Little League World Series 2015: Wednesday Scores, Bracket Results, Highlights

It's baseball at its purest, most innocent form as the Little League World Series continues to whittle down its field to the last two standing. 

A pair of semifinal games on both the International and United States sides ensured that there would be two finalists revealed in their respective brackets, but Wednesday night's losing teams would not be eliminated either.

Japan took on Venezuela in a battle of two very good pitching sides to start the day with Texas and Pennsylvania squaring off for the nightcap. 

Here is a look at Wednesday's scores and highlights from all the day's action.

Winner	Score	Loser
Japan	5-4	Venezuela
Pennsylvania	3-0	Texas

Japan 5, Venezuela 4

A single from Yugo Aoki in the bottom of the eighth inning with the bases loaded lifted Japan to the International championship with a 5-4 victory over Venezuela on Wednesday afternoon, the first extra-innings game of the 2015 Little League World Series.

Japan had its back to the wall after back-to-back home runs from Jefferson Quero and Yeider Fernandez in the top of the eighth inning gave Venezuela a 4-2 lead.

Its third deficit of the day, Japan's never-say-die attitude was admirable, getting runners on first and third with no outs. A slow roller back to the pitcher was followed by a high throw to second that pulled Fernandez off the bag in a leaping effort. But the shortstop had the presence of mind to make a great play and put the tag on the baserunner for the first out. 

A double from Shono Yanigishima scored one, putting runners on second and third, as Venezuela chose to walk Shingo Tomita, who had hit a home run earlier in the day, to load the bases. The pitcher proceeded to hit Yuma Watanabe on the wrist to tie the wrist before Aoki's winner.

Runs were at a premium in the day's early matchup with two of the home run hitters, Yedier Fernandez and Japan's Kabu Kikichu, taking the mound.

Fernandez was throwing absolute smoke, delivering a fastball that was reaching 77 mph, which is equivalent to 100 mph on the major league level as Mitch Rupert of the Williamsport Sun-Gazette looked on:

To complement his power display, he pitched 5.1 innings, allowing two runs on six hits with eight strikeouts.

But Japan showed it was capable of hitting Fernandez, including the opposing pitcher Kikichu, who rocketed a single to left field for the first hit of the day. After another single and a dropped third strike, Japan had the bases loaded. 

A wild pitch saw Kikichu break for home, but a nice bounce off the backstop gave catcher Adrian Sandoval an easy flip to Fernandez who tagged out the runner. Fernandez then followed up with a strikeout to get out of the jam.

On the mound, Kikichu was rolling through the first 2.2 innings, striking out six of his first eight batters. But a two-out walk to Jose Garcia kept the inning alive and Sandoval, who was the hero at the backstop the half-inning before, ripped a triple down the left field line, putting Venezuela ahead.

Sandoval was also brilliant behind the plate. Besides his play on the wild pitch, he blocked a number of pitches that were in the dirt in some big situations with runners on.

Japan's first equalizer came through Tomita, who launched a solo shot to lead off the bottom of the third inning, his second home run of the tournament. 

Kikichu was taken out of the game in the fourth inning and Venezuela looked to capitalize on Japan's pitching change. A lead-off double followed by a single had runners on first and third with no outs when a double play scored the go-ahead run. 

Japan could not muster a tying run as it was being frustrated by Venezuela as the game entered the final inning, something Rupert found very impressive:

But Japan had a chance in the bottom of the sixth. With runners on first and second, Ferandez was pulled for Johan Garcia, who struck out the first batter he faced for the inning's second out.

The final hurdle for him was the home run hitter Tomita, who blooped a double to score the tying run on a 2-2 count, a great piece of hitting from Japan's best hitter. 

Pennsylvania 3, Texas 0

Though they did not do it in their normal fashion, Pennsylvania is through to the United States finals after a 3-0 win over Texas to cap off the Little League World Series action on Wednesday. 

Jaden Henline's and Cole Wagner's offensive prowess proved to be all that was needed behind the stellar pitching of Adam Cramer, who set down 13 Texas batters in five innings, including a stretch off 11-straight strikeouts.

Pennsylvania's high-octane offense tried to get going early, taking the lead three batters into the bottom of the first after an RBI single from Jaden Henline. 

They grabbed another one in the third through Wagner's third home run of the tournament, sending an absolute screamer the other way, over the left-center field wall in a dinger that left the park in a hurry. 

On the mound, Cramer was absolutely working, using a dizzying array of  pitches that made him very tough to hit. Upon going on his 11-straight strikeout stretch, CBS News 21 could not believe what they were watching:

Pennsylvania got some added insurance in the bottom of the fifth. With the bases loaded, Jake Cubbler was hit by a pitch, bringing home Pennsylvania's third run of the night. 

Not to be lost in Cramer's performance, the Texas pitching staff performed wonderfully, holding Pennsylvania to three runs. Jarrett Tadlock went the first 3.1 innings, striking out five and was relieved by Marco Gutierrez who pitched the last 1.2 innings. Pennsylvania is a team that scored 18 and nine runs respectively in their first two games at the World Series.

Keeping it close, Texas managed to load the bases with one out in the top of the sixth, but Henline, who pitched the sixth inning, was able to strikeout the next two batters to secure Pennsylvania's spot in the United States final. Texas will play California on Friday in a second chance to make the final which will be played on Saturday.