Little League World Series 2012: Previewing This Weekend's Finals Action

Two teams have already claimed their spots in 2012 Little League World Series semifinal games, and the final two will be determined via elimination games, scheduled for Friday.

Tennessee will be the top seed in the United States Championship Game, whereas Japan holds that same title in the International Championship Game. Both teams had to pull off close wins on Thursday in order to secure their spots with a third consecutive victory. They are now in the frontseat going into this weekend’s action.

The other four teams who don’t know their fate yet have a much tougher time. They’ll have to win Friday just for a chance to play again on Saturday, just for another chance to play for the ultimate banner on Sunday. It’s definitely a tough road for these teams, but the play on Saturday is something to look forward to.

International Championship

Game Info: Lamade Stadium, Saturday, 12:30 p.m. (ABC, ESPN3 and ESPN3D)

Will Panama or Mexico come out on top in the International semifinal?

Panama accomplished something on Wednesday that no Japanese opponent has been able to do in Williamsport. It scored. In the 4-1 loss, the Latin American champions scored on an error by the Japanese left fielder. Should it defeat Mexico on Friday, that run could mean a lot. Now Panama knows that it’s possible to score against such a tough team.

Mexico has had to battle since its opening round loss to Canada, but have been playing well on both sides of the ball. On offense, Mexico has  been power-driven, leading all teams in home runs with 11. Felix Diaz has been the team's ace and could take the ball, should Mexico advance to Saturday’s action.

My prediction is that Mexico advances behind an offensive onslaught with a score of around 9-2.

Whoever advances to the International Championship Game, though, is in trouble. There’s no stopping the Japanese pitching staff. They are so deep and so good from top to bottom that it’s nearly impossible to score.

They’ve only allowed one run the entire tournament and it was unearned. They’ve struck out 38 batters in 21 innings. Their hitting is just as good and it’s safe to say they’re the favorites to win the bracket.

United States Championship

Game Info: Lamade Stadium, Saturday, 3:30 p.m. (ABC, ESPN3 and ESPN3D)

The U.S. semifinal between California and Texas is bound to be a good one.

California has battled through the loser’s bracket in order to make it this far. It hasn’t been easy either as it had to win one of the elimination games in walk-off fashion.

California's advantage on Saturday is that Bradley Smith will be eligible to pitch and he’s arguably the team's best pitcher. Quinton Gago threw a gem to them here and Smith won’t let that start go to waste. In order for that to happen, though, they have to slow down the hot pitching of Texas.

Texas just lost a heartbreaker to Tennessee on Wednesday night and needs to rebound and compose itself quickly or find itself out of contention. In order to earn a rematch for the U.S. Championship, it will have to take down the miracle workers from the West. Texas has to hit in this game to win, something it lacked in the loss to the Southeast.

California has had a great run in Williamsport, but it will end on Friday with a 7-4 loss to Texas in the U.S. semifinal.

With Texas taking on Tennessee for the second time in three days—or possibly California for the second time since Sunday—it has to get ahead early and pitch well. On Thursday, Texas gave up the lead to Tennessee twice and it ended up costing them an early berth. That can’t happen this time around.

California has a better chance at getting in front early, but I think that Texas has a better chance at holding the lead.

In the end, will either be able to stop Tennessee? I don’t think so, as we’ll have a Japan-Tennessee showdown for the 2012 Little League World Series Championship Game.