Game 13: Mexico 13, Panama 0 (4 innings)
Soooo, Mexico is good, huh? Tijuana blasted five home runs including two off the bat of Ramon Mendoza to whip the Panamanians in a mercy-rule victory. Luis Manzo quietly allowed just one hit in four innings and struck out four. It was the Mexican bats that really opened eyes though.
Brandon Montes led the game off with a home run and TJ never looked back. Martin Gonzalez was 3-for-3 with four runs scored, a home run, and a double. Mendoza added seven RBI, and Saul Favela also homered. This team is legit.
Game 14: Connecticut 9, Washington 7
What a game. Westport, Connecticut's bats woke up in this one and the game changed in the second inning. Westport hit the ball hard for an inning and a half and then Tatin Llamas blasted a line drive off Eastlake pitcher Jake Dahlstrom's knee. Dahlstrom had to leave the game and the floodgates opened. Max Popken had an RBI single, Chad Knight (2-for-3) walked to bring in a run, Azadian (3-for-3, HR, 2B, 4 RBI) brought two in with a single, and Roof had two hits in the inning including an RBI.
In the fourth inning, Azadian ripped a two-run home run to give Connecticut a 9-1 lead and Westport decided to pull Azadian from the game to keep him eligible for the winners bracket final game. That's when the wheels nearly fell off. Azadian allowed four hits in 3 1/3 innings, but was in complete control. Washington feasted on CT's relief pitching though Jack Titus had an RBI single, Jack Matheson and Austin Oh added RBIs and Bryce Delay had a double. A pair of unusual errors and three walks aided the rally. In the sixth, with a two-run lead Alex Reiner continued to show his guts on the mound and got a huge strikeout with the tying run at the plate to end the game.
This was the second or third time that Connecticut survived some gutsy pitching moves. Credit to Tim Rogers and company for making the moves (They are the only unbeaten team in the country), but wow its crazy. If they only had one ace, I'd agree with the moves wholeheartedly. With two aces and one of them already available and a huge dropoff to your number four pitcher... I would've kept Azadian out there. At least until 65. It worked though and that's why they're going to be one of the last three teams left in the United States.
Game 15: California 15, Delaware 3 (4 innings)
Talk about a statement. Eastlake LL from Chula Vista CA brought its bats on Sunday and hit around one of the best pitchers at the Little League World Series. It started right from the get-go. Micah Pietila-Wiggs ripped a HARD line drive single to open it up and then Jake Espinoza took a curve ball the other way for a home run to tie the game 2-2 after one. In the second inning, Patrick Archer had his second big hit in as many games with a double. After a walk, Pietila-Wiggs hit a 73 MPH fastball more than 300 feet to left field for the longest home run I've ever seen at Volunteer Stadium. The ball was absolutely crushed.
Delaware went to its bullpen and Michael Gaines added a home run off the bench. Finally in the fourth inning, California added eight runs including two more RBIs from Gaines, an RBI single from Archer, and a grand slam from previously hitless Grant Holman to walk off with the mercy-rule victory.
Delaware had issues from the start with mound problems and a team that hits like they've never seen before. Nick Mora pitched well for California and Delaware did a nice job against him as well. Nate Hardcastle had a single, 11-year old Jack Hardcastle had a two-run double, and 11-year old Brandon Sengphachanh blasted a home run.
Game 16: Japan 3, Chinese Taipei 2
Japan and Chinese Taipei played a classic and typical game from two of the strongest countries in Little League Baseball. Japan took a 1-0 lead in the second with an RBI double from Dai Okada, the nine hitter. Japan's pitching held that lead until the sixth inning when Takuma Gomi ripped a two-run home run to increase the lead to 3-0. Chinese Taipei scored two runs in the sixth and had the tying run on base, but a fly out to end the game put Japan in the winners bracket final against Mexico.
LLWS Rankings After Day 4
1. Mexico
2. California
3. Japan
4. Chinese Taipei
5. Connecticut
6. Tennessee
7. Washington
8. Panama
9. Delaware
10. Puerto Rico
11. Texas
12. Canada
13. Iowa
14. Czech Republic
15. Michigan
16. Australia
Random Thoughts: The cream really started to rise to the top after the winner bracket day and we have four teams which are 4-0. They're very possibly the four best teams left in the world. I said it on Twitter and Facebook. I think Pietila-Wiggs from California might end up being the best player from this LLWS.
Home Run Meter: 29
Prediction Record: 2-2 (12-4 Overall)
Monday's Predictions: Texas over Australia 5-0, Chinese Taipei over Puerto Rico 6-2, Tennessee over Delaware 8-2, Latin America over Canada 5-4, and Washington over Iowa 10-4.
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