Read Yesterday's Post: Parade & Predictions
Read the complete LLWS Preview: Little League World Series 2013 Preview
Game 1: Panama (Aguadulce Cabezera) 9, Puerto Rico (San Lorenzo Samaritana) 4
We learned a few things in this game. For starters, Puerto Rico is nowhere near as good as they were when Manati was here a couple years ago. Secondly, the idea that they were the third best team in the region is probably true. Panama does NOT like the curveball. Despite dominating five of the six innings in the game, Panama struck out a ridiculous 15 times. They reached base on passed balls or wild pitches though five times.
I really liked the stuff of Jean Mar Sanchez on the mound for Panama. He struck out eight in four innings and gave up zero earned runs. He had a really rough fourth inning though. Daniel Fernandez and Juan Crisp each hit a long home run, but Puerto Rico's pitchers did a good job overall. The jury is out on both teams in my opinion.
Game 2: Washington (Sammamish Eastlake) 8, Texas (Corpus Christi Universal) 4
Talk about a surprise. Washington came in with a ton of praise for its bats and they delivered especially at the very top of the order. Jack Carper and Dalton Chandler were a combined 6-for-8 with a home run, triple, double, and three singles. They scored six of the eight runs. Nathan Fitzgibbons drove in the other two runs with a big two-out single in the first inning.
Washington jumped out 4-0 quickly and I think Texas was shell-shocked. Corpus Christi didn't use Jacob Garza to start, but Juan Sosa is no slouch and Washington still knocked him around. With Texas' pitching not dominating as much, the defense was exposed a little bit. They were sloppy and they'll admit it themselves.
Now onto the second guessing. Texas didn't start Jacob Garza. That was possibly the right move when the second game looked tougher on paper, but they still let Sosa go over 35 even with a 4-1 deficit, and then brought Garza in. When it was 5-4, it looked like they'd pull it out, but Washington continued to hit. On the other hand, Washington almost completely gave it away when it made its first pitching change. It's double elimination. Play to win today. Winners bracket is way more forgiving then the play everyday bracket.
Washington was definitely better than expected, but I think Texas' expectations were too high. The worst of it all? Texas spent Sosa and Garza for the losers bracket game on Saturday. Ouch.
Game 3: Mexico (Tijuana) 12, Australia (Perth Metro Central) 0, 3 1/2 innings
Well, Australia played its first game of the Little League World Series and they weren't bad. Okay, so they're not the deepest team in the world, but they know how to play and they don't make mistakes. They're just not on the same level as everyone else yet. I thought they were the most well-coached team of the day though. Oh yea, their star Chase Diggins is awesome. Mexico's Brandon Meza threw a 2-hitter. Diggins had both hits including a long double.
Mexico really picked it up though in the second inning. Alexander Artalejo doubled, Axcel Mandujano singled, and Meza ripped a two-run double. Australia smartly pulled Diggins from the game. That's when the wheels came off a bit. In the third inning, Miguel Artalejo hit a two-run triple, Meza hit a run-scoring single, and Brandon Monte came off the bench to crush a massive home run. That was all she wrote.
Mexico will play Panama in the winners bracket. Australia will have a tough game with Puerto Rico.
Game 4: Connecticut (Westport) 3, Tennessee (South Nashville) 2
Well the main event lived up to the billing. The lead changed three times throughout. Both teams pitched lights out, and the stars came to play.
Chad Knight struck out eight batters in 4 1/3 innings allowing one run on five hits. He scored the game's first run, and drove in the game-winning run in the bottom of the fifth inning. Tennessee's Ben Pickman entered the LLWS with a ridiculous .667 batting average. He maintained that with a double and solo home run and both runs scored. His first at-bat was a laced line drive right at the center fielder. He's flat-out awesome. I can't wait to see him pitch.
Connecticut jumped out to a 1-0 in the first with a Knight single and a Matt Stone RBI single, but Harry Azadian was thrown out at the plate by a great throw from who else... Ben Pickman. In the third inning, Pickman hit a two-out double and Chris McElvain dinked an RBI single to tie the game. Zane Denton added a single and Trae McLemore hit the ball hard but right at Ricky Offenberg... more on him in a second.
Tanner Morgan settled down for Tennessee and threw lights out for the next three innings. Connecticut helped out with a lot of first-pitch swinging. That approach kept Morgan's pitch count down and also didn't give CT a chance to take advantage of a tight strike zone behind the plate. In the fourth inning, Charlie Roof hit one in the gap and CT tried scoring a run from first base, but more great relays from Nashville meant another run cut down at the plate on a bang-bang play.
Keeping Knight at 65 pitches, Connecticut went to its co-ace Azadian in the fifth. A first-pitch curveball was blasted to dead center by Pickman for a 2-1 lead. It was the third straight breaking ball that Pickman ripped (Scouting Report Alert). Azadian shrugged it off and easily got the next two outs including another smooth play at short by Offenberg.
Trailing 2-1, Offenberg took a Morgan offering out of the yard to lead off the bottom of the inning and it was knotted 2-2. Chris Drbal singled with one out and moved to second on a passed ball. Max Popken flew out for the second out, but Chad Knight came through with an RBI-double and a 3-2 lead. Azadian has a single 1-2-3 inning to pick up the victory.
Connecticut will face Washington on Sunday in the winners bracket with Azadian facing Dahlstrom most likely. Tennessee will have Pickman against Texas.
For the record, this is Tennesee's fourth loss of the summer, all in the first game of a tournament. Their 15-game winning streak in elimination games will be on the line on Saturday.
World Series Rankings After Day 1
1. Panama
2. Connecticut
3. Mexico
4. Tennessee
5. Washington
6. Puerto Rico
7. Texas
8. Australia
OFF: Japan, Taiwan, Czech Republic, Canada, California, Michigan, Iowa, Delaware
Random Thoughts: It was a really well-played day of games. I know it's the LLWS, but you can count on some sloppiness usually. Not today though. There was only one great game today, but the games were all fun. Washington was a big surprise, otherwise everything went pretty much as planned. Pitching was very good, no true dominance on the mound by anyone really, and a few balls left the yard. Solid start.
Home Run Meter: 5
Prediction Record: 3-1
Friday's Predictions: Taiwan over Canada 5-0, California over Michigan 8-1, Japan over Czech Republic 10-0, Delaware over Iowa 5-3.
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You can listen to Little League Insider Radio from Sunday for a bit of an initial LLWS preview. I also did an interview on WRAK radio in Williamsport and discussed all the teams and their chances at winning some first round games. That interview isn't available for replay, but will be on WRAK a few times during the week. I'm hoping to get a schedule.
Listen to previous episodes of Little League Insider Radio
Episode 1
Episode 2
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