Little League World Series 2022: Final Scores, Bracket Results, Thursday Highlights

The matchups for the Little League Baseball World Series' United States and international final games will be set after the conclusion of play Thursday.

The Caribbean regional team (Willemstad, Curaçao) will move on after defeating Mexico (Matamoros, Tamaulipas) 2-1 to start the day.

Curaçao will face Asia-Pacific (Taipei, Taiwan) at 12:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.

On the United States side, the Southeast regional team (Nolensville, Tennessee) is still alive after beating the Southwest regional club (Pearland, Texas) 7-1 to determine who plays West (Honolulu, Hawai'i) in the United States final.

Tennessee will now match up with Hawai'i at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

Curaçao and Mexico opened Thursday with a dominant, well-played pitcher's duel. Curaçao ultimately used a phenomenal pitching performance from Jay-Dlynn Wiel (six innings, six strikeouts) to earn the win.

Mexico starting pitcher David Zarate starred at the plate and on the mound. He was responsible for Mexico's lone hit and run after smacking a fourth-inning home run for a 1-0 lead.

Curaçao responded with a two-out, two-run rally in the fifth. Reangelo Decaster got on board with a one-out single between a pair of strikeouts. With two out, Davey-Jay Rijke hit a single and advanced to second on a throw to third.

Jaydion Louisa then hit a single that scored Decaster. However, a throw attempt to get Louisa out at second ended up in the outfield, and Rijke scored the game-winning run.

Mexico got a runner on second with one out in the top of the sixth after a walk and a sacrifice bunt, but a pair of Wiel strikeouts ended the game.

This game served as one of the best and most well-played matchups of the tournament. Only one error was committed, and the two pitchers combined for just one walk apiece.

Zarate ended the day with eight strikeouts and two runs allowed (one earned) while scattering four hits over five frames.

Curaçao and Taiwan have not yet met in the international side of the tournament.

Taiwan cruised to the final with three straight victories in the winner's bracket, while Curaçao had to fight its way back out of the elimination bracket side after falling to Panama (Aguadulce).

In the nightcap, Josiah Porter's first-inning, two-out grand slam and Drew Chadwick's complete game propelled Tennessee to the win over Texas.

Three straight one-out singles from Jack Rhodes, Bo Daniel and Wright Martin set the table for Tennessee. After a strikeout, Porter deposited a 2-1 pitch deep to center field for the 4-1 edge.

That was all Chadwick needed and then some, as he struck out five while scattering six hits and walking none.

A JF Forni RBI single in the fourth and a Martin single in the fifth made the score 6-1. Tennessee added its final run with two outs in the fifth after Martin scampered home while another runner got caught in a rundown between first and second.

Texas' lone run occurred in the first inning after a Kaiden Shelton single scored Jacob Zurek, who led off the game with a double.

Tennessee will now play Hawaii, which has outscored its four LLWS opponents 42-1. Hawaii beat Tennessee 13-0 in four innings to advance to the U.S. Championship final.