Joe Giulietti hit a grand slam and was the winning pitcher as the team from Irmo, S.C. — representing the Southeast Region — rolled past Massachusetts 13-0 at the Little League Baseball World Series on Thursday in South Williamsport, Pa.
South Carolina took a 2-0 lead into the second and quickly doubled that advantage on a bases-loaded wild pitch and Preston Ware’s single. The next batter was Giulietti, whose home run sailed over the fence in left field.
South Carolina added five more runs in the third inning and did not need to bat in the fourth. On the mound, Giulietti pitched 3 1/3 innings of no-hit ball with eight strikeouts and three walks. Brody Miller gave up one hit while finishing the fourth inning.
Colman Gouthro had the only hit for the team from Braintree, Mass. He was also their starting pitcher and gave up seven runs in 1 1/3 innings of work.
Japan 12, Czech Republic 0 (4 innings)
Kensei Takeuchi, Ritsugu Furusato and Tensei Yazawa held the team from Brno, Czech Republic without a hit as Tokyo ran away with a run-rule rout.
Takeuchi faced seven batters and struck out six of them. Furusato finished the third inning and Yazawa came in for the fourth, yielding the only Czech baserunner on a walk.
Offensively, Yushi Yamamoto had three RBIs, including a two-run triple, while Taisuke Someya and Taisei Suzuki each added two RBIs. Japan reached Czech starter Serafym Ustinov for nine runs on seven hits in the first 1 1/3 innings of the game.
Taiwan 3, Mexico 0
Lin Chin-Tse homered and also struck out nine while pitching three hitless innings as Tung-Yuan Little League, representing the Asia-Pacific Region, blanked El Swing Perfecto Little League from Chihuahua, representing Mexico.
Taiwan’s Chang Chun-Po threw two scoreless innings and went 2-for-2 while scoring a run. Chen Qi-Sheng tossed the last inning to complete a three-hit shutout.
Gregorio Madrid went 2-for-2 to lead Mexico. He also was the team’s starting pitcher, and he allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits in 2 2/3 innings.
South Dakota 2, Pennsylvania 0
Maxen Snoozy struck out 11 in a complete-game one-hitter, guiding Sioux Falls (S.D.) Little League, representing the Midwest Region, to a victory over Glenmoore Eagle Little League of Upper Uwchlan Township, Pa., representing the Mid-Atlantic Region.
Ethan Herbein’s first-inning single produced Pennsylvania’s lone baserunner of the game. South Dakota scored both runs in the first inning, on an RBI single from Camden Tycz and an RBI single by Kenson Henderson.
Henderson, Devin Aukes and Grayson Rehfeldt each had three hits for South Dakota.
–Field Level Media
