A big time matchup in the Majors A Naperville Little League City Championship brings the number one seed, the Walmart Floors, named after their grey uniforms, against the Blupoint Solutions Bombers. These two teams met twice in the regular season, with the Floors winning both matchups. The Bombers have gotten hot in the postseason with players like Logan Chisholm and Jack Walker stepping up to help the team. Meanwhile, nobody walks all over the Walmart thanks to key contributions from players like James Haas, Rishaan Trivedi, and Toby Chang. Each team is down a player with Declan Beale unavailable for Blupoint and Jude Hunter not in attendance for the Floors, but they both made a big impact throughout the season. The Majors A division is sponsored by Eagan & Company CPA’s.
The Walmart Floors get the scoring started early
In the bottom of the first inning, Devin Carter bats for the Floors against Patrick O’Hara with Matthew Lempicki on first. Carter chops a ball to third, where Evan Buckingham fields it and throws to Joe Melody covering second in time for the out.
Up next is Jake Kichka, who slices a ball the other way that drops into right field for a hit to put a pair on base with one away.
One out later with Owen Almase at the plate, it’s a wild pitch that goes over his head and to the backstop. Pinch runner Ryan Kichka comes home to score the first run of the game to put the Walmart Floors up 1-0.
Almase walks, bringing up Toby Chang, who grounds a ball back to O’Hara on the mound. O’Hara makes the play and throws to Tristan Brooks at first base to end the frame.
In the top of the second, with two outs and a runner on second, Danny Karnick draws a walk to put a pair of Bombers on base.
Pitcher Jake Kichka is able to escape the jam with a strikeout to end the inning as he finds the outside edge of the plate. The Walmart Floors maintain the 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the third inning, Umir Henson leads off by ripping a line drive into left field. Henson hustles into second with a double, showing his excitement to his teammates in the dugout.
After Matthew Lempicki reaches on an infield single, Devin Carter slaps the ball past O’Hara towards center field. Jackson Larchey tracks down the ball after it takes a big hop and tags second base to force Lempicki. But Carter has an RBI as Henson comes home to score from third. The Floors take a 2-0 lead.
The bases are loaded following back-to-back hits from Jake and Ryan Kichka. Owen Almase rolls a grounder to second. Larchey gets the ball to David Kraseman covering first for the out. An RBI for Almase as Carter comes in to score to make it 3-0. O’Hara gets out of the inning with another groundout a batter later.
Blupoint Solutions gets on the board in the fourth
The Bombers need to get the bats going, and Jackson Larchey agrees as he singles into left with one out in the fourth inning.
With two away and Larchey on second base, Richie Binder drives a ball back up the middle and into center field. The leading RBI man for the Bombers adds to his total as Larchey scores as Blupoint is on the board, trailing 3-1.
Ryan Kichka strands Binder at first with a strikeout to end the inning as the game moves to the bottom of the fourth.
Lefty Tristan Brooks takes over on the mound for the Bombers. He retires James Haas on a grounder back to the mound and a toss to Sam Cole at first.
The Floors get another baserunner as Declan McCoy, who is in search of his first City Championship while playing in his fourth Little League Championship game, draws a one-out walk!
Next up is Ryder Sisto, who earns a free pass as well as the Floors threaten to add to their lead.
However, Brooks rallies with a pair of strikeouts to end the threat and keep it a 3-1 ballgame heading to the fifth inning.
The Bombers pull closer in the fifth
Brooks heads to the plate first in the fifth and the Australian-born southpaw skies a deep fly to right that gets over everyone’s head. Brooks motors into third for a lead-off triple.
Up next is Sam Cole, who gets jammed and grounds a ball out in front of the plate. Ryan Kichka fields and shovels a pass to his brother Jake covering home. But the ball pops free, and Brooks is safe on the RBI fielder’s choice. Blupoint trails 3-2 with the tying run on first and nobody out, and the momentum swinging to the Bombers dugout.
But as legendary manager Earl Weaver said, Momentum is the next day’s starting pitcher. Or in this case, the current pitcher as Ryan Kichka strikes out the next three batters to keep the Walmart Floors in front 3-2.
Matthew Lempicki adds a key insurance run
Leading off the bottom half is Matthew Lempicki, who digs out a sinking pitch and lofts it to the wall in right field. Lempicki gets on his horse and sprints around the bases, delivering key insurance with the inside-the-park home run! The Floors go up 4-2.
After a single and a stolen base from Jake Kichka, his brother Ryan pulls a sharp grounder into left. Evan Buckingham gets the ball back in as Jake scores on the RBI single to put the home team in front 5-2.
The Bombers are down to their final three outs, but Joe Melody starts the top of the sixth with a blast to straightaway centerfield. Melody rounds second and gets to third just ahead of the relay throw for a leadoff triple.
Kichka is able to get back-to-back strikeouts, putting the Floors one out away from victory. Jackson Larchey grounds a ball to the left side of the infield. It takes a tough hop into the outfield as Melody comes home on the RBI single.
Next up is Ernie Fracz, who singled back in the first inning. He slaps a high chopper that slips past Toby Chang and trickles into left field. Suddenly, the tying run is on first base with Richie Binder coming to the plate. It’s a 5-3 ballgame!
With two strikes, Kichka gets the outside corner for strike three and a Naperville Little League City Championship for the Walmart Floors following an exciting 5-3 victory over a resilient Blupoint Solutions squad. The Majors A division closes out the season with the most exciting game of Championship Saturday.
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