Bob Frazier hit a bases-loaded triple to punctuate a four-run first inning, Walker Osborne tossed a complete game and Ohio sailed past Iowa 7-1 in the lower-bracket final Thursday to advance to the U.S. championship game of the Little League Baseball World Series in South Williamsport, Pa.

The squad from Hamilton, Ohio, will face the team from Henderson, Nev., on Saturday to decide who will represent the U.S. in the LLBWS final. Ohio’s only loss of the tournament came against Nevada in a 6-5 decision in the tournament opener for both teams.

Josiah Infante went 3-for-3 with an RBI for the Great Lakes Region representatives. Eleven of Ohio’s 12 hits were singles. Osborne scattered four hits and three walks with four strikeouts.

Crue Neff drove in Iowa’s only run on a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the fifth, but it wasn’t enough to spark a late rally. Kannon Kane went 4 1/3 innings on the mound for the team from Davenport, Iowa, yielding five runs on nine hits with five strikeouts.

Both the U.S. and International lower-bracket finals were moved up to 9 a.m. ET starts to avoid inclement weather in the forecast.

Japan 4, Nicaragua 1

Rui Tobata hit two doubles, the latter a two-run tiebreaking hit in the bottom of the fifth, and Japan pulled away from Nicaragua in the International lower-bracket final.

Shinnosuke Ijima threw a complete-game four-hitter with 11 strikeouts. The squad from Tokyo fell behind 1-0 in the top of the fourth when Jose Martinez Padilla sent a single to left.

Ijima (two hits) tied the game in the bottom half with an RBI single, and Tensei Yazawa followed Tobata’s double with one of his own to make it 4-1. Ijima struck out the side in the sixth to lock down the win.

The Latin America representatives from Leon, Nicaragua, bowed out after a strong start that saw them roll past the Dominican Republic, Panama and Mexico. They lost the upper-bracket final to undefeated Curacao, which will face Japan in the International final Saturday.

–Field Level Media