Staten Island's South Shore All-Stars finally lost a game Saturday in a 6-3 defeat to Warner Robins, Ga., in their second game at the Little League World Series.
The team still has a chance to win the international title if they lock up a win tomorrow against a team from Iowa. The 6-3 loss broke a 19-game winning streak for the team.
Just two days ago, the South Shore National team crushed Mercer Island, a Washington state squad representing the Northwest, by a score of 10-2 as former Yankee Mike Mussina, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and a cheering squad of New Yorkers rooted them on to victory in the first round of the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Penn.
"It means a lot," said Peter Lunarola, a parent of a little leaguer, who watched the game at a Nucci's restaurant on Staten Island. "They practice hard. They play hard. It's just unbelieveable."
On Monday, the Staten Island squad racked up a 4-0 win against New Jersey's Somerset Hills squad in a nationally televised ESPN showdown to earn its berth in the World Series, and the right to face 16 of the best Little League squads in the world – eight from the United States and eight from other countries.
The group of 11- and 12-year-olds were selected for the all-star team in mid-June after the local Little League season ended. In 2006, the Mid-Island All-Star squad from Staten Island reached the World Series. But they lost three straight games and eliminated.
The last time a New York City Little League team won the World Series was in 1964.
