, LF
Zach Bolduc, RF
Owen Griffin, 2B
Patrick DeFrancesco
Kevin McDonough, SS
Bridgewater starting lineup
Manager Rich Florence is keeping his batting order the same as it has been all postseason long. Here is Bridgewater's starting lineup:
Landon O'Hearn, RF
Jake Florence, C
Brycen Buker, CF
Luke Fantasia, 1B
Cameron Goodwin, SS
Jake Tayag
Logan Brady, LF
Brendan Moyer, P
Micah Poulter, 3B
Mason Genatossio
Jeremiah Gonzalez
Hunter McHargue, 2B
Moments away from first pitch
First pitch between Bridgewater and Salem is now under 20 minutes away. It is still overcast in Bristol, however the rain continues to hold off. The chance of rain will continue to go down as the game progresses.
Time and temp
We are one hour away from the elimination game between Bridgewater and Salem at 1 p.m. It is currently 63 degrees and cloudy, with a real feel of 65 in Bristol. Scattered storms rolled through earlier in the morning, and the forecast calls for potential showers in the area between now and game time.
How Bridgewater and Salem got here
Bridgewater has won three championships so far this summer to reach this stage: District 7, Section 2 and the State crown (we had coverage from all three title games). Bridgewater opened regionals with a dominant 9-0 win over Burlington (Vermont). In the winner's bracket semifinal, Bridgewater fell to Portland, 7-1. Maine pulled away with five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Salem dropped its opening game of regionals, falling to Portland, 2-0. Salem staved off elimination on Sunday with a 6-4 win over Vermont.
