A second loss for the Mercer Island Little League All-Stars on Sunday against Midwest representatives Urbandale, Iowa, 5-3, ended hopes of advancing to the next round of the Little League World Series.

Both teams were looking to bounce back from tough opening losses, but the Midwest team finished strongest.

Mercer Island took the lead in the third inning on a run from Aidan Plummer. Batting with one out, Anthony Scalzo tried to reach base on an infield single and was tagged out in what Urbandale thought was a double play, but the second base umpire didn’t give the out. Quick-thinking baserunners Josh Stenberg and Michael Bantle tried to reach home, but Bantle crashed into Urbandale catcher Spencer Sturges to end the inning.

On defense, pitcher Keegan Ogard kept Midwest hitting to a minimum and his pitch count low.

But Urbandale bats came to life in the bottom of the fifth inning as three batting lineup substitutions in the bottom of their lineup seemed to figure out how to hit the ball off Mercer Island’s pitching.

“He was doing great,” said Keegan’s father, David. “He just gave up a couple of hits; [the pitches] kinda got away from him.”

A Ross Kramer double got things started and he was followed by a Sturges single, and a Robert VanderLinden double off the wall scored two.

Mercer Island coach Steve Stenberg said the coaches later confirmed that Ogard’s fastball was still clocking at 67 mph through to his last pitch. The strategy from the bench was to pitch to the batters on the outside — low and away — but the adjustments made by the Iowans seemed to pay off.

Then Urbandale’s Jake Quirk — who had struggled with his hitting through the state and regional tournament — stepped to the plate and blasted a two-run homer to give Urbandale a 4-3 lead. Reliever Brandon Lawler came on to try and end the inning, but not before the Midwest team made it 5-3 on a sacrifice groundout.

Mercer Island lost its last game to an unbeaten Southeast team, Warner Robins, 3-2, on Monday and will not reach the quarterfinals.

The game against Georgia’s Warner Robins American Little League was televised live on ESPN.

The Game 1 story can be found on our Web site at www.mi-reporter.com.