Little League World Series 2015: Picks for Remainder of Friday's LLWS Bracket
Rain wiped out Thursday's opening day of play at the 2015 Little League World Series. It's created a jam-packed slate of action Friday with all eight first-round games taking place, covering both the International and United States brackets.
The tournament is contested using a modified double-elimination format. A team must lose twice to get knocked out until the respective championship games when it becomes single elimination, regardless of the teams' number of losses.
Play got underway early Friday as the event plays catch up. Let's check out the rest of the schedule and make predictions for each game. That's followed by a look at some of the most intriguing battles on tap.
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Schedule and Picks
| 1 p.m. | ESPNews | Latin America | Australia | Latin America |
| 2 p.m. | ESPN | Great Lakes | West | West |
| 4 p.m. | ESPNews | Canada | Mexico | Canada |
| 5 p.m. | ESPN | Southeast | New England | Southeast |
| 7 p.m. | ESPNews | Asia-Pacific | Japan | Japan |
| 8 p.m. | ESPN | Mid-Atlantic | Midwest | Mid-Atlantic |
Top Games to Watch
International: Asia-Pacific vs. Japan
Japan emerged as the class of the Little League World Series over the past five years. The nation's representative has reached the championship game four times over that span, winning three titles, including back-to-back triumphs in 2012 and 2013.
All signs point to another deep run this year. Tokyo Kitasuna LL won its four games in the qualification tournament by a combined score of 44-4, highlighted by a massive 20-3 win in the title game. That type of performance in a strong region points to an extremely impressive group.
The Japanese side doesn't get a gimme out of the gate, though. It faces off with Chinese Taipei in the opening round. It's a squad that knocked out the representative from South Korea, the home of last year's champions, in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East final.
That means one dangerous team is already going to have a loss by the time the dust settles Friday. Matthew Embury of On Pit Road is looking forward to the matchup:
Last year, Japan opened with a 1-0 victory but gave up 22 runs over the next four games. The pitching will need to perform more consistently this year to return to the mountaintop. Tung Yuan LL, which scored 14 runs over the final two games of qualifying, is a stiff test for the staff right away.
United States: Mid-Atlantic vs. Midwest
No team was more impressive during the American qualifying rounds than the Mid-Atlantic representative, Red Land LL from Pennsylvania. It won three games by a total score of 36-5, reaching double-digit runs in each contest.
Bret Wagner, who played in the minor league systems of the St. Louis Cardinals and Oakland Athletics, coaches Red Land. He talked about what this event means for everybody involved, as noted by Chris Masse of the Associated Press.
"It feels like Christmas time," Wagner said. "I've been telling everyone it's pretty amazing when your kid trumps your greatest accomplishment, and he's only 12."
Playing in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, also gives the Mid-Atlantic team a nice home-field advantage, and there should be no shortage of crowd support. Whether the players feed off that, or it simply adds to the pressure will go a long way in determining how far they advance.
They open against Webb City LL from Missouri from the Midwest region. After losing its opening game in the qualifying tournament, the team found another gear to score four straight wins in elimination games by a 49-9 score to reach the LLWS.
It's always tricky to determine how teams from different regions will match up. That said, these two groups are both red hot coming into the event, and that should lead to an entertaining battle to close out a busy day of play.
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