Little League World Series 2023: Wednesday Scores, Bracket Results and Highlights

It's getting to be crunch time at the 2023 Little League World Series with four games on Wednesday that will determine half of the final four teams vying for a world championship.

Chinese Taipei, Curaçao, Japan and Mexico are still standing on the international part of the bracket. Chinese Taipei has been arguably the most dominant team in the field thus far with two wins by a combined 16-0 score entering play today.

On the United States side of the bracket, Washington, Texas, California and Tennessee are still fighting for their shot at immortality.

Here are the results from Wednesday's games at Williamsport.

2023 Little League World Series Scores—Wednesday, August 23

Chinese Taipei 9, Curaçao 1

Texas 1, Washington 0

Mexico 2, Japan 0

California 5, Tennessee 3

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Mexico def. Japan, 2-0

Mexico is one win away from competing for the international championship at the Little League World Series after a 2-0 victory over Japan on Wednesday.

Neither offense was able to get much going against these pitching staffs. The two teams combined for just eight hits, with the lone extra-base hit being Yohei Yamaguchi's double for Japan.

Mexico pushed single runs across the plate in the second and fifth innings. Jamil Mandujano drove in the first run of the game with an RBI single that scored Alfredo Chacon from second base.

Arath Laborin's sacrifice fly in the fifth gave the team insurance going into the final inning.

Bernardo Partida was terrific on the mound for Mexico. He tossed a complete game and only allowed three hits with four strikeouts on 69 pitches. Yamaguchi, who started on the mound for Japan, was excellent in his own right with five strikeouts and one run allowed in three innings.

Japan had a scoring opportunity in the top of the sixth when Yamaguchi and Kirato Takano had back-to-back one out hits. Partida escaped the jam by getting Nobuaki Sakaue to pop out and Yuzuki Matsumara to strike out to end the game.

Mexico will be back in action on Thursday to take on Curaçao with the winner playing Chinese Taipei for the international title.

Texas def. Washington, 1-0 (F/9)

A pitching duel between Texas and Washington went in favor of the team from the Lone Star State thanks to Easton Ondruch's sacrifice fly that scored Corbin Riddle in the top of the ninth inning.

Riddle started the inning on second base and advanced to third on Jagger McRae's bunt single. A one-out intentional walk loaded the bases, setting up Ondruch's moment.

The bottom of the ninth inning was full of drama as Washington tried to tie the game. Brett Taylor's infield single to lead off the frame moved Matthew Fischer, who was the automatic runner on second, to third base.

Ondruch, who was pitching for Texas in the ninth, got Rylan Jackson to groundout and hold the runners. Brooks Shewey struck out and Calvin Shumway grounded out to short for the final out of the game.

The two pitching staffs combined for 29 strikeouts and only allowed nine hits in nine innings. Washington was held without an extra-base hit in the game.

Next up for Texas is the United States Championship Game on Saturday. Washington will take on California on Thursday.

Chinese Taipei def. Curaçao, 9-1

Curaçao became the first team to score against Chinese Taipei in the Little League World Series, but it wasn't enough as the team from the Asia-Pacific and Middle East Region earned a 9-1 victory and a spot in the International Championship Game on Saturday.

The game was competitive early with both teams trading runs in the first inning.

Chinese Taipei pulled ahead in the top of the fourth on an RBI single from Kai-Sheng Chen and bases-loaded walk from Chin-Yu Wu. It broke things wide open with a six-run fifth inning to put the game away.

Three pitchers combined to hold Curaçao to two hits and one run over six innings. Shao-Chieh Hsu struck out four in 2.1 perfect innings of relief.

Despite the loss, Curaçao still has a chance to get a rematch with Chinese Taipei. It will take on the winner of the Japan-Mexico game on Friday, with the winner of that contest advancing to the International Championship.

Chinese Taipei has two days off before its next game.

California def. Tennessee, 5-3

Take a bow, Louis Lappe.

His California team looked to be in trouble when it gave up three straight runs after jumping out to a 3-0 lead in Wednesday's matchup against Tennessee. Yet Lappe played the role of hero and launched a clutch home run in the bottom of the fifth inning to give his team the lead and eventual 5-3 win.

It seemed like California was going to cruise to a victory at first, but Lucas McCauley's two-run homer made it 3-2.

Tennessee then pushed another one across the board and had all the momentum until Lappe put his team on his back in the biggest moment.

Now California will play Washington on Thursday with a spot in the United States championship game hanging in the balance. A victory in that one would give California an opportunity to enact some revenge on Texas.

Texas is the only team to defeat California in the tournament to this point and will be waiting for the winner between California and Washington in the U.S. championship game.