Last week Warwick West Side won it’s Major Division tournament opener largely on the arm of 11-year-old Chris Duchesneau. On Sunday, another 11-year-old proved to be too much for the West Siders to handle.

Warwick Continental made the short trip up Post Road on Sunday afternoon and 11-year-old James Meizoso made quite an impression in his first start of the all-star season. Meizoso struck out nine and allowed just five hits in a 3-0 shutout over West Side. Continental’s bats were quiet compared to the team’s 11-0 opening round win over Narragansett but, with Meizoso on the mound, run support wasn’t much of an issue Sunday.

“The only complaint I’ve got is that he only struck out nine,” joked Continental manager Al Mann of Meizoso. “He did a great job. He got out of a couple of jams; one with the bases loaded, and didn’t give up a run. He was terrific.”

Steven Noti, Meizoso’s West Side counterpart, pitched well but would have needed to be perfect to have a chance to win.

Noti gave up one run in the first on some well-executed small-ball from Continental. Ryan Rotondo led off with a single to left, moved to second on a bunt single from E.J. Nygren and reached third on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Joey DeGiulio. Noti fanned cleanup hitter Tyler Ekroth before Meizoso drove in the game’s first run with a single to center field. It would stand as the game-winning RBI.

Continental made it 2-0 in the fourth on singles by Max Lupovitz, Zack Azeredo and Rotondo, but the play that won’t show up in the box score came when Nate Duffney narrowly beat out a potential inning-ending double play. Duffney’s hustle allowed Lupovitz to reach third and he came home on Rotondo’s third hit of the game.

“I think we turned two there,” West Side manager Kurt Rix said. “I think that we had [Duffney] at first but they only gave us one out. What can you do? It was a close play but I think that we got him.”

It was one of the few times that West Side didn’t make the play in the field.

West Side showed some solid glove work in the third when shortstop Alex LeFebvre made a running stab at a ball up the middle, stepped on second and fired to first to complete a double play. Second baseman Tyler Perry showed his skills just one batter later with a great play to beat Meizoso at first.

“Those are the two best defensive players in the league, by far, and they really showed it today,” Rix said. “They recovered from a tough game last time, especially LeFebvre. He’s a heads-up player and he’s really good all the way around. He had a great game today.”

Continental tacked on its final run in the fifth when DeGiulio singled and came all the way around to score on a two-out hit by Joe Christiansen that was misplayed in right. Noti went 4.2 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits. He struck out six and walked two before turning the ball over to reliever Tyler Mantaian.

“Steven did a good job,” Rix said. “He came in to close out our last game and threw really well, which gave us the confidence to start him in this game. He did a really good job but it was just a couple of the same kids who kept putting the ball in play and giving him trouble.”

Meizoso needed 11 pitches to get out of the fifth inning and was even more efficient in the sixth, retiring the side on just seven pitches. West Side’s Trent Perry opened the final frame with a single to left but, after a strikeout by Brendan Rix, the team’s comeback hopes ended on a well-turned 4-6-3 double play by Zack Bacon, Rotondo and Tyler Davey.

“That was a hard-hit ball,” Mann said. “Bacon had to back up on it to make the play and, usually, you can’t make the play when that happens. But he grabbed it and made a good throw, Rotondo turned it and Davey made a nice play at first. He just catches everything you throw at him.”

The double play ended a sparkling outing for Meizoso, who needed just 74 pitches to complete six innings. He allowed just two runners to reach third base in the game and worked out of trouble in the second, fourth and fifth innings, belying his first-year status at the all-star level.

“When you’re a pitcher you have to be mature,” Mann said. “You have to go out there and have confidence in yourself. I think that Meizoso did that today.”

“Our pitching and defense were excellent, but our hitting let us down a little bit,” Rix said. “In the regular season you can win games with just pitching and defense but, in the all-star season, you need all three. You can’t win any games with a zero on the board.”

Rotondo led Continental with three hits while E.J. Nygren added two and DeGiulio, Meizoso, Lupovitz, Christiansen and Azeredo each had one in the winning effort. Those 10 hits were a positive sign, but only managing three runs in the game left Continental’s stars a little frustrated.

“We got some nice hits but, as a team, we struck out too many times,” Mann said. “If we had executed a little better then I think we could have gotten a couple more runs. It’s a little aggravating to see that. We’re going to see some more tough pitching and we need to be able to score.”

It was a similar sentiment in the opposing dugout. Meizoso didn’t overpower West Side but his effective use of his off-speed pitches, as well Continental’s flawless defense, helped keep West Side, which scored five runs in its opener, off the scoreboard.

“We lost the hitting side and it’s hard to say why,” Rix said. “I actually thought that this pitcher was a little more hittable than the guy we faced in our first game. But it’s Little League; it’s unpredictable. They’ll come around again but they had an off day today.”

The loss sent West Side to the second round of the District 3 losers’ bracket, where they faced another city rival, Warwick American, on Monday night. The winner of that game will advance to play the winner of South Kingstown American/Wickford on Wednesday night.

Continental advanced to the winners’ bracket semifinal and will have the benefit of playing its first home game of the tournament on Wednesday night. The team will host Exeter-West Greenwich at 7 p.m. with the winner moving on to the winners’ bracket final next Monday.

“This was a very good win for us,” Mann said. “West Side is a good team and I am happy with how we played. The whole team, including the bench, all chipped in tonight. Now we just have to keep it up.”