After two straight blowouts to open the 2025 Western Regional Little League 11-12-year-old softball tournament, Live Oak tasted the other half when it was silenced by Thornydale starter Kenzie Scott in a 1-0 loss Wednesday in the regional semifinals from San Bernardino. 

Thornydale LL (Tucson, Ariz.) will advance to Friday night’s Western Regional final against the winner of Live Oak (2-1) and Westchester/Del Rey (Southern California) at 5:45 p.m. on ESPN.

Live Oak drops into the elimination bracket and will have to play today (Thursday), needing a win against Westchester to stay alive. First pitch is set for 5:45 p.m. on the west coast. Locally, Live Oak Pizza Factory (10345 Live Oak Boulevard) will livestream the game on ESPN.

The winner of the west heads to Greenville, North Carolina for the Little League softball World Series.

Charlotte Dudek, Live Oak’s starter, came into Wednesday nearly as potent as she’d been the first two games of the double-elimination tournament. Dudek, who’d struck out 23 coming into the semifinals, had four through three innings and twice retired Thornydale LL on a total of nine pitches, per a report from a ESPN+ broadcast. Dudek, the younger sister of River Valley 2025 alumna Claudia Dudek, allowed just her second run of the tournament in the top of the fifth as Thornydale (3-0) jumped ahead 1-0 on Live Oak.

Scott, the starter for Thornydale, had five strikeouts through three frames and was almost equally as dominant in the circle. Scott had kept Live Oak off third base through four innings after Riley Perigo was picked off third trying to advance on a base hit with one out in the fourth.

The next inning, Scott’s productivity was rather seamless as Live Oak was shut down to keep the game at 1-0 Thornydale.

In the bottom of the sixth, Scott finished off her masterpiece with her 11 strikeout of the game to advance into the regional final on Friday. Dudek struck out eight in six innings, suffering her first loss of the tournament.Â