WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — The New York summer dream is alive.
Staten Island’s South Shore Little League bounced back from an opening-round loss to win two elimination games in the Little League World Series, beating Hinsdale, Ill., 4-0 on Sunday at Lamade Stadium.
Staten Island broke through in the fourth inning and advanced behind five scoreless innings by Vincent Ruggiero to advance to the tournament, with the next game on Tuesday.
“They want to stay here,” South Shore manager Bob Laterza said of his players, “and we’re not going to leave.”
The group is scheduled to meet with the Yankees later Sunday, but promised to be in good spirits then.
Ruggiero, whose hair was so loose that his hat kept falling off after pitching, limited the Great Lakes champions to just two hits before being replaced by Dean Scalagiero, who recorded the final three outs to keep New York pride alive.
South Shore, which entered the 9 a.m. game after winning a consolation round on Saturday, played sharp defense and needed one more inning of offense.
In the fourth inning, South Shore had runners on second and third with one out.
Chase Curro singled through the left side to score the winning run, and Staten Island just kept going from there.
The second run came on a sacrifice fly by Alex Torres.
Scalagiello singled down the right field line, scoring two runs on a day when Staten Island beat Illinois, 9-3.
