BANGOR – The North Cumberland Little League of Upper Deerfield, N.J., gained the upper hand in its 2008 Senior League World Series opener Sunday by scoring four runs in the bottom of the first inning.

Righthanders Chet Godfrey and Jack Tyler made sure the U.S. East champions stayed on top, combining for a one-hitter during a 7-0 victory over Vilnius, Lithuania, in a Pool B matchup at Mansfield Stadium.

That duo required just 81 pitches to complete the game, primarily because they walked no one while striking out nine.

Godfrey yielded a third-inning single to center by Lithuania’s Deividas Vilbikas, but that was it as he struck out six in three innings before Tyler came on to retire 12 of the 13 batters he faced.

“It’s been like that most of the year,” said Upper Deerfield manager Jim Willis, whose roster consists primarily of players who competed together two years ago in the Junior League World Series. “We’ve got five quality pitchers and they all do a good job.

“They hit their spots very well. I can’t ask for much more than that. When you don’t put people on base, you’ve got a good chance to win the game.”

Upper Deerfield, now 18-0 in postseason play, took the drama out of this contest with a first-inning explosion.

The U.S. East champs sent nine batters to the plate against righthander Lukas Deksnys – one of six returning starters from a Lithuanian team making its second straight trip to the SLWS.

Mick hit a leadoff single and Barry Larro drew a one-out walk before Godfrey hit a two-run double to left-center and scored on the next pitch when Tyler lofted a deep triple to straightaway center.

Andrew Owens followed with an RBI double to right, and Upper Deerfield had a 4-0 lead.

“You just had to keep your weight back, watch the ball and try not to do too much with it,” said Mick of batting against Deksnys, who relied mostly on off-speed pitches. “You can’t go up there trying to hit home runs. Home runs just come. You just have to go up there and try not to do to much and hit the ball hard.”

Upper Deerfield added two runs in the third. Godfrey walked, stole second and then stole third as Tyler walked. Owens hit a sacrifice fly to right to plate Godfrey, and pinch-runner Mike Casper scored on a pop single to right by Joe Hamidy.

Mick tripled to center and scored on Larro’s two out single to center for Upper Deerfield’s final run in the fourth.

Mick finished with a triple, two singles and two runs scored, while Godfrey doubled, scored twice, drove in two runs and stole two bases.

“Chet came out and shut them down in the first inning and then we came out with a few hits in a row, and it just takes the momentum right out of the other team,” said Willis. “Then we were able to tack on a couple of more, and I was able to play some of my other players and they did a good job, too.

“It was a team effort.”

U.S. EAST 7, EMEA 0

Vilnius, Lithuania (0-1) Up. Deerfield, N.J. (1-0)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Vilbikas, 2b-p 3 0 1 0 Mick, ss-3b-2b 4 0

Dankovskis, ss 3 0 0 0 Fischer, rf 2 0

Bradauskas, 1b 3 0 0 0 Casper, pr-rf 2 0

Krukis, cf 3 0 0 0 Larro, cf 2 1 1

Kolduba, 3b 3 0 0 0 Godfrey, p-ss 2 2 2

Augustinas, lf 3 0 0 0 Tyler, 3b-p 2 1

Martunas, c 2 0 0 0 Owens, 1b 1 0 2

Sarapas, rf 2 0 0 0 Marshall, 1b 1 0 0

Deksnys, p 2 0 0 0 Hamidy, c 2 0 1

Maciulis, 2b 0 0 0 0 Johnson, c 1 0 0

Overstreet, 2b 1 0 0 0

Griffith, 3b 1 0 0 0

Willis, lf 2 0 0 0

Fogg, lf 1 0 0 0

Totals 24 0 1 0 Totals 24 7 9 7

EMEA 000 000 0 – 0

U.S. East 402 100 x – 7

E-Owens, Mick; LOB-EMEA 3, U.S. East 4; 2B-Godfrey, Owens; 3B-Mick, Tyler; DP-EMEA 2; SF-Owens; SB-Godfrey 2, Larro, Casper

EMEA IP H R ER BB SO

Deksnys (L, 0-1) 5 2/3 9 7 7 4 3

Vilbikas 1/3 0 0 0 0 0

U.S. East IP H R ER BB SO

Godfrey 3 1 0 0 0 6

Tyler (W, 1-0) 4 0 0 0 0 3

WP-Deksnys; T-1:35; ATT-500 (est.)