Little League World Series 2016: Saturday Scores, Bracket Results and Highlights

Saturday marked the first slate of elimination games at the 2016 Little League World Series. The annual showcase is contested under a modified double-elimination format, and the third day of play in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, featured teams that were attempting to fight back from the brink.

The most surprising club on the schedule was Japan, which suffered a 10-4 loss to Canada on Friday, It was the nation's first opening-round defeat since 1965, per ESPN Stats and Info. Japan has also won four of the tournament's last six overall titles.

So let's check out all of the important information for Saturday's games, which will get updated through the conclusion of play. That's followed by a recap of the action.  

Saturday's Schedule and Results

Round	Matchup	Result/Time (ET)
Elimination (International)	Mexico vs. Europe-Africa	12-7 MEX
Elimination (United States)	Northwest vs. New England	8-0 NE
Elimination (International)	Japan vs. Caribbean	2-1 CAR
Elimination (United States)	West vs. Southwest	5-0 WEST

Mexico vs. Europe-Africa

Mexico (San Nicolas Little League) built a 4-0 lead and eventually posted a five-run victory over Europe-Africa (Emilia Little League; Italy) to keep its LLWS hopes alive.

The Mexican pitching staff shined across the first five innings. Jose Angel Leal, Gael Isaac Cortez and Milton Gonzalez combined to give up no earned runs and strike out eight batters in those frames. Italy did put together a rally in the sixth, but it wasn't enough to complete a miracle comeback.

Cortez also paced the Mexico offense with a pair of homers, including a tape-measure shot to left-center field in the top of the sixth to help put the contest out of reach. In all, it was one of the top individual performances of the tournament to date.

Ben Brigandi of the Williamsport Sun-Gazette noted Cortez's second homer would have soared for a while if it hadn't hit the scoreboard:

Samuele Gamberini had a terrific day at the plate for Italy, picking up hits in all three of his at-bats and scoring a pair of runs. His team is eliminated from title contention after the loss, however.

Looking ahead, Mexico's back is still against the wall after the opening loss to Latin America, which leaves no further margin for error. That said, the team's all-around effort Saturday showed it's still a threat capable of making some noise in the coming days.

Northwest vs. New England

New England (Warwick North Little League; Rhode Island) grabbed an early two-run lead and never looked back en route to an 8-0 shutout win over Northwest (Bend North Little League; Oregon).

Kenny Rix provided the key moment in the game as he blasted a three-run homer in the fourth to give Rhode Island some breathing room after a tense battle to that point. The offense added a little more insurance in the fifth and the pitching staff took care of the rest.

Rix, Colin Lemieux and Cullen McGrew put together six scoreless innings. The trio combined to allow just five hits and one walk while striking out four. Most importantly, they worked quickly to get out of any potential trouble as Oregon worked to start a rally.

Julian Mora had two hits in three trips to the plate for the Northwest representatives. The team as a whole just couldn't muster enough consistent offense to cause problems for New England's deep and talented pitching staff, though.

Just like Mexico, Rhode Island proved there's still reason to remain optimistic about its chances of making a deep run despite the opening loss. It's going to take more complete team performances like Saturday's in order to make it happen.

Japan vs. Caribbean

Sosuke Igawa walked in Egory Manuela to score the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fifth, which proved to be the difference in a 2-1 victory for the Caribbean (Pariba Little League; Curacao) over Japan (Chofu Little League).

Japan grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth on a solo home run by So Hirao, but Donovan Antonia responded with a solo homer of his own to tie the game in the bottom half of the inning.

Aside from those two hits, offense was in short supply. The teams combined for seven hits.

Jadon Gosepa pitched five strong innings for Curaco. He allowed one earned run on four hits while striking out seven and walking none. After Yujiro Moriya singled to lead off the top of the sixth, Gedionne Marlin came on and shut the door to preserve the win.

Igawa went 4.1 innings, making way for Takumi Ito. He was rolling for most of the game, until everything unraveled in the fifth.

Curacao stays alive in the Little League World Series, but one defeat is all it will take to send the team packing early from Williamsport.

West vs. Southwest

On the strength of a pitching gem from Victor Lizarraga, West (Park View Little League; California) remains alive in the Little League World Series following a 5-0 win over Southwest (McAllister Park American Little League; Texas).

Lizarraga threw a complete game, allowing two hits and striking out nine in six innings. According to GameChanger, he got the leadoff batter out in four of the six innings and erased nine of 21 Texas batters on three or fewer pitches. That efficiency allowed Lizarraga to remain effective deep into the game.

He was also helped by the fact his offense provided five runs through the first three innings. California got two runs in the first inning and added another in the second. Then, in the top of the third, Devin Hinojosa delivered a two-run home run to left field.

Lizarraga didn't need much in the way of run support, and with the way he was pitching, a five-run deficit was a deep hole for Texas. After Brody Ticer led off the bottom of the third, only two more Texas hitters reached base.

Gibson Maldonado doubled to begin the sixth, but a comeback wasn't on the cards after Lizarraga set the next three batters down in order to end the game.

All game statistics courtesy of the tournament's official site.