Little League World Series Regionals 2017: Tennessee, Georgia Score Early Wins

Regional play to qualify for the Little League World Series continued Friday with action in both the Southwest and Southeast regional tournaments. 

Southwest play opened Thursday, and all four of Thursday's losing teams played Friday in hopes of avoiding elimination, while the first four games of the Southeast tournament were scheduled to be contested Friday.

One of the Southeast games was suspended due to rain, however, and the other was postponed.

Here is a full rundown of the schedule and results from Friday's regional games, marking the start of the road to Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Schedule/Results

Southeast: Tennessee (Goodlettsville Baseball) def. Alabama (Ladonia Youth Sports), 6-2

Southeast: Georgia (Peachtree City National) def. Virginia (Fort Hunt), 9-3

Southeast: Florida (West Boynton Beach) vs. West Virginia (Logan), suspended w/ Florida leading 7-2

Southeast: South Carolina (Greenville) vs. North Carolina (North State), PPD

Southwest: Colorado (Academy) def. Mississippi (Starkville), 4-3

Southwest: Oklahoma (Tulsa National) def. Arkansas (White Hall), 8-4

Scores

Tennessee def. Alabama, 6-2

Tennessee took its first step toward qualifying for the Little League World Series on Friday, as Goodlettsville Baseball defeated Alabama's Ladonia Youth Sports 6-2 in the opening game of Southeast regional play.

Carson Rucker led the way for Tennessee, as he went 2-for-3 with four RBI, including the only home run of the game to put the team ahead 3-2 in the third inning.

Alabama jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first, but a host of Tennessee pitchers shut it down the rest of the way.

Tennessee managed to touch up Alabama starter JR Kitchens, who allowed seven hits and five earned runs while striking out six in four innings of work.

Alabama will play to avoid elimination Saturday, and Tennessee will have a chance to punch its ticket into the semifinal with another win Saturday as well.

Georgia def. Virginia, 9-3

Georgia jumped all over Virginia early and often Friday, as Peachtree City National got off to a 9-3 winning start over Fort Hunt.

While the teams only combined for 10 hits, they each committed three errors, which contributed to much of the scoring.

Georgia scored three runs in the first inning and knocked Virginia starter Ryan Conmy out after just 1.2 innings, but he allowed just one hit and none of the three runs charged to him were earned.

The game was truly put away in the bottom of the fifth innings, as Georgia scored five runs to up its lead from 4-1 to 9-1. Included in that onslaught was a two-run single by pinch hitter Garrett Martin.

Virginia attempted to make a miraculous comeback in the sixth inning, and although it plated two runs, it fell well short.

Georgia will play Tennessee on Saturday with the winner advancing to the semis, while Virginia will meet Alabama with the loser of that game going home.

Colorado def. Mississippi, 4-3

Despite cutting a 4-0 deficit down to 4-3, Mississippi fell to Colorado on Friday in the Southwest regional and was eliminated from Little League World Series contention.

Colorado received production throughout the lineup, as four different players drove in runs for Academy in the win over Starkville.

Although Colorado only had six hits in the game, it made the most of its opportunities with runners in scoring position.

Also, while Adam Velazquez allowed three hits and walked five in 3.1 innings for Colorado, he largely worked around trouble in the winning effort.

Mississippi began to mount a comeback with two runs in the bottom of the fourth and one in the fifth, but it left to runners on in the bottom of the sixth and lost the game.

While Mississippi was ousted from the tournament, Colorado will play Sunday in yet another elimination game.

Oklahoma def. Arkansas, 8-4

Riley Rogers had three hits and drove in two runs, while Jackson Buck also had two RBI as Oklahoma earned an 8-4 win over Arkansas. 

Oklahoma scored seven of its eight runs in the first three innings to jump out to an early (and insurmountable lead). Arkansas starter Lucas Gray gave up four runs in 1.2 innings, and Cade Harp was shelled for three in his 1.1 innings of work.

Oklahoma starter Parker Friedrichsen only lasted 2.2 innings before being removed after giving up three runs (one earned), but the bullpen did its job. Buck threw three innings of one run baseball, and Riley Rogers recorded the game's final out.