The Apopka Little League Majors All-Stars closed their summer season Friday night with their strongest defensive performance of the tournament, but a late push from Windermere resulted in a 4-1 loss at the Winter Garden Little League Complex. 

Behind 5 1/3 innings of strong pitching from Jordan Childs and steady defense, Apopka battled one of the tournament’s toughest opponents until the final inning. Childs was dominant throughout the night, striking out six batters while repeatedly working out of trouble and keeping Windermere’s offense in check. 

Apopka struck first in the opening inning. Nova Darby lined a single through the left side and advanced around the bases before scoring on a wild pitch to give Apopka a 1-0 lead. Cooper Manning worked a walk, and Colton Ciancaglini reached base on a catcher’s interference, but Windermere escaped further damage. 

The visitors answered in the second inning. After a pair of hits put pressure on the defense, Windermere capitalized on a missed throw to advance the tying run and even the score at 1. 

Windermere took its first lead in the third inning. Following a hit batter and stolen base, Childs recorded a strikeout, but the runner eventually advanced home during the ensuing sequence to make it 2-1. 

Despite the deficit, Apopka continued to create opportunities offensively. Drew Adirim reached on a walk in the third inning, and Owen Brown followed with a hard-hit single to center field. The inning ended when Adirim was thrown out attempting to score at the plate. 

Childs and the defense responded with several key plays over the next two innings. In the fourth, he induced a comebacker before Owen Brown made a line-drive catch at first base. Nova Darby added another defensive highlight in center field, tracking down a fly ball to end the inning. 

The fifth inning showcased Childs’ best work of the night. After Windermere opened with a single and a double to place two runners in scoring position with nobody out, the Apopka left-hander remained composed. He struck out the next batter, fanned another on three pitches, then induced a ground ball to shortstop to strand both runners and preserve the one-run deficit. 

Apopka threatened in the bottom half. Calem Urquhart reached on a dropped third strike before Childs helped his own cause with a single through the right side, moving Urquhart to third. But Windermere escaped the inning without allowing a run. 

Windermere broke through again in the sixth. A leadoff double and a stolen base set the stage for an RBI infield hit. After a walk, Childs reached his pitching limit and handed the ball to Jaxon Rasley. Windermere added another run on a sacrifice fly before Rasley induced a comebacker to end the inning with the score at 4-1. 

Apopka was unable to mount a comeback in the bottom of the sixth as Windermere closed out the victory. 

Despite the result, manager Mike McMillion said the game represented his team’s best performance of the all-star tournament. 

“That was the best that we’ve played all week,” McMillion said. “We put up a lot of runs against Ocoee, but we didn’t really play that well. This was the best game we’ve played out here against some really tough competition. Defensively, we just couldn’t have done any better. No errors, no missteps, no confusion on the infield. Pitching was just on fire.” 

McMillion said he hopes the experience helps the players continue developing as they move forward in their baseball careers. 

“The message to the team is they need to just continue on their path to achieve their goals,” McMillion said. “It is a huge, huge honor to be out here. I’ve been coaching a lot of these kids since T-ball, single-A when they were four and five years old. To see them continue to develop and achieve the goals they’re striving towards, it just makes me really, really happy.”