DOING R.I. PROUD

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Mason Crain made sure Barrington got a hit, but in their final game at the Little League World Series, the New England Region champions never did get the ball out of the infield against Elmora on Tuesday night.

Sal Garcia, Derek Escobar, J.R. Rosado and Jayden Capindara saw to that for the Mid-Atlantic Region champions from Elizabeth, N.J., with their pitching and, in the case of Garcia and Escobar, their defense as well.

Escobar’s backhand stop and long throw across the diamond for a final out wrapped up the combined one-hitter and a 2-0 victory that makes Elmora one of seven teams still in title contention.

The game, which was scoreless going into the final inning, ends Barrington’s season in a tie for fifth place in the U.S. bracket.

After fighting off elimination 11 different times since a loss to begin the Rhode Island district tournament, the world championship pursuit finally ended.

“It’s just something that I’ll never forget,” Barrington manager Christopher Promades said. “I’m so happy to be a part of it.

“Honestly, this is probably the best summer of my whole life. I feel like a little kid all over again. These kids are just awesome. I’m so proud of them.”

The teams matched pitching and defense, though in somewhat different approaches, in a meeting between teams that earned their right to play in Williamsport by winning simultaneous regional tournaments in Bristol, Conn.

“That team we just played, they’re a phenomenal group of baseball players and they’re really well-coached,” Promades said. “We befriended those guys at the Bristol regional tournaments. We took the bus here with them, so we knew them very well.

“They’re a great group of kids. What they did to some teams in Bristol, Conn., they tore it up down there.”

Elmora kept pulling its pitchers to keep them eligible for future games, but Miles Fontaine used every pitch he was allowed to keep Barrington in the game.

“I think that was one of the best games — if not the best game — I’ve ever seen that kid throw,” Promades said. “We knew it was going to take something like that to keep these New Jersey guys’ bats down.

“That’s what he did. That kid delivered.”

Beginning with Matthew Fede’s running, overhead catch at the left-field line, Fontaine got help from each outfielder in the first inning. He let only one runner get to second base while carrying a three-hitter through the fifth inning.

While the game was scoreless for five innings, it was Barrington that had the better threats. Twice it put two runners on base, something Elmora had not managed to do that point. The Rhode Island champions also had the only runner to reach third base in the first five innings.

“We thought sooner or later, we were going to break through,” Promades said. “We almost did there in the fifth inning. We had guys on base and, earlier in the game, we had a couple of guys on and Matt Fede hit a line drive to second base.

“I wish it was just a little higher, but that’s the game of baseball.”

After Elmora scored the game’s only runs in the top of the sixth and Rosado struck out the first two batters in the bottom of the inning, Craig broke up the no-hit bid. Garcia went to his knees in the hole at shortstop to keep the ball in the infield but never attempted a throw to first.

Alex Anderson then fouled off two 0-2 pitches and ripped a ball a few feet inside the third-base line. Escobar reacted quickly and made the challenging stop. He followed it up with a strong throw to first to beat a hustling Anderson by less than half a step.

Garcia had doubled to lead off the top of the sixth and moved up on a Rosado single.

With a runner in scoring position, Barrington brought the infield in. Shortstop Cullen Crain handled a dangerous blooper to his right for the first out.

The Barrington infield then stopped a hard-hit ball by Jayden Capindica and looked to third to try to freeze the runner. The throw to first got Capindica but the throw home was late and wild, allowing a second run to score.

“Our kids have shown everybody here and around the world what we’re all about,” Promades said. “If we’re going down, we’re going down swinging and we’re going to give you everything we’ve got no matter what the situation is.

“What we’re really proud of is not only their effort, but what we’ve done for baseball in Barrington, the state of Rhode Island and hopefully the New England Region. We just want to put a good product out there and I think we delivered.”