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. A 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.

“He was doing great,” said Keegan’s father, David.

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

With only a game left to play against an unbeaten Southeast team on Monday, Mercer Island cannot finish in the top two of their group and reach the quarterfinals.

The game against Georgia’s Warner Robins American Little League is at 1 p.m. Monday and will be televised live on ESPN.

A World Series Game 3 Viewing Party with a big-screen viewing will be held at 12 p.m. today (Aug. 24) at the Boys & Girls Club, 2825 West Mercer Way. Pre-game festivities begin at noon, with lunch for sale, and the game starts at 1 p.m.

Midwest 5, Northwest 3

1 2 3 4 5 6 R H E

Mercer Island 0 0 2 0 1 0 3 4 0

Urbandale, Iowa 0 0 0 0 5 X 5 5 0