Little League World Series Regionals 2016: Friday Scores and Bracket Results
The journey to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, for the 2016 Little League World Series continued Friday around North America. Action resumed in the Southwest and Canadian Regions, while it also kicked off in one of the United States' most competitive sections, the Southeast.
Canada will be the last international region to crown its champion, with the seven other winners from outside of the U.S. already planning their trips stateside. Meanwhile, the remaining American regions are slated to kick off their tournaments this weekend.
With that in mind, let's take a look at the schedule and results for Friday's games, which will be updated through the conclusion of play. That's followed by a recap of the action.
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Friday Schedule and Results
| U.S. Southeast | West Virginia vs. North Carolina | 3-1 WV |
| U.S. Southeast | Alabama vs. Florida | 9-7 FLA |
| Canada | Quebec vs. Saskatchewan | 14-3 QUE |
| U.S. Southeast | Georgia vs. Virginia | 14-1 GA |
| U.S. Southwest | Louisiana vs. Texas East | 8-1 LOU |
| Canada | Atlantic vs. Ontario | 8-5 ONT |
| U.S. Southeast | Tennessee vs. South Carolina | 5-3 TEN |
| U.S. Southwest | Mississippi vs. Oklahoma | 10-0 MISS |
| Canada | British Columbia vs. Host (Vancouver) | 5-4 HOST |
Southeast Region
Christopher Harbert nearly started the Southeast Regional with a bang, as the West Virginia (Bridgeport Little League) starting pitcher carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning. Although North Carolina (Bull City Little League) broke it up in the final frame, Harbert's team held on for a 3-1 victory.
West Virginia got all of the offense it needed in the opening two innings. Harbert hit a two-run homer in the first after a leadoff single by Cam Cole, and Tanner Bastin blasted a solo shot off North Carolina starter Colin Scoggins in the second to make it 3-0.
The score remained the same until the bottom of the sixth. That's when North Carolina tried to make a last-ditch rally, as Jackson Berini led off with a double to end the no-hit bid. Scoggins brought him home with a single to get back within two.
Casey Tomasik replaced Harbert to put out the fire for West Virginia, though. He racked up two quick strikeouts to close out the contest.
The loss immediately pushes North Carolina to the brink in the double-elimination tournament.
Florida (North Palm Beach County Little League) and Alabama (Huntsville American Little League) played a highly entertaining encounter that seen the teams trade runs for the first five innings before Florida pulled ahead for good in the sixth to earn a 9-7 win.
The line score illustrates the tight nature of the battle. Both teams scored one run in the first, three in the third and three in the fifth while going scoreless in the second and fourth. Alabama batted in the bottom of the inning, so it was forced to keep fighting back.
Florida jumped back on top in the final frame courtesy of a solo home run by Jack Savery and an RBI ground out by Aidan Hackett to score Bryce Blaser.
Alabama couldn't mount another comeback. Drake Flowers set down the side in order to get the save for Florida. He was the only pitcher for either side to finish his outing without giving up a run.
Flowers was also the star at the plate for Florida. He tallied three hits, including a third-inning homer, to go along with two runs batted in and two runs scored. Joey Urban added two RBI in the victory, as well.
Jack Carson had three hits and three runs for Alabama. The leadoff hitter will likely need a similar performance Saturday as the squad looks to stave off elimination against North Carolina.
Virginia (Vienna American Little League) led 1-0 after two innings before Georgia (Peachtree City American Little League) exploded for 14 runs over the next three frames to earn the blowout victory in five innings.
Kyle Robinson was on cruise control for Virginia in the early going, but things started to unravel in the third. Georgia hung a six on the scoreboard, highlighted by a three-run shot by Cameron Hill and a two-run double by Thaddeus Ector.
Javon Compton and Michael Wright each plated three runs for the winning side. Ector went the distance on the mound, giving up no earned runs while striking out six.
Owen Taylor brought home the only run for Virginia with a single in the second. The team's pitching struggled, however, giving up 16 hits and three walks in the loss. It must now win out in order to earn a berth in the LLWS.
It took extra innings, but Tennessee (Goodlettsville Baseball Little League) managed to finish off South Carolina (Irmo Little League) 5-3 thanks to a two-run double by Ethan Jackson in the top of the seventh.
Tennessee held a 3-1 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth, but Gavin McMillion cracked a two-run home run to center field with no outs to tie the game.
It spoiled the gem thrown by Zach McWilliams, who went five innings, allowing one run on four hits while striking out 10 batters.
Southwest Region
Louisiana (South Lake Charles Little League) jumped on Texas-East (Pearland-East Little League) early, scoring four runs in the first inning that fueled them to an 8-1 victory.
Jake LaRocca paced Louisiana by going 3-for-3 with five RBI, including a pair of two-RBI doubles.
While he excelled at the plate, Gavin Guidry proved difficult to figure out on the hill for Louisiana. He went four innings, striking out eight on 66 pitches.
Mississippi (Starkville Little League) needed only four innings to mercy rule Oklahoma (Tulsa National Little League) 10-0.
They used a six-run third inning to put the game away due to a series of walks and a two-run double by Will McReynolds. He was the only Mississippi player to have more than one RBI on Friday.
Brylee Wall's outing might have been short thanks to the lead he was given, but he was unhittable in that time. In 2.2 innings, he struck out seven of the eight batters that he faced.
Canada Region
Quebec (Diamond Baseball Academy Little League) scored seven runs in the first inning en route to a dominant 14-3 triumph over Saskatchewan (Moose Jaw Little League) in four innings.
Evan McCubbing was one out away from navigating a jam in the first before Quebec broke things open. With one run in and two out, he walked Stefano Paolucci to keep the inning alive. That's always dangerous and, sure enough, Raphael Boudreau eventually punctuated the frame with a grand slam.
Boudreau, the nine-hole hitter in a deep Quebec lineup, added an RBI single and a walk to cap a perfect day at the plate. Every member of the starting lineup had at least one run scored or driven in as part of the impressive offensive showing.
McCubbing didn't have the best afternoon on the mound, but he did provide one of the game's bright spots for Saskatchewan with a RBI single in a three-run third. The team as a whole finished with just three hits in the loss.
All told, it's been a tough start to the event for Saskatchewan, which lost 10-0 to British Columbia in its opener Thursday. The silver lining is that the Canadian event is round-robin affair rather than double-elimination, so there's still time to turn things around in the coming days.
Meanwhile, Quebec established itself as a potential championship contender with today's victory. It will look to keep those positive vibes rolling Saturday when it takes on the Atlantic team.
The Atlantic team (Sydney Sooners Little League) got its tournament off on the wrong foot in an 8-5 loss to Ontario (Port Arthur National Little League).
Ontario jumped out to a 5-1 lead after one inning, but the Atlantic scratched out two runs in the second to get within two. But Ontario rebutted with two in the third and another in the fourth. A run in each of the last two innings was not enough for the Atlantic.
Six different players recorded at least one RBI for Ontario, including Alex Atwill, who went 2-for-3 with three RBI.
Lucas MacDonald of the Atlantic team also recorded three RBI on the losing effort, collecting three hits in four at-bats.
The hosts of Hastings Community Little League won in walk-off fashion 6-5 on Friday thanks to a Lucas Sorace single.
They never led until Sorace's game-winning single as they trailed 2-0 after two and a half innings before tying things up in the bottom of the third.
Heading into the fifth inning, Hastings was down 4-2, but two runs tied the game when Aaron Marks singled home a pair of runs.
All game statistics courtesy of the tournament's official site.
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