Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images
It was a big day in Williamsport.
Monday’s action saw four U.S. teams and four international teams contend try to avoid their first loss and put themselves in a promising position to reach their respective championship games.
The losers now will face elimination and will have to hope the pitching depth can handle the gauntlet that lies ahead.
Here is a look at the day’s action.
Japan def. Venezuela, 2-1
Chinese Taipei def. Cuba, 10-2
Find the full Little League World Series bracket here.
It was a gritty performance for Tokyo.
Pitcher Kanta Iwashita led the way, allowing one run and five hits while striking out 11 Venezuelan batters. The Japanese offense was not super potent, with just four hits on the day, but it did enough to claim the one-run victory.
Japan struck first when Yuzuki Ozawa smacked a ball over the right fielder’s head for an RBI double.
Little League @LittleLeague
Right over the top & Japan takes the lead! <br><br>📺: <a href=”https://twitter.com/espn?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@ESPN</a> | <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/LLWS?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#LLWS</a> <a href=”https://t.co/DyJjauCgZg”>pic.twitter.com/DyJjauCgZg</a>
A single from Simón Vicheria in the bottom of the third tied the score, but Japan would score the winning run after a wild pitch in the fifth inning.
Japan now is just one win away from the International Championship Game while Venezuela awaits an elimination game on Tuesday against Aruba.
In a back-and-forth matchup against a tough Hawaii squad, Nevada came out on top.
Hawaii produced five hits and also showed a few nifty defensive plays, with a notable one coming from second baseman Kolten Magno.
Little League @LittleLeague
Hats off to Kolten Magno! 🧢 <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/LLWS?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#LLWS</a><br><br>Premier Plays x <a href=”https://twitter.com/CapitalOne?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@CapitalOne</a> <a href=”https://t.co/PUwq2G9KU0″>pic.twitter.com/PUwq2G9KU0</a>
However, Gunnar Gaudin’s complete game featured minimal damage and the opportunistic Nevada bats secured five hits and drew six walks while striking out just four times.
Luke Lentz, Liam Sparks and Kellen Takamura drove in the runs for Nevada and the team now is just one win away from the U.S. Championship. Hawaii will need to get past Pennsylvania on Tuesday in order to stay in the tournament.
It was an offensive outburst for Chinese Tapei during Monday’s action.
After being limited to just one run across the first four innings, the hitters from Kuei-Shan Little League erupted for nine runs across the final two innings to take a dominant victory over Cuba.
Chinese Taipei was trailing 2-1 prior to the outpouring, but a bomb off the bat of Chiu Wei-Che broke the game open.
Chinese Tapei would secure nine hits in the contest and Wei-Che and Hu Yen Chun led the team with two each. They now advance in the winner’s bracket while Cuba awaits Mexico on Tuesday.
Julian Hurst turned in a performance to remember and led Texas to a 4-1 victory over Florida.
Hurst pitched a complete game with 10 strikeouts while allowing just a single run and three hits. He allowed the first run of the game in the opening inning but settled down from there and was nearly unhittable.
Cooper Hastings tied the game at one with an RBI single in the first before Texas pushed two more runs across with wild pitches in the third.
That was enough run support for Hurst, who shut the door on Florida’s chances on the mound.
