In the final game of Milford Little League's major league season, the Phillies scored just one run against the Yankees in the first five innings, but scored seven times in the sixth to win the game, and their league title.
The Yankees took the lead in the bottom of the first inning when Ralph Messick hit a solo home run, but gave it up in the second when a pickoff attempt went wild, allowing the Phillies' Ricky Armstrong to score from second base. They took the lead back in the third with a two-run triple from Dustin Reeder, and held that 3-1 lead until the sixth inning. Then the Phillies came roaring back.
Justice Dallious started the rally with a double off the center-field fence,and it continued with a pop-up from Scotty Haymond that landed fair when two Yankees players collided trying to get under it. Corey Mitchell scored them both with a single, and Khyron Reynolds sent him home for the go-ahead run.
Both teams got a scare when Messick, the Yankees all-star catcher, didn't get up after a play at the plate. He took the impact of a Phillie's slide directly on his leg, and had to be taken to Milford Memorial Hospital for testing after more than 15 minutes on the ground. According to a nurse who left the audience to help after the collission, Messick's only lingering symptom was numbness - he broke no bones and had full motion in his leg.
The Phillies scored four more runs before the inning ended, and Armstrong took the mound to retire the Yankees and seal the 8-3 win.
