Playing before a large, vocal crowd on Thursday, July 10, at Mike Beeson Field in Hagerstown, New Castle and Hagerstown met for the District 6 Little League Championship, with the winner advancing to the state tournament. The two teams split previous games during the current district tournament, with Hagerstown defeating New Castle 9-8 in a game played at Elwood on Monday, July 7, and New Castle defeating Hagerstown 10-8 in a game played at New Castle on Wednesday, July 9, to set up the winner-take-all matchup.
The atmosphere was electric at game time on a picture-perfect weather evening. New Castle got a break before the game ever started: even though the game was played at Hagerstown, New Castle was the home team as determined by a pregame coin toss.
Hagerstown took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Quinn Schlotterbeck led off with a single and Owen Hale joined him on base when he drew a walk. Palmer Ward followed with an RBI single that scored Schotterbeck and moved Hale to third base. Hale later scored on a wild pitch.
The Hagerstown lead was short-lived. Kelyin Stout singled to lead off the bottom of the first inning. Gavin Gard followed with a double and Woodson Williams was hit by a pitch. Stout scored on a wild pitch and Gard and Williams both scored on throwing errors to give New Castle a 3-2 lead after the first inning. It turned out to be the only lead they would enjoy in the game.
Hagerstown retook the lead in the top of the second inning. Kenlan Sherwood doubled to center field, Adam Murphy reached on an error and Andy Tinkle was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Brady Brown drew an RBI walk and Schlotterbeck reached on a fielder’s choice to drive in another run.
After holding New Castle scoreless in the bottom of the second inning, Hagerstown tacked on two more runs in the top of the third inning. Jase Cowan drew a walk, and Corbyn Harrison singled, with both eventually scoring on throwing errors.
New Castle answered with a single run in the bottom of the third inning when Jaxson Cole and Calvin Middleton both singled.
Both teams scored two runs in the fourth inning. Sherwood, Murphy and Schotterbeck each had base hits for Hagerstown in the top half of the inning and Case York, Gabe Denney and Duke Neal had base hits in the bottom half of the inning.
Neither team scored in the fifth inning and Hagerstown, still clinging to an 8-6 lead, went down 1, 2, 3 in the top of the sixth inning.
Calvin Middleton drew a walk to open the bottom of the sixth inning. The next batter popped up a ball to Hagerstown shortstop Corbyn Harrison, who caught it and threw to second base to pick off the runner and finish a game-changing double play. Calvin Cox delivered a two-out single before the next batter flew out to centerfield to end the game.
In postgame remarks, Hagerstown manager Ryan Cowan talked about how important the double play in the sixth inning was.
“That was such a great play,” Cowan said. “Corbyn Harrison makes plays that most kids don’t make, and he does it instinctively. It changed everything. We beat a very good team. Quinn (Schlotterbeck) pitched a great game, and Adam Murphy gave us a huge bunt to keep an inning alive. Everyone maintained their focus and played well. We are thrilled to go to the state tournament.”
The state tournament will be played at Chet Waggoner Little League in South Bend, with the games running from Thursday, July 17, through Tuesday, July 22. Hagerstown will open play on Thursday, July 17, against the District 14 champion at 2:30 p.m.
Hagerstown 2 2 2 2 0 0 8
New Castle 3 0 1 2 0 0 6
Hagerstown hits: Harrison, Murphy, Schlotterbeck (2), Sherwood (2), Ward — New Castle hits: Jaxson Cole, Cox, Denny, Gard, Middleton, Neal, Rottinghaus, Stout, York.
Winning pitcher: Schlotterbeck, Losing pitcher: Kooper Rottighaus
A version of this article will appear in the July 16 2025 print edition of the Western Wayne News.