The teams from Fairfield, Conn., and Taiwan won their Little League World Series contests by 7-3 margins on Wednesday and are the last undefeated squads remaining in the competition in Williamsport, Pa.
The Tung-Yaun LL squad (3-0) defeated Barquisimeto, Venezuela, in the first game of the day, while the Fairfield National LL team (4-0) edged the Mountain region representative from Las Vegas.
The Asia-Pacific representatives scored twice in the opening inning off of a pair of bases-loaded walks by Andres Reyes Querales.
They scored once in the same fashion in the fourth inning, then broke the game open with a three-run fifth when Chen Qi-Sheng hit a bases-clearing double. He was 2-for-2 with two runs and three RBIs.
The Cardenales LL squad representing the Latin America region tried to battle back, scoring three times in the bottom of the fifth. Abraham Rodriguez capped the uprising with an RBI single.
Connecticut 7, Nevada 3
In the second game between undefeated Fairfield and Las Vegas, the Summerlin South LL squad from Nevada took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Cache Malan hit a three-run homer over the center field fence.
But Connecticut struck back for three runs in the top of the third inning on an RBI single by Luca Pellegrini and a run-producing single by SJ Taxiltaridis. Pellegrini put Connecticut ahead 4-3 with another base hit in the fifth, and the Metro region representative added three more runs in the sixth, highlighted by Tommy D’Amura’s solo home run.
Connecticut banged out 12 hits by eight different players. Taxiltaridis pitched 5 1/3 innings, yielding three runs on seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts to earn the victory.
Taiwan and Connecticut have advanced to the International and United States finals, respectively, while Venezuela and Nevada face elimination games on Thursday.
Aruba 3, Japan 0
One pitch after fouling off a bunt in the fifth inning of a scoreless tie, Aruba’s Diliano Raven lined a 2-run homer over the left-field fence to lift the Caribbean Region team to the elimination-game win.
Aruba had just one hit off Tokyo, Japan starter Kensei Takeuchi through four innings, but Anthony Santos led off the fifth with a single. After an out, Raven tried to bunt Santos into scoring position. After sending his bunt foul, Raven jumped on a high breaking pitch for his home run that made it 2-0. One out later, Emerson Mercado added a solo shot to center to push the lead to 3-0.
Arnold Gismar Martha and Jeter Filiciana combined on the 3-hit shutout for Santa Cruz, Aruba, which advanced to Thursday’s International consolation final against Latin America. Gismar Martha allowed three hits and one walk while fanning six in 3 2/3 innings. Filiciana struck out three and walked one in 2 1/3 innings.
South Carolina 7, South Dakota 6 (7 innings)
Andrew Bogan’s two-run double to right field capped a six-run seventh-inning rally from Irmo (S.C.) Little League, which stunned Sioux Falls (S.D.) Little League in an elimination game.
South Carolina, representing the Southeast Region, yielded five runs in the top of the seventh before responding in the bottom of the inning. Sutton Gravelle and Brayden Gerard provided RBI hits and Preston Ware and Brady Westbrooks drew bases-loaded walks to slice the deficit to one run. Bogan then came through with the walk-off hit.
South Dakota, representing the Midwest Region, went ahead in the top of the seventh on Tate Schneider’s single. Maxen Snoozy and Devin Aukes followed with RBI doubles, Kenson Henderson hit an RBI single, and another run scored on an error.
Sutton Gravelle led South Carolina with two hits, while Aukes and Camden Tycz each countered with two for South Dakota.
–Field Level Media
