Japan vs. Tennessee: Breaking Down Offense, Defense and Pitching for Each Team

The Little League World Series championship game is set to take place on Sunday with Japan taking on Tennessee in order to see which team has the best group of youngsters on the planet.

Both teams have obvious strengths and, just as obvious, both teams have some glaring weaknesses as well.

Let's take a look at the offense, defense and pitching for Tennessee and Japan, respectively, and figure out which teams have the advantage where.

Offense

Tennessee

Tennessee has the best offense in the tournament by far and they proved it by beating the other best offensive team in the tourney, California, 24-16.

Led by Brock Myers, Tennessee has scored 49 runs in total and have also belted the most homers of any team in the LLWS. Their team average, .421, is also the best of all the Little League teams and further proves that this squad can flat out swing the bat.

With eight of the team's hitters sporting an average of .400 or higher, there isn't a single easy out in the lineup.

Japan

Japan is a solid team that relies mostly on pitching to get the job done, but that doesn't mean they can't swing the bats.

The international representatives in the championship game have scored 23 runs in total which puts them in the top five, but their team average of .294 isn't quite as impressive.

While they don't have the firepower that Tennessee has, they still have one of the best hitters in the tournament on their team and that's nothing to joke around about.

Advantage: Tennessee

Defense

Tennessee

Except for two players with an .875 fielding percentage, the rest of Tennessee's roster has been perfect in the field. However, the two fielders without a perfect fielding percentage are the short stop and second baseman, so those are two positions to watch when the pressure of the championship game hits its peak.

Japan

Besides their catcher and a right fielder, Japan is perfect in the field throughout the rest of their roster. As opposed to the seven players with a perfect fielding percentage on Tennessee, Japan has 11 fielders with the same mark, thus proving their defense is slightly deeper than their counterparts'.

But still, neither defense is far and away better than the other.

Advantage: None

Pitching

Tennessee

When looking at the success of Tennessee, they are at their best when they are driving in a ton of runs and blowing teams out. That being said, pitching is certainly not their forte and it hasn't had to be up until this point.

As a team, the Southeast representatives are sporting a 5.04 ERA, which barely places them in the top 10 in the tournament. They've allowed 21 earned runs which is fourth most out of the Little League squads.

Only Myers and Jake Rucker have an ERA under four for Tennessee, but we likely won't see Myers in this game considering he just threw five innings on Saturday. That leaves this team with one proven starter and that makes their pitching staff thin at best.

Japan

Japan has by far the best team ERA of all the LLWS participants at 0.44 and are also second in strikeouts with 50.

The international squad has only allowed two earned runs in the tourney, both of which were the responsibility of one pitcher. Other than that, it's been all zeroes for the other five pitchers on their roster.

As much as Tennessee has an advantage swinging the bats, Japan has that much more of an advantage on the mound. In fact, this comparison isn't even close.

Advantage: Japan