Little League World Series Regionals 2015: Friday Scores and Bracket Results

The 69th Little League World Series won't roll into Williamsport, Pennsylvania, until Aug. 20, but regional qualifying got underway Friday.   

With spots up for grabs in the big show, hopefuls in the Southeast and Southwest regionals convened in Warner Robins, Georgia and Waco, Texas, respectively to try to punch tickets to the grand finale in Williamsport.   

Regional qualifying operates in a double-elimination format. Therefore, teams that fell on Friday are not out of contention just yet. The winner of each region will then proceed to participate in the national bracket later this month in hopes of advancing to the World Championship Game.  

Here are the results of Friday's little league action from the Southeast and Southwest regionals. 

Regional	Winner	Loser	Final Score
Southeast	Taylors, South Carolina (1-0)	Wilson, North Carolina (0-1)	9-3
Southwest	McAllister Park, Texas (1-0)	Eastbank, Louisiana (0-1)	8-3
Southeast	Nashville, Tennessee (1-0)	Bridgeport, West Virginia (0-1)	4-2
Southwest	North Boulder, Colorado (1-0)	Tulsa, Oklahoma (0-1)	9-1
Southeast	Keystone, Florida (1-0)	Phenix City, Alabama (0-1)	5-1
Southwest	Pearland West, Texas (1-0)	Pine Bluff, Arkansas (0-1)	8-4
Southeast	Mechanicsville, Virginia (1-0)	Peachtree City, Georgia (0-1)	5-3
Southwest	Starkville, Mississippi (1-0)	Paradise Hills, New Mexico (0-1)	10-0

A complete overview of the Little League World Series regional schedule can be viewed here. 

Recap

The studs from Northwood Little League in Taylors, South Carolina, kicked Friday's action off in style, downing Wilson, North Carolina, 9-3. 

While North Carolina appeared in control throughout as it maintained a 2-0 lead entering the fifth, South Carolina struck back to tie things with two runs in the penultimate inning. 

Then, in the top of the sixth, South Carolina's sense of urgency kicked in and it walloped North Carolina to the tune of seven runs.

Alex Edmondson's three-run bomb was the highlight of South Carolina's breakout stanza, as Little League's official Twitter account relayed: 

Edmondson proved to be the star of the show for a South Carolina team that was resilient throughout. All told, he went 3-for-4 at the plate with three RBI while striking out once.

More impressive, though, was that Edmondson struck out 13 North Carolina batters over the course of four innings while walking just two.    

North Carolina tallied just four hits on the afternoon, with Colton Moats' two-run single in the third inning representing the peak of the team's offensive production. 

Sticking in the Southeast, Keystone Little League from Florida used two runs in the fourth inning and two more in the fifth to put things out of reach against Phenix City, Alabama. Florida got on the board with a run in the third inning thanks to a single from Brett Schoessler, and it was able to cruise comfortably for two reasons.

Not only did Tyler Corish notch three hits—including two doubles and a single—but the team's pitching staff combined to allow just three hits on the day.  

Keaton Howard tossed 3.1 innings of one-hit ball and Schoessler came on in relief to allow just one hit over 1.1 innings of work. Joey Johnston then closed things out with 1.1 innings worth of one-hit ball. Schoessler was arguably the most impressive thrower of the day, though. He matched Howard's four strikeouts in two fewer innings. 

In the Southwest, the day's big winners came from Texas. 

McAllister Park got things started with an 8-3 win over Eastbank Little League from Louisiana. 

The Texans poured on six runs during the second inning, and it was smooth sailing from there on out. Marshall Durham and Bandon Salmans were in control on the mound for McAllister Park, pitching 3.2 and 2.2 innings, respectively. Durham struck out five batters on 70 pitches and Salmans followed that up by forcing two batters to whiff while recording a strike percentage of 70.8. 

The other victorious Texans used a seventh-inning burst to down their foes from Pine Bluff, Arkansas. 

Despite entering the game's final frame down a run, Pearland West Little League put up a five-spot to nab an 8-4 win in its regional opener. Zack Mack topped Pearland with three hits, but leadoff man Isaac Garcia's lone hit of the afternoon put his squad up for good. 

Fortunately for clubs like Pine Bluff and Eastbank, regional play doesn't function in single-elimination fashion. That means shots at redemption will be available as the weekend progresses.

So despite single-day flourishes from some heavy hitters, Friday's losers will be able to use their shortcomings as motivation to set up win-or-go-home tilts if they can come out with some extra fire down 1-0.