Little League World Series 2017: Friday Schedule, TV Info and Bracket Prediction

Thursday's opening round of the 2017 Little League World Series had a couple of upsets as well as some expected blowouts.

Mexico was dominated by Latin America 4-1 in a surprising result, while Canada made quick work of the Europe-Asia representative in a landslide victory of 12-2.

Here are the results from all of yesterday's games:

Thursday Little League World Series Results

International Bracket: Latin America def. Mexico, 4-1

United States Bracket: New England def. Mid-Atlantic, 7-6

International Bracket: Canada def. Europe-Africa, 12-2

United States Bracket: Southwest def. Great Lakes, 5-1

Friday's fixtures look to be more competitive as some more international teams enter the fray. Let's take a quick look at all the information you'll need to know in order to watch Day 2 of the opening round. 

Friday, Aug. 18 (all times E.T.)

Game 5: Australia vs. Japan, 2 p.m. (ESPN)
Game 6: Northwest vs. West, 4 p.m. (ESPN)
Game 7: Asia-Pacific vs. Caribbean, 6 p.m. (ESPN)
Game 8: Southeast vs. Midwest, 8 p.m. (ESPN) 

All games will be live-streamed on WatchESPN.com. 

Predictions

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

In the first afternoon matchup of the day, Australia will take on Japan in what shouldn't be that tight of a contest. Not to take anything away for the Aussies, but the Japanese side have been on an absolute tear in their last four games.

Scoring 53 runs while conceding just six in their past four games, the Japan representative will look to take care of business against Australia with their bats. Look for Japan to put away Australia in the opening two innings with an insurmountable lead.

In Game 2, the Walla Walla Valley Little League side representing Walla Walla, Washington of the Northwest region will take on Santa Margarita of Santa Margarita, California, who are representing the West region.

Both teams have had some shaky moments getting to the Little League World Series, as Walla Walla have lost in their past four games while Santa Margarita, although undefeated in their past four outings, have gone down to the wire in two of their last three games, winning both by just a single run.

Having said that, watch out for Santa Margarita tonight as they find their groove offensively and win another tight contest.

With the exception of Japan, the Seoul West Little League side representing South Korea have the most lethal offense in the tournament. With 45 runs in their past four games while surrendering just two (yes, two) during that span, the Los Bravos de Pontezuela Little League side of the Dominican Republic will have their hands full just trying to keep pace.

This could be another blowout if Los Bravos de Pontezuela can't manufacture any offense. 

Last but not least, the fourth and final game of the day sees the Southeast region's North State Little League of Greenville, North Carolina looking to take out Sioux Falls of Sioux Falls, South Dakota in the nightcap.

North State have conceded eight runs in their past two outings, so their pitching and defense could be vulnerable to Sioux Falls' hot bats, who have scored 11 runs in the past two games. 

Sioux Falls seems to be flying under the radar heading into their first game of the Little League World Series, and they'll come out to prove a point against North State in dominant fashion.