Bayonne’s dream run through the Little League World Series isn’t slowing down.
Behind another dwelling run from Mason Rincon and a stellar outing from Chase Klimkowski, the New Jersey squad beat East Side Little League from West Chester, Pa., 3-1 on Friday evening in Williamsport, Pa.
Bayonne broke through in the backside of the second inning after Jett Bridges reached and AJ Tapia ripped a one-out double down the left area line.
Bridges slipped while rounding third and had to cease there, but he came dwelling moments later on a wild pitch to give New Jersey a 1-0 lead.
Mason Rincon continued blasting homers in Bayonne, N.J.’s 3-1 win over West Chester, Pa. on Aug. 21, 2026 in Williamsport, Pa. littleleague.org
Joey Dwyer then blooped a single into left area to rating Tapia and prolong the benefit to 2-0 over West Chester, which represents the Mid-Atlantic area.
Klimkowski made positive it held up.
“The kids played really good,” coach Justin Smith advised The Post. “Chase was phenomenal. Chase was the Chase that we know he can be — he had a bad game the other day, but this was the Chase that I know he is. … We were solid on defense as we always are, which is why we’ve made it this far.”
West Chester put runners on second and third with one out in the fourth, but Klimkowski responded with a strikeout before inducing a sharp one-hopper to shortstop to escape the jam.
Then came Rincon’s blast.
Two days after crushing a walk-off dwelling run to give Bayonne a dramatic 2-1 victory over Bridgewater, Mass., in its LLWS opener, Rincon went deep again.
He launched a solo shot to right-center area in the backside of the fourth to stretch the lead to 3-0, giving him dwelling runs in each of Bayonne’s first two video games in Williamsport.
“He’s a good player,” Smith advised The Post, “but he’ll tell you the same thing: He can’t win a game by himself. So as good as he is, we need everybody to do their job. Mason did his job. We were up 2-0 at the time, he gave us the third run, they scored a run the next inning, we were still up by two. We had that insurance run.”
Leandro Anaya completes a double play at first base. littleleague.org
Rincon also homered in Bayonne’s win over Port Washington to attain the Metro area last before being deliberately walked thrice in the win over Darien, Conn., that gave them a spot in the Little League World Series.
West Chester lastly broke through for an unearned run in the fifth and threatened for more, placing runners on second and third with two outs.
But Klimkowski again slammed the door with a strikeout to protect the 3-1 benefit.
He returned for the sixth and recorded one more out before his evening was completed, giving a tip of the cap as he left the mound, before Gabe Garcia Jr. got the last two outs to safe the win.
Klimkowski allowed just one unearned run on six hits over 5 ¹/₃ innings, placing out six with out issuing a stroll over 86 pitches.
Bayonne completed off the last two outs to safe the 3-1 win and proceed its historic first look in Williamsport.
The win prolonged the Hudson County group’s successful streak to 15 video games.
New Jersey will face Iowa at 1 p.m. Sunday for a spot in the U.S. winners bracket last.