It’s win or go home Saturday for Bonney Lake-Sumner Little League and a World Series bid

What do you do when, for the first time in ages, things don’t go your way?

That’s a question the Bonney Lake-Sumner Little League 12-and-under all stars have faced the past few days. The team, which had been undefeated since its inception this summer, suffered a loss to West region representative Honolulu so severe the umpire ended the game an inning early Wednesday.

Despite a Pierce County fan base hoping for another one of the squad’s trademark comebacks, the match ended with disappointment.

“With a team like that, you can’t help them at all,” bench coach Tucker Baker said in a phone interview. “After that first inning, we kind of helped them.”

Baker said the two errors made by BLS players in that game were uncharacteristic for a team that prides itself on defense. He was happy with how the boys approached the fast-throwing Hawaiian pitchers, and it was just unlucky that many of their hard hits went straight at the defenders.

“I really think our hitting is fine,” he said. “75 (miles per hour) is hard to hit no matter who you are.”

It’s possible the boys from Bonney Lake might have faced the top squad in the Honolulu team. In the past two decades, eight of the US tournament champions have come from the West region. The same league that formed these Honolulu all stars won a world championship in 2018; in contrast, Bonney-Lake Sumner is the only team Pierce County has ever sent to this tournament.

Regardless of their past opponent’s prowess, that game now puts BLS in win-or-go-home mode the rest of the tournament. The winner of its match against Midwest representative East Davenport, slated for Saturday at 3 p.m. EDT, will continue on a path that could lead to a national championship; the losers will become spectators.

The BLS boys are not thinking about the latter scenario, according to Baker. He says the boys are still confident in their abilities and excited to continue to match up against the best teams in the country. With a return to the squad’s past pristine defense and a better knack for getting on base, Baker is optimistic that things will go their way.

“We feel good about our chances going forward,” he said. “We haven’t really thought about the process of being eliminated because it’s not really anything we’re thinking is going to happen”

Little League World Series

▪ Bonney Lake-Sumner vs. Davenport Southeast

▪ When: Saturday, August 20, 12 p.m. PST

▪ Where: Lamade Stadium, Williamsport, PA

▪ Streaming network: ABC, or online through ESPN+