Boerne Little League wins again in Williamsport, advances to US semifinals Wednesday

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Boerne Little League is one win away from playing for the United States bracket championship at the Little League World Series.

The Southwest region champions topped Lake Mary, Florida, 4-1 Monday at Lamade Stadium in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and now face off against Henderson, Nevada, at 2 p.m. CDT Wednesday for a berth in the U.S. title game.

Boerne had plenty of rest since its first game of the tournament, a 9-0 win over Newtown, Pennsylvania, on Aug. 15, and ace pitcher Julian Hurst was able to come back and go the distance. He notched 10 strikeouts in 78 pitches without a walk, allowing one earned run on three hits in a complete game. He won't be eligible to pitch against Nevada due to pitch count rules, but he'll be available for the U.S. championship Saturday if the squad wins.

Boerne took advantage of some wild Florida pitching in the third inning. The Southeast region champs loaded the bases with two walks and a hit batter, then Boerne took the lead when Kaleb Christ scored on a wild pitch, and then tacked another run on after a second wild pitch. Doc Mogford drilled a line-drive single to left field to score Hurst to give the Texas squad a 4-1 lead after three innings.

Each team had three hits. Cooper Hastings and Jett Matthews added singles for Boerne.

Nevada advanced to Wednesday's semifinals with a 3-2 win over Hawai'i. Florida drops to the loser's bracket to take on New York on Tuesday while Pennsylvania and Hawai'i face off in the other U.S. elimination game Tuesday.

On the international side, Japan edged Venezuela 2-1 to stay in the winner's bracket. They'll face Chinese Taipei in a semifinal game Wednesday. Venezuela will take on Aruba in an elimination game Tuesday while Cuba and Mexico face off in the other loser-out game Tuesday.