Friday, Aug. 14 was a good day to be a baseball player named Kirk who wears No. 30.
On the same night Toronto Blue Jays slugger Alejandro Kirk went yard and got a Gatorade shower after a 3-1 win over the New York Yankees, 2,477 miles away in San Bernardino, California, his younger cousin, Noah Kirk, pitched a gem as his Southern California squad secured the final spot in the Little League World Series.
Twelve-year-old Noah, starting on the mound and batting leadoff for Sweetwater Valley Little League out of Bonita, struck out six batters through four scoreless innings. But it was the fifth where Noah Kirk had his best moment.
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Sweetwater Valley had opened up a 5-0 lead, but Kirk gave up back-to-back singles to start the penultimate inning before Waika Doctolero took him deep for a three-run home run that cut SoCal’s lead down to just two runs. Rush Pegeder walked the next at-bat, and it looked like Kirk was spiraling with his pitch count creeping closer to the 85-pitch limit.
He responded by striking out Shane Schoettler for his seventh K of the game. Now at 83 pitches, Kaikea Saiki was all but guaranteed to be the final batter Kirk would face, and Kirk made it count. Kirk fell behind 3-1 in the count but managed to work it back full before getting Saiki to hit a comebacker to the mound. Kirk fielded the ball, threw Pegeder out at second, and Mateo Ruiz fired it to first baseman Jesus Cuadra to get a crucial inning-ending double play.
Sweetwater Valley Little League went on to defeat Kawaihau Community Little League 11-3 to advance to Williamsport.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Alejandro Kirk’s little cousin pitches gem to send team to Little League World Series
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