Little League World Series Regionals 2021: Thursday Scores and Bracket Results

AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File

The Little League World Series is back after a one-year hiatus but will look nothing like past years.

Due to continued COVID-19 restrictions limiting international travel, only teams from the United States are eligible for this year's event. To increase the number of teams heading to Williamsport back to their regular number, two teams from each American region will send a  representative rather than one.

The Southeast and Southwest regions already identified their two teams, leaving the remaining six to battle it out.

Here is a look at how things went in Thursday's action.

August 12 Little League World Series Results

Midwest Region: South Dakota def. Nebraska, 3-0

Gavin Weir struck out 17 of 18 batters faced in a sensational no-hitter to lead South Dakota to a 3-0 win over Nebraska.

Nebraska's only baserunners were the result of errors. Weir also went  1-for-1 at the plate and scored one of his team's three runs.

Opland Sonnichsen and Alex McKinney each drove in a run to give Weir his run support. 

Nebraska will now play Iowa for a chance to have a rematch in the regional final.

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South Dakota has clinched a trip to Williamsport and will look to lock up the region's top seed Saturday.

New England Region: Connecticut def. Massachusetts, 7-4

Jacob Budarz drove in three runs and pitched 3.1 innings to lead Connecticut to a 7-4 win over Massachusetts.

Budarz went 3-for-4 and was a double shy of hitting for the cycle.  All three runs against him on the mound were unearned, and he struck out eight. Ryan Gorman and Paul Virdokian added two hits apiece, and Arlen Peyman threw 2.2 innings of one-run ball in relief to close it out.

James DiCarlo went 2-for-3 and was responsible for half of Massachusetts' hits.

Massachusetts will get one more try to lock up a berth in Williamsport on Friday against New Hampshire.

West Region: Hawaii def. Northern California, 13-3

Hawaii mashed 15 hits en route to 13 runs to earn a 13-3 win over Northern California in five innings.

A four-run first inning set the tone, and Hawaii never looked back in a dominating effort. Pele Payanal went 4-for-4 and Micah Bennett had hits in all three of his at-bats, with the pair representing nearly half of their team's hits.

Bennett also got the win on the mound, giving up three runs in three innings. Ryan Keanu closed things out with two scoreless innings of relief.

Northern California will have a chance to save its LLWS hopes in a matchup against Southern California on Friday.

Great Lakes Region: Michigan def. Illinois, 10-0

Taylor North LL clinched a spot in Williamsport and a berth in the Great Lakes Championship on Thursday with a rout over Illinois thanks to a well-balanced attack on the mound and at the plate.

Ethan Van Belle, Jackson Surma and Gavin Ulin combined to throw five innings of three-hit ball with 11 strikeouts and two walks. 

Jackson Surma and Noah Boren both racked up two runs batted in as all but four of the 11 players Michigan sent up recorded at least one hit. 

Illinois and Ohio will match up on Friday with the winner set to face Michigan in the Great Lakes championship on Saturday. 

Northwest Region: Washington def. Montana, 10-4

Washington took an early 6-0 lead after the third inning and had Montana chasing for the rest of the game. Unfortunately for Boulder Arrowhead LL, it wasn't enough to finish off a comeback.  

Despite getting two runs back in the bottom of the fifth inning to cut the deficit to 6-2, Washington punched right back with four more runs in the top of the sixth to stretch the lead to 8-2. 

Washington pitcher Eli Jones went 4.1 innings with nine strikeouts in five walks, allowing just two hits and one earned run while Kellen Kinney got the offense going out of the No. 3 hole. Kinney went three-for-four with two runs scored and two batted in, including a home run in the sixth.

Montana will now play Oregon on Friday for a shot at the Northwest Regional on Saturday against Washington. 

Mid-Atlantic Region: Pennsylvania def. New Jersey, 6-1

Upper Providence LL jumped all over the boys from Toms River East LL, scoring three in the second inning, one in the fourth and two more in the fifth before New Jersey could even get a single run across the plate.

That was also the only run New Jersey scored, as Pennsylvania secured its ticket to Williamsport and a spot in the Mid-Atlantic Championship. 

Upper Providence pitcher Jalen Bowman went the distance, racking up 12 strikeouts over six innings with one walk and one earned run. That came courtesy of a Carson Frazier home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to break up the shutout. 

Toms River has one last chance to clinch a ticket to Williamsport. It'll have to defeat Delaware on Friday then rematch with Pennsylvania on Saturday for the regional title.