myworldofbaseball

There are now two loser’s bracket teams and one winner’s bracket team from the domestic and international pools. The two losers bracket teams will battle tomorrow to determine who will play Japan and the Southeast. The championship game will be played Sunday.

Japan 10 Canada 0

Japan has allowed only one run in their three Little League World Series game. They made easy work of Canada, scoring in four of the five innings they played. Three different Japanese pitchers allowed just one hit. Tomi Tsubasa allowed that hit but pitched three innings to get the win. Natsuki Yajima was a perfect 3 for 3 with three runs scored and three RBIs on a homerun and two singles. Yuya Nakajima went deep for his only hit, but he also drove in three runs.

Canada will play Mexico in the semi-finals of the International bracket. The winner will play Japan for the international championship.

Southeast (North State) 2 Southwest (Lufkin) 1

The first game myworld remembers going extra innings. Southwest made two errors in the seventh inning to give Southeast the win and a spot in the winner’s bracket to await their opponent for the semi-final game. Carson Hardee was a perfect 2 for 2 with two walks for Souteast. His homerun in the first inning was the lone run for the Southeast until the 7th inning. The Southwest was limited to one hit, a Mark Requena double in the third inning. A wild pitch and ground out scored the run. Matthew Matthijs was dominate in relief. He worked 4.1 innings of relief and struck out 12 of the 13 hitters he faced. In his 9 innings of work he has yet to give up a hit and struck out 20, with his two walks the only baserunner.

The Southwest will play New England in the semi-finals of the domestic bracket.

New England (Fairfield American) 12 Mid-Atlantic (Holbrook) 2

New England exploded for five runs in the first to bury Mid-Atlantic early. Troy Ashkinos hit a grand slam homerun in the fourth inning, driving in five runs to lead the New England offense. The grand slam eliminated any hope of a comeback by Mid-Atlantic after they had crept to 5-2 after three innings.

New England will play Southwest in the finals of the loser’s bracket. The winner will play the Southeast for the domestic championship.

Back to back to back homeruns always create a lot of buzz. When they result in a walkoff homerun that buzz turns into a frenzy. The Yokohama Bay Stars are fighting for a playoff spot. They were playing the first place Hiroshima Carp. The Carp were leading 5-2 going into the bottom of the ninth.

Tatsuhiro Shibata started the inning off innocently enough with a single off starter Yusuke Nomura. Yoshitomo Tsutsugo ended the day for Nomura with a blast to right to pull the Bay Stars to within one. Closer Takeru Imamura came on to try to pick up his 24th save. Jose Lopez greeted him with a homerun to left field to tie the game. That brought up Toshiro Miyazaki. He drove a pitch from Imamura over the left field fence for a walk off game winning homer.

The fans in Yokohama must have been going crazy after that hit. The win puts Yokohama about two games ahead of the Yomiuri Giants for the second wild card spot and about three games behind the Hanshin Tigers for the first wild card spot.

Only one game that had some significance. Australia beat the Mid-West 11-7, but that was just a game to get the kids one more game. Both Australia and the Midwest have been eliminated.

Mexico 8 Latin America (Venezuela) 0

After winning yesterday on a walkoff triple, the Venezuelan bats went cold. Isaac Miranda limited the bats to just two hits then turned it over to Erick Vazquez for the last five outs. Erick struck out for of the five hitters he faced. Andre Garza hit his third homerun for the tournament. He only has three hits. The only game he has not hit a homerun he walked twice. Samuel Juarez also hit a homerun, his first of the tournament. A five run second put the game out of reach.

All the teams that played today are 1-1. A loss means elimination. A win means one more day in Williamsport. The major leaguers have left for larger cities. The nosy nights of anticipation waiting to come fact to face with a major leaguer has been replaced by the intense desire to survive one more day to win the Little League World Series, which Todd Frazier is the only current major leaguer who can make claim to a championship.

Mexico 1 Asia Pacific (Korea) 0

This was an old fashioned pitchers duel. Jorge Garcia and Andre Garza combined to limit Korea to just one hit. Jorge Garcia went four innings, giving up the lone hit and walking three. Garza walked two but five of the six outs he recorded were by strikeouts. For Korea Ahn Ky-Um did not allow a hit but walked four in his 2.2 innings of work. In the third inning his two walks finished the day for him. Shin Jin-Won gave up the one hit, to Jorge Lambarria to plate the one run in the game to give Mexico the 1-0 victory and one more day of life.

Mid-Atlantic (Holbrook) 12 West (Santa Margarita) 9

Mid-Atlantic erupted for 9 runs in the third inning to take a 12-1 lead then hung on to complete the victory. R.J. Vashey went deep twice for Mid-Atlantic to drive in three runs. Charlie Meglio also went deep for Mid-Atlantic to drive in two. Drew Rutter drove in three runs with his two doubles in a losing cause for the West.

Latin America (Venezuela) 3 Caribbean (Dominican Republic) 2

The two countries with the most major leaguers outside the United States are always making claims that they have the best baseball talent. Venezuela proved to be the best on this day. Barely. They had to rally for two runs in the last inning to win the game. Omar Romero lined a one out walk off triple with two runners on base to win the game. The Dominicans could only manage one hit off the duo of Dario Cardozo and Jorge Daboin, but took advantage of the two passed balls to score both of their runs.

New England American (Fairfield) 14 Northwest (Walla Walla) 6

An 8 run fourth inning wiped out a 5-2 Northwest lead and was enough to give New England the victory. Michael Iannazzo was a perfect 3 for 3 with a homerun and three RBIs. Christian Smith also drove in three runs with his homerun. Matthew Vivona pitched a scoreless sixth inning to secure the victory for New England.

The Little Leaguers got a real treat when major league baseball played a game between the Pittsburgh Pirates against the St. Louis Cardinals at Williamsport Bowman Field. The stadium only holds 2,500 but that did not stunt the enthusiasm in Williamsport as major leaguers attended games, bought a couple hundred snow cones for the players and made their presence known. It was also a good opportunity for the major leaguers to watch some good games. None of the eight teams who played today had lost.

Canada 7 Latin America (Venezuela) 3

All the runs were scored in the first three innings. Reid Hefflick and Nathaniel Factor each hit three run homeruns to lead Canada. Reece Usselman pitched the last the last 2.1 innings without allowing a run to clinch the game for Canada. Jonney Rosario hit a two run homerun for Venezuela and Daniel Acurero shut out Canada for the last 3.2 innings, striking out six.

Southwest (Lufkin) 6 New England (Fairfield) 3

Christian Mumphery went deep twice to drive in three runs to lead the Southwest to the win. Collin Ross pitched all six innings for the win, striking out eight. He also drove in one run.

Japan 4 Asia Pacific (Korea) 1

Japan got six solid innings from Riku Goto to lead Japan to victory. He gave up just one run and struck out seven. Natsuki Yajima collected two hits, driving in one run and scoring one run. Keitaro Miyhara scored twice.

Southeast (North State) 16 West (Santa Margarita)0

Both teams won their previous games by shutouts. Southeast continued their shutout streak with their second straight no hitter of the tourney. The West is wondering when the nightmare is over. The Southeast scored 9 runs in the fifth inning to end the game early. Chase Anderson and Matthew Matthigs again combined for a no hitter. Carson Hardee hit a grand slam and drove in five runs on the offensive side.

Andrelton Simmons has always been known for his glove. This year he is again one of the top players for runs saved on the defensive side of the equation. His bat has usually been quiet. This year it has not with a .290 average and 13 homeruns. Against the Orioles he made a couple nice defensive plays to save runs and on offense he smashed a two run homer deep into the left field bleachers to lead the Los Angeles Angels over the Baltimore Orioles 5-4. If the season ended today the Angels would make the playoffs as the second wild card team.

Kole Calhoun got things started for the Angels with a leadoff solo homerun off Chris Tillman in the second inning. They added another run in the third inning after a leadoff walk to Ben Revere. Revere stole second during a swinging strike three by Mike Trout. Albert Pujols lined a single into left field. Trey Mancini threw a rainbow to home that had no chance to get Revere, who scored to give the Angels a 2-0 lead.

Chris Davis made it 2-1, connecting on a pitch and hitting it down the left field line. Revere made the leap but he came up short and Davis had a homerun to pull the Orioles to within one. Ex-O Parker Bridwell shut the O’s down until the sixth inning, when an error by Cliff Pennington allowed two unearned runs to score. The Orioles traded Bridwell to the Angels in April for a player to be named later or cash.

Andrelton Simmons appeared to put the game away in the sixth when he lofted a high fly deep into the left field bleachers off of Chris Tillman. A walk to Luis Valbuena finished the day for Tillman. It has been an awful year for Tillman as he left the mound with a 7.75 ERA. It was his first start since August 3, when he was moved to the bullpen.

The Orioles battled back in the sixth. After a Caleb Joseph lead off single, Cliff Pennington made a poor throw to Simmons at second on a slow grounder by Tim Beckham. His best play was probably at first base. Manny Machado lined a single into right field to load the bases and Jonathan Schoop ended the day for Bridwell with a two run single into right center field. Adam Jones grounded out into a fielder’s choice when Manny Machado was thrown out at home. With two outs Mark Trumbo lined one into the gap for a ground rule double. Adam Jones would have scored easily from first base if the ball had not bounced over the fence. That proved critical when Chris Davis swung and missed on a high 99 mile per hour fastball from Keynan Middleton, leaving Jones stranded at second.

The Angels had runners on first and third with one out with Albert Pujols at the plate. Manny Machado had a grounder sneak underneath his glove for a critical error. With a .230 average Albert is not the hitter he once was. He bailed out Manny by grounding into a double play to end the inning.

Brad Brach pitched a second inning when he started the 8th. He walked two of the three hitters he faced. Mychal Givens came in to replace him. Cameron Maybin pinch hit for Juan Graterol and lined a single into right field. The ball beat the runner Kole Calhoun to the plate but Caleb Joseph could not catch the one hop throw and the Angels recaptured the lead.

Bud Norris put two runners on in the ninth, but struck out Caleb Joseph and got Tim Beckham to ground out back to the mound to end the game.

Game Notes: Cliff Pennington has a nice double play pivot. He turned two double plays…Trey Mancini does not have an arm in left field. He threw a rainbow to home on a single by Pujols…This is a tale of two teams going in opposite directions. The Angels improved their record to 64-60 while the Orioles fell to 60-64. The Angels are the second wild card team if the season ended today winning nine of their last 11 games. The O’s have at least three teams to jump if they want to make the wild card, losing 8 of their last 12…Oriole pitchers walked nine hitters. Kole Calhoun and Luis Valbuena walked three times each. Three of the nine walks scored.

A couple laughers and a couple close games in four elimination games.

Caribbean (Dominican) 8 Australia 7

Australia made a valiant comeback scoring five runs in the last two innings, but still fell short. Edward Triunfel went 3 for 3 with three hits and three RBIs. Australia committed five errors in the game, resulting in two unearned runs scoring for the Dominicans. Australia has now been eliminated from the tourney.

Northwest (Walla Walla) 4 Midwest (Sioux Falls) 3

Caiden Thompson drove in three runs with a two run double in the first inning and an RBI single in the fifth to give the Northwest enough runs to secure a victory. The Midwest rallied for two in the final inning, but just like Australia the runs came up short. Marcus Phillips drove in all the runs for the Midwest with a solo homerun in the first and a two run homer in the sixth. Andrew Hall for the Northwest and Ethan Burns for the Midwest each pitched a complete game in a match that meant elimination for the losing team.

Mexico 13 Europe/Africa (Italy) 0

In another elimination game Italy could not record a hit off four Mexican pitchers. On the flip side Mexican hitters banged around the Italian pitchers for 13 hits and five walks to complete the four inning rout. The top two hitters in the lineup accounted for much of the Mexican offense. Saul Soto, the number two hitter was a perfect 4 for 4 with two doubles, three RBIs and two runs scored. Isaac Miranda drove in a team leading four runs from the leadoff spot, scoring three times on a 2 for 3 day with a double and a homerun. Andre Garza also drove in three runs with a homerun in the second inning.

Mid-Atlantic (Holbrook) 15 Great Lakes (Gross-Point Woods Shore) 5

This game was tied 5-5 after two, but a 9 run fourth inning ended the game early because of the 10 run slaughter rule. Great Lakes was eliminated from the tournament. Chris Cartnick slugged two homeruns and a double to drive in six runs to lead Mid-Atlantic. For Cartnick he now has three homeruns and 8 RBIs in the two games Mid-Atlantic has played. Ryan Kinsman was a perfect 2 for 2 from the leadoff spot with two doubles to drive in three and score twice.

There was a combined perfect game on the second day of the Little League World Series. Japan appears to be the team to beat, based on what myworld sees from the results.

Japan 8 Australia 0

Japan cruised past the Aussies. Japan used four different pitchers to pitch the shutout, giving up only two hits. Combined the Japanese pitchers whiffed 10. The Japanese scored a run in all five innings they batted, with a four run fifth putting the game out of reach. Keitaro Miyahara led the offense with three hits. Five wild pitches and two errors resulted in four runs scoring for Japan.

West (Santa Margarita) 9 Northwest (Walla Walla Valley) 0

Bobby Gray was two outs away from pitching a complete game no hit shutout, but had to yield to Bryan Ramirez to get the last two outs after giving up a one out single. Joey Gray hit a grand slam in the first to give the West an early lead. He finished 2 for 2 with a walk and five RBIs. Drew Rutter crossed the plate three times.

Korea (Asia Pacific) 10 Dominican Republic (Caribbean) 1

Korea spanked the Dominicans, slugging four homeruns. Jin-Won Shin powered two homeruns, driving in four and scoring three times He also doubled. Ye-Joon Khym and Dong-Heon Kim also went deep. Khym went a perfect 3 for 3 and scored four runs.

South East (Greenville) 6 Midwest (Sioux Falls) 0

Three different pitchers, Chase Anderson, Matthew Matthijis and Carson Hardee combined for a perfect game no hitter. Anderson worked three innings, striking out four of the 10 whiffs on the day. Matthijis struck out five in his 2.2 innings of work. Drew Fields and Ashton Byars each drove in two runs to lead the Greenville offense.

The Little League World Series has completed their first day. Below are the results:

Latin America (Venezuela) 4 Mexico 1

Despite the chaos in Venezuela they were able to send a team to participate in the Little League World Series. Jonney Rosario pitched five innings, allowing just one run and striking out seven in the Venezuelan victory. Juan Faria contributed two RBI singles on a 2 for 3 day to contribute to the win. Andre Garza hit a solo homer for Mexico in the second inning to give them a brief 1-0 lead.

Canada 12 Europe/Africa (Italy) 2

Canada scored 7 in the third, a Chase Marshall grand slam the big hit of the inning. Chase finished the day with 5 RBIs after a solo shot. Robert Orr drove in three runs in a game that went only four innings. Ty Fluet had a perfect 3 for 3 day with three runs scored.

New England 7 Mid Atlantic 6

New England was able to withstand a four run sixth inning to hold off Mid-Atlantic. Tai Mann hit a two run homer in the sixth and Chris Cartnick made it back to back, but New England fell one run short. New England scored in every inning but the fifth, Matthew Vivona one of three players to drive in two runs for New England. He also scored twice.

Southwest 5 Great Lakes 1

Southwest went deep four times with Hunter Ditsworth driving in two with his blast. He also pitched a six inning, one run complete game, striking out eight to get the win. Collin Ross hit two solo shots and Clayton Wigley also added a solo shot. Ditsworth gave up two hits, one of them a solo shot from Will Pfaum in the final inning.

Howie Kendrick had hit a walk off grand slam on Sunday. After taking the day off Howie went deep twice in the Nationals 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night. Gio Gonzalez pitched another near no-no, allowing his first hit on a Cameron Maybin infield single with two out in the sixth inning.

Tyler Skaggs pitched well for the Angles. He threw close to 50 pitches after two innings, putting himself in three ball counts to three batters in the second inning. Only Howie Kendrick could cross the plate against Skaggs, hitting solo homeruns in the third and fifth innings. He was pinch hit for in the top of the sixth with a pitch count of 91.

The Nationals scored a run in the sixth inning off Bud Norris in the sixth inning. Anthony Rendon led the inning off with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Matt Wieters hit a ground ball underneath the glove of Albert Pujols, allowing the ball to trickle into right field, enough for Rendon to score from second. Pujols was given an error on the play.

Gio Gonzalez scrambled out of the sixth inning. After giving up a two out infield single to Maybin, Mike Trout lined a single into centerfield. A wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third. When Gonzalez got behind Pujols 3-1 the Nationals chose to intentionally walk him. Jefry Marte hit a screaming liner that appeared to be heading towards the right centerfield gap, but Daniel Murphy made a leaping catch to end the inning.

The Nationals bullpen retired the Angels in order in the last three innings, except for a one out solo shot by Cliff Pennington in the eighth off Brandon Kintzler. For Pennington it was only his second homerun of the year.

Game Notes: Anthony Rendon finished the game with three hits to elevate his average back over the .300 mark…Ryan Madson has not been available for relief because of a finger issue. Matt Albers pitched the seventh inning in his place…Brian Goodwin was placed on the disabled list because of a groin issue…Myworld was a day late in reporting this game. Volleyball tryouts kept us busy.