Little League World Series 2015: Sunday Scores, Bracket Results and Highlights
After Saturday saw teams stave off elimination, Sunday was a day for winners at the 2015 Little League World Series.
All eight victorious teams from opening-day action were on the slate, with two games apiece on the U.S. and international side. Uganda and Venezuela got the day underway with an 11 a.m. ET first pitch, kicking off a four-game schedule that would stretch well beyond sunset. Texas and California played on the national ABC stage in a matchup of perhaps the two best teams from the U.S. side, while Mexico and Japan were slated to do battle in a game that could decide the international representative.
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Still, regardless of how things play out, each of the teams in action Sunday will have at least one more opportunity to keep its championship dreams alive. Here is a look at how all four games unfolded in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
| Venezuela vs. Uganda | Venezuela 7, Uganda 0 |
| Texas vs. California | Texas 8, California 4 |
| Mexico vs. Japan | Japan 3, Mexico 1 |
| South Carolina vs. Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania 9, South Carolina 8 |
Texas 8, California 4
On Friday, California pounded the ball all over the field en route to a 14-2 win over Kentucky. Texas fought its way through a nail-biter, defeating Oregon 1-0 thanks to some brilliant pitching.
Two days later, we learned yet again that great pitching always takes down great hitting.
Ben Gottfried threw 4.1 innings without giving up an earned run and drove in two runs with his bat as Texas earned an 8-4 win over California to advance.
Gottfried held the powerful California lineup to only three hits and struck out seven. His lone run was aided by an error in the third inning, at which point Texas had already opened up a 6-0 lead. The Southwest representative had nine hits and was helped out by four errors by California, which had played almost flawlessly in its first game.
Zack Mack and Raffi Gross also drove in two runs apiece. Gross hit a home run in the third inning as part of a five-run frame, while Mack singled in the game's first run and drove in another on a sacrifice fly in the third. Gottfried's two-run homer in the top of the sixth wound up being a major boost when California attempted a comeback in the bottom half of the frame.
With Gottfried out of the game, California's bats finally came alive. A series of base hits and a two-run shot brought the West representative within an 8-4 score with one out. Having watched the LLWS a time or two in the past, anyone could have seen where this was headed. But Texas regained its composure just in time to record the final two outs and move on to the U.S. semifinal.
Pennsylvania will have an opportunity to take down Texas' pitching staff next.
Venezuela 7, Uganda 0
Joel Flores hit a grand slam, and Luis Castillo played a starring role as Venezuela moved on with a 7-0 victory over Uganda.
Castillo, scintillating on the mound and at the plate, took a no-hitter into the fifth inning before eventually finishing with a one-hit shutout. He recorded a strikeout on 14 of a possible 18 outs and closed the show by tagging a runner at third base for the final out. Hitting in the cleanup hole, Castillo also went 2-for-3 with a fifth-inning home run that all but sealed the deal for Venezuela.
The photo captured by Baseball Tonight says it all:
"Venezuela's Luis Castillo strikes out 14 in 6 innings while allowing just 1 hit to help beat Uganda, 7-0. pic.twitter.com/OaxsO2yCte
— Baseball Tonight (@BBTN) August 23, 2015"
The Venezuelans scored all seven of their runs in just two innings. Flores, who went 1-for-2 overall, hit a two-out slam in the first inning, capping off a run of four straight hits off Ugandan starter Joshua Olara. He held Venezuela without a run for the next three innings, but things quickly started falling apart as his pitch count rose in the fifth.
Adrian Sandoval reached via a walk, Jeferson Quero doubled him in, and then Castillo went deep over the left field fence two batters later. Uganda took out Olara after the Castillo home run, after giving up seven earned on nine hits in 4.1 innings.
Venezuela will move on to play Japan. The country has two Little League World Series championships in its past but has not advanced to a title game since 2000. Among Latin American countries, Venezuela's 18 LLWS appearances are three more than Mexico for the best all-time.
Japan 3, Mexico 1
Japan controlled the game from the first inning with two early runs, but pitching told the whole story.
Nobuyuki Kawashima only allowed three hits in four innings of scoreless work. He struck out five hitters, didn’t issue a single walk and limited the damage to two singles and a double.
Daiki Fukuyama then closed the door with a two-inning save. He notched three strikeouts and only gave up a single hit, although that one hit was a sixth-inning home run that provided a glimpse of temporary hope for Mexico.
Japan didn’t need much offense, but it received plenty in the first inning off Kabu Kikuchi’s two-run single. Fukutaro Kiyomiya provided some insurance with a clutch solo home run in the fifth inning in a pinch-hit scenario.
Mexico pitcher Jose Reyes settled in and kept his team in the game after the first inning, but he simply didn’t have enough to match the excellent performances from Kawashima and Fukuyama. Reyes took the loss with 4.2 innings of work, although he did tally six strikeouts and only allowed the solo home run after the two early runs.
Mexico received its only offense of note from Gerardo Lujano, who notched two of the team’s four hits, including a solo home run in the final inning.
Pennsylvania 9, South Carolina 8
Pennsylvania’s 9-8 victory over South Carolina was a fitting and thrilling grand finale for a day filled with Little League baseball.
The teams combined for 17 runs and 18 hits, but the roller-coaster sixth inning stood out as one of the most important swings in the Little League World Series.
Pennsylvania seized the initial lead with five runs in the first inning and one in the second to go ahead 6-0. The game appeared to be all but over until South Carolina notched four runs of its own in the fourth inning to make it 6-4.
Alex Edmondson highlighted South Carolina’s fourth-inning attack with a three-run homer.
Edmondson’s team then took the lead with an explosive top of the sixth inning. South Carolina pushed four runs across to grab an 8-6 advantage, thanks largely to Brock Myers’ clutch three-run triple with the game on the line.
Pennsylvania’s bats then finally responded after three scoreless innings in the middle of the game following the team's six-run outburst in the early stages. Kaden Peifer led the inning off with a home run to cut the lead to 8-7, and Jaden Henline played the role of hero with a walk-off two-run double that scored Adam Cramer and Braden Kolmansberger.
It was the type of moment that every kid in the Little League World Series dreams of, and Henline took full advantage of the opportunity.
Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.
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