Little League World Series 2016: Saturday Schedule, TV Info, Bracket Predictions
The Little League World Series has reached a critical stage on Day 3 of the schedule. Every team has played one game in the Williamsport, Pennsylvania, tournament.
In this double-elimination tournament, the eight teams that lost Thursday and Friday will be in action Saturday, and those are all elimination games as far as winning the championship is concerned.
Teams that lose Saturday will play one more game, but those are considered consolation games.
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Japan, which won the Little League World Series last year, lost its first-round game to Canada. As a result, the team from Tokyo is playing an elimination game against Caribbean representative Curacao. Curacao lost its first-round game to South Korea, the Asia-Pacific representative.
On the American side of the bracket, Northwest representative Bend, Oregon, will meet Warwick, Rhode Island, the New England representative. Bend lost to Goodlettsville,Tennessee in walk-off fashion in Thursday's action, while Warwick dropped its first game to Endwell, New York, the Mid-Atlantic representative.
| Mexico (San Nicolas) vs. Europe-Africa (Emilia, Italy) | 12 p.m. | ESPN | Mexico |
| Japan (Tokyo) vs. Caribbean (Curacao) | 6 p.m. | ESPN | Japan |
| Northwest (Bend, OR) vs. New England (Warwick,RI) | 3 p.m. | ABC | Northwest |
| West (Chula Vista, CA) vs. Southwest (San Antonio, TX) | 8 p.m. | ESPN | Southwest |
While the Japanese team dropped a 10-4 game to Canada, the team out of the Chofu Little League should have a good chance of surviving its game against Curacao. Japan has an excellent offensive team, as it scored 57 runs in its four-game run to the Little League World Series.
Curcao earned its way to Williamsport by virtue of its 1-0 victory over Aruba. If Curacao is going to advance, it's going to need a stellar pitching performance, but that seems unlikely against the hard-hitting Japanese team.
Bend had a 2-1 lead over its rival from Tennessee with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, but when Caleb Carpenter could not come up with Robert Carroll's drive, the Oregon representative saw its chance at victory turn into a 3-2 defeat.
Manager Steve Mora has to find a way to help his team get over that loss and prepare for Warwick.
“This loss hurts, but we tell them you learn more from a loss than you do from a win,” Mora told Ben Brigand of the Bend Bulletin. “Our kids have character. They’ll analyze what they need to do better but they had every opportunity to win the game. It’s tough, but an overall positive in our first time in this place.”
Warwick struggled throughout its opener to Endwell as pitcher Colin Lemieux had a rare rough day. However, Sean Gallagher of Warwick drove in a late run, and if he gets hot against Bend, it could help the New England representative turn things around.
The game between Bend and Warwick will be broadcast by ABC at 3 p.m. ET, while the other three Saturday games will be televised by ESPN.
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