Survive and advance: Pearland Little League rebounds from loss and eliminates Iowa from World Series

Tuesday's win sets up rematch with Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania.

Jeff Ehling Image
Wednesday, August 24, 2022
How did Pearland recover from a shutout loss? Pizza, of course
Pearland Little League opens World Series elimination bracket play on Tuesday night against Davenport, Iowa.

WILLIAMSPORT, Pennsylvania (KTRK) -- They survived and will advance. Pearland Little League rebounded from a shutout loss against powerful Hawaii by holding its opponent, Davenport, Iowa, scoreless on Tuesday night.

The Southwest region champs used a solo home run and heads-up base running to eliminate the Midwest champs, 4-0.

Pearland was relegated to the elimination bracket of the Little League World Series when it lost Monday night.

The work isn't done yet. Pearland moves on in the double elimination tournament to face Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania in a rematch on Wednesday. This game airs at 6 p.m. on ABC13 sister network ESPN.

Pearland opened its World Series when the team defeated Hollidaysburg, 8-3, on Aug. 18.

How did Pearland recover from a shutout loss? Pizza, of course

Video referring to the post-Hawaii game activities can be seen in the player above.

There's nothing like the healing power of hot, cheesy pizza to shake off going cold at the plate in the Little League World Series.

On Monday night, Pearland Little League's players were the latest victims of a Honolulu, Hawaii team that held its three opponents in the tournament so far to a combined one run. Pearland dropped the second game of its tournament against the West region champs, 6-0.

So, naturally, a rebound is in order for a team that, before the Hawaii game, went undefeated since district play. And that can only be fueled by some pies.

"By the end of the night, we got some pizzas back at the dorm, and the guys were laughing, and we were very tired. But pizza and bedtime," Pearland coach Robb Zurek said, explaining how the group of adolescent kids processed the loss.

"Pizza always helps," Pearland player Jackson Wolfe summed up.

Pearland is now presented with a challenge to fulfill its World Series championship dreams: run the table for the rest of the tournament.

While this isn't a team that makes excuses after tough outings, Pearland coaches recognize their team played just two games in 11 days heading into the Honolulu matchup.

Still, they believe this can be fixed.

"(We need to) get out of bed, get in the cages, and start swinging bats again. That was the one thing we didn't do enough of last night is hit, and we're going to get it back this afternoon," Zurek said. "It's what we've been doing all summer."

Pearland's key now to extending its run is win. Texas' little leaguers will now need to win two games in the next two days to get to the United States Championship matchup that's set for Saturday. If Pearland gets that far and win, it would play in the World Championship game that's set for next Sunday.

SEE ALSO: Pearland Little League opens World Series with 8-3 victory over Pennsylvania

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