LLWS 2015: TV Coverage, Live Stream Schedule, Predictions for Saturday's Bracket

Just two days into the 2015 Little League World Series, eight teams are fighting for their tournament lives.

Friday saw all 16 teams in the Little League World Series in action after rain delayed the start of the tournament by one day. Eight teams won, but no victory was cooler than Uganda's. The 11- and 12-year-olds from AVRS Secondary School beat the Dominican Republic representatives 4-1, earning their nascent baseball nation's first win in a nonconsolation game in only its second LLWS appearance.

Chris Masse of the Williamsport Sun-Gazette liked what he saw: 

As a result of the schedule crush, the losing teams from Friday have just one day to regroup, or they could see their hopes of World Series glory quickly dashed in this double-elimination competition.

While losing on Saturday means no chance of advancing in the series bracket, it doesn't quite spell the end of the kids' time out on the diamond in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. There are consolation games for the first four teams out of the tournament, ensuring that everyone qualified for the LLWS gets to play at least three games.

Here's the schedule, viewing info and predictions for Saturday's slate.

Time (ET)	Stadium	Team	Team	TV	Prediction
1 p.m.	Volunteer	Australia	Dominican Republic	ESPN	Dominican Republic
3 p.m.	Howard J. Lamade	Wilshire-Riverside, Oregon	Bowling Green Eastern, Kentucky	ABC	Wilshire-Riverside
6 p.m.	Volunteer	Chinese Taipei	Canada	ESPN	Chinese Taipei
8 p.m.	Howard J. Lamade	Cranston Western, Rhode Island	Webb City, Missouri	ESPN	Cranston Western

Note: live streams can be found at WatchESPN. 

Game to Watch

Chinese Taipei vs. Canada

Whichever team loses this game will likely feel hard done in by this tournament's alignment. Tung Yuan Little League of Chinese Taipei ran into the Little League juggernaut that is Japan in its opener and lost 7-5. Pitting the two most successful LLWS countries against each other in the first round—Chinese Taipei has 17 championships, Japan nine—was something of a legacy matchup, one that Japan almost ran away with after going up 6-0 after the first two innings.

Chinese Taipei put up a fight, but its efforts were futile, and now it must face Canada on Saturday. The young Canucks dropped a 1-0 squeaker to Mexico on a walk-off single from Daniel Zaragoza. Canada wasted a stunning effort from starting pitcher Matthew Wilkinson, who struck out 16 batters (he left after five innings and took a no-decision). 

SportsCenter provided a look at the magic moment for Mexico:

It's a shame and a surprise that the team from White Rock South Surrey Little League in British Columbia couldn't put up a single run against Mexico considering they were absolute terrors with the lumber in the nation's regional.

Canada isn't a strong baseball nation, but the offense has to be seen as a major letdown nonetheless. Mexico puts out good teams year in and year out, but three hits—two of them from the bat of Kieran Ritchie—is disappointing.

Chinese Taipei coaxed strong days in the batter's box from Yen Cheng Yu, who went 2-for-4 with one home run and two RBI, and Wei Lun Wang, who went 1-for-3 but had two RBI of his own. Canada isn't likely to get a dominant pitching performance like the one Wilkinson provided again Saturday, so fighting lumber with lumber will be the key to the day for them. 

Considering Chinese Taipei acquitted themselves well and showed great resolve against mighty Japan, I think it has the edge over Canada and will win this contest relatively comfortably.