By Thomas Grant Jr.
The historic, magical run at the Little League World Series ended Thursday for the Irmo Little
League Majors.
It lost 5-3 to eventual World Series runner-up Summerlin South (Nevada) in an elimination
game at Lamade Stadium in Williamsport, Penn.
Irmo led 3-2 after an RBI walk by Sutton Gravelle in the Top 6 th . Just two outs away from
advancing to Saturday’s United States championship against Fairfield (Conn.), Palmer Steele
gave up a 3-run homer to Garrett Gallegos.
The third baseman accounted for all four runs by Summerlin South.
Irmo looked to mount another last at-bat comeback with one out. However, Preston Ware was
tagged out after leaning off second base and Joe Giulietti struck out to end the game.
Giulietti and Brody Miller both homered for Irmo, which finished the postseason 14-3.
Summerlin South accounted for two of the losses.
“This has been a fantastic experience for the team and coaches,” head coach Dave Bogan said.
“While these boys have bright futures, most will not enjoy a baseball experience like this again.
We are so very proud of them and how their hard work paid off on the field.
“More importantly, though, we are so impressed with the sportsmanship they showed on and
off the field. As coaches, our goal was to help them be great players and even better citizens.
And I think they helped us achieve that.”
On Wednesday, September 3rd, the team will be celebrated at Friarsgate Park with family and fans. The team, along with the softball, Immediate and Senior League state and Southeast Region
champions who also reached their respective World Series will participate in the celebration.
The list of accomplishments this summer for the Irmo Majors included:
- Senior League state champions
- Southeast Region champions
- dethroning defending LLBWS champion Lake Mary (Fla.)
- Winning 3 LLBWS games (the most ever by a South Carolina-based team)
“In terms of the historic run, I told the parents at our first meeting that this team could be
special,” Bogan said. “They went beyond special and will go down as legendary in South
Carolina (Little League) baseball history. So very proud of them. We are also humbled by the
outpouring of support from the Irmo community, state of South Carolina, and throughout the
country.”
As far as the future, seven players (Giulietti, Gravelle, Steele Andrew Bogan, Ethan Bennett,
and Jacob Gibson) are zoned in Lexington/Richland School District Five schools Chapin and
Dutch Fork. Ryder Tillitz (River Bluff) and Bubba McQuilkin (Gilbert) are zoned in Lexington
School District One, Miller and Brady Westbrooks are enrolled at Gray Collegiate and Ware
at Ben Lippen.
