Williamsport officially met its newest star on Friday morning, and his name isn't on any MLB roster — yet. Cooper Thissen, a 12-year-old lefty from Davenport, Iowa, threw 5.1 hitless innings with 15 strikeouts and hit the game's only home run, carrying Davenport Northwest Little League to a 1-0 win over Sweetwater Valley of Bonita, California, in the Little League World Series opener. It wasn't just a win. It was a combined no-hitter — the kind of performance that makes a kid a household name by lunchtime.
A No-Hitter With an Asterisk, in the Best Way
Thissen's final line reads like a video game on rookie mode: 5.1 innings, zero hits, four walks, 15 strikeouts. He struck out the side in the top of the first, fanned 14 through five frames, and left with one out in the sixth only because Little League's 85-pitch limit ended his day. He departed with runners on the corners and a 1-0 lead. Enter Anthony Johnson Jr., who recorded the final two outs — the last one on a called third strike on a full count — to slam the door on the combined no-hitter.
Here's the part that makes the box score feel fictional: Thissen also drove in the only run of the game. Leading off the bottom of the first, he belted a solo home run to left-center, giving his team a lead it would never relinquish. He struck out the side in the top half of the inning, then jogged to the plate and went deep. One kid. Both sides of the game. No-hitter and the winning run, all before the sun got high over Volunteer Stadium.
The Other Ace Wasn't Bad Either
Lost in the Thissen show is that Sweetwater Valley's Noah Kirk was brilliant in a losing effort — 4.2 innings, 13 strikeouts, and just two hits allowed. Both hits came off the bat of the same kid. The two pitchers combined for 28 strikeouts over roughly nine innings, which is the kind of duel you'd pay to watch at any level of baseball. It took the full 85-pitch max to get Thissen out of there, and Kirk's own pitch count ended his day in the fourth. For a while it looked like the game might end 1-0 on a single swing, and that's exactly what happened.
An Iowa Team Built for This Stage
This isn't a Cinderella story that got lucky in Williamsport. Davenport Northwest has been dominant all summer — the team has lost just one game since being assembled, outscoring opponents by more than 50 runs across six games in the Iowa state tournament. Thissen threw a no-hitter in the state title game. He punched out 14 in the Midwest Regional championship win over Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin — a 7-6, extra-inning thriller that ended on a wild pitch with Anthony Johnson Jr. sliding home ahead of the tag.
That regional final was the dramatic one: Iowa trailed 6-4 entering the bottom of the seventh before Kannon Kane tied it with a two-run single, setting up the walk-off wild pitch. The win sent Davenport to Williamsport for the first time since 2005 and made Iowa the Midwest's representative for the first time since 2022. The roster — Thissen on the mound, Johnson Jr. at first, Kane behind the plate — is a collection of two-way talent that looks built for a deep run at the World Series.
What Makes Thissen Special
Per ESPN's broadcast, the kid's fastball sits in the mid-70s — which, with Little League's shortened mound-to-plate distance, translates to roughly a mid-90s heater at the big-league level. He's listed at 5-foot-8, bats left, throws left, and plays pitcher, catcher, shortstop, and center field. He's not just a pitcher who happens to hit; he's a genuine two-way force, the kind of player Little League scouts (and, eventually, much bigger scouts) circle immediately.
His demeanor on the mound is the other part of the story. Through five no-hit innings he never seemed to speed up, pumping strikes and pumping his fist only after the biggest outs. When he reached his pitch limit with the tying runs aboard in the sixth, he handed the ball off without drama — and Johnson Jr. rewarded the trust with a strikeout to end the threat. That's the unselfish, team-first stuff that wins tournaments.
What's Next for the Midwest Champs
The win puts Davenport Northwest in the winner's bracket of the U.S. side at the 2026 Little League World Series, which runs through the championship game on Sunday, Aug. 30. The tournament has been full of storylines — teams from 10 U.S. regions and eight international regions, weather postponements that reshuffled the schedule, and now a 12-year-old from Iowa throwing a no-hitter on national television. Davenport will need more of the same from its pitching staff, which is deeper than most: Thissen and Johnson Jr. both showed they can handle big moments, and the offense has proven it can scratch runs across in tight games.
One win down, and the scariest part for the rest of the bracket is this: Thissen is only 12, he's already thrown two no-hitters this summer, and the pitch-count rules mean he'll be fresh again before the tournament gets truly serious. Iowa waited 21 years to get back to Williamsport. Based on Friday morning, it's not leaving quietly.
For the kid himself, the plan stays simple. "That'd be incredible if we did win it," Thissen said before the tournament, "but (we're) just excited to be here as well." Excited, sure. And also the owner of a 15-strikeout, game-winning-home-run day at the Little League World Series. Some kids grow up dreaming about that exact afternoon. Cooper Thissen just lived it.
Ryan Whitaker
Ryan Whitaker covers sports through a data-driven lens, using trends, matchups, and key numbers to turn complex information into useful takeaways.