Needville Little League improves to 3-0 at World Series, advances to play Seattle

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Tuesday, August 22, 2023
Needville Little League begins march toward world championship
Needville Little League begins march toward world championshipThe Needville Little League is set to compete in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, as the Southwest Region team in the World Series Wednesday night.

WILLIAMSPORT, Pennsylvania (KTRK) -- This has officially become the DJ Jablonski Little League World Series.

The video above is from a previous report.

The Needville pitching ace turned in another outstanding start on Monday, pitching in five and one-third innings while also registering his first hit of the tourney - a solo home run to right center - to propel the Texas team to a win over El Segundo, California, 3-1.

Jablonski threw 90 pitches and struck out five batters during his follow-up start to his 10-strikeout gem against Media, Pennsylvania.

The win is the Southwest Region champions' third straight of the LLWS and the seventh straight going back to the regional tourney.

Needville jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning before Jablonski gave up a solo home run in the next half inning.

Jablonski wouldn't be shaken, though. He settled into the performance while helping his cause with his home run in the fourth inning.

California was still threatening in the bottom of the sixth inning with two baserunners on and the top of its order up. After Jablonski collected his only out of the inning, teammate Easton Ondroch came in to induce a strikeout and a groundout to close the game.

Who's next for the red-hot Needville kids? They have one more unbeaten team - Seattle, Washington - on Wednesday at 2 p.m., airing on ABC13 sister network ESPN. The winner of this game advances to the United States Championship.

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