Little League World Series 2015: Latest Schedule, TV Info and Bracket Prediction

The herd has been thinned, the stakes have been raised, and nerves have reached an all-time high as we enter the final rounds of the Little League World Series.

Last Friday, 16 teams descended upon Williamsport, Pennsylvania, each with the intention of staking a claim to youth sports' most coveted prize. 

Now just six teams remain alive, still hoping to fulfill that fantasy. By Thursday night, two teams' dreams will have been dashed, while the fates of four will still remain hanging in the balance. 

In the international bracket, Seguro Social (Mexico Region) will duel with Venezuela's Cardenales (Latin America Region). The United States bracket will feature a rematch between California's Sweetwater Valley (West Region) and Texas' Pearland West (Southwest Region). 

The winner of each game will move onto their respective bracket's championship game, with the international winner facing Japan and the U.S. winner facing Pennsylvania's Red Land (Mid-Atlantic Region). 

Team	Opponent	Time (ET)	Stadium	TV	Prediction	Skinny
Mexico (Seguro Social)	Latin America (Venezuela)	4 p.m.	Lamade	ESPN	Mexico	Both Mexico and Venezuela suffered their single LLWS defeat at hands of Japan.
West (Sweetwater Valley)	Southwest (Pearland West)	8 p.m.	Lamade	ESPN	Pearland West	Pearland defeated Sweetwater 8-4 on Sunday. Texas' team will do it once more.

Venezuela is coming off a stinging 5-4 loss to international bracket favorites Japan. 

Back-to-back home runs from Jefferson Quero and Yeider Fernandez in the top of the eighth inning gave Venezuela a 4-2 lead, but Japan never quivered or quaked with fear. Instead, it dug its heels in and battled. 

Yogo Aoki would step to the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning with the bases loaded. Aoki calmly stood in and notched a single, enough to drive in the winning run in what was the first extra-innings game of the tournament. 

Venezuela's heartbreaking 5-4 defeat not only wasted the tremendous effort from starting pitcher Fernandez (5.1 IP, 8 K, 2 ER), it put it in a do-or-die situation against a tough and talented Mexico team.

Mexico is coming in as hot as any team in the LLWS, having scored 25 runs over its past two contests. Like its opponent, Mexico's only defeat came to Japan, a 3-1 loss in Sunday's double-elimination round.

But Mexico hasn't shrunk with its back against the wall; rather, it has surged. Mexico toppled Australia 14-3 and easily handled Asia-Pacific 11-1 in the two games following its lone defeat. Mexico's power surge—it has smacked six home runs in its past two games—should continue against Venezuela, who may be physically and mentally drained following that crushing extra-innings defeat.

The U.S. bracket's night game rematch between California and Texas should be a bitterly contested battle between two teams fighting for baseball immortality and hometown cult hero status.

Texas is coming off a disappointing performance against Pennsylvania, who cruised to a 3-0 victory behind the prodigious arm of Adam Cramer (5 IP, 13 K, 3 H), whose string of 11 straight strikeouts reminded one of Kerry Wood or Randy Johnson. 

California will be seeking revenge following Sunday's 8-4 defeat to Texas. Ben Gottfried (4.2 IP, 7 K, 3 H) was masterful for Texas in the victory, causing plenty of flails and fails from California's lineup. 

But the West Regional champions have dialed up their offensive intensity over the past two games, winning by a combined score of 21-6 over the New England and Great Lakes representatives.

California certainly has the bats to contend with Texas, but expect this rematch to go down in a similar fashion to the first, with Texas' power and arms proving to be too much for the squad from the Golden State to handle.

Plus, you have to like Texas' chances if this game somehow comes down to a karaoke contest or dance battle.