Little League World Series Regionals 2018: Friday Scores, Bracket Results

The final step on the road to the 2018 Little League World Series began on Friday with two regional tournaments getting started. 

The Southwest Regional actually opened play on Thursday with four games featuring eight teams. The four losing teams will be back on the field today looking to keep their dream of advancing to Williamsport alive, while the remaining clubs will be in action tomorrow. 

The Southeast Regional began Friday with eight teams looking to secure a spot in the winner's bracket in the double-elimination format. 

Here's what went down during regional play from both areas of the country today:

Southeast Regional Standings

Georgia (1-0)

Virginia (1-0)

Alabama (1-0)

South Carolina (1-0)

Florida (0-1)

North Carolina (0-1)

Tennessee (0-1)

West Virginia (0-1)

Southwest Regional Standings

Louisiana (1-0)

Oklahoma (1-0)

Mississippi (1-0)

Texas-East (1-0)

New Mexico (1-1)

Arkansas (1-1)

Colorado (0-2)

Texas-West (0-2)

Arkansas 4, Colorado 2

Canon Cope and Haydyn Carter delivered back-to-back RBI singles in the top of the fifth inning to provide the different in Arkansas' 4-2 win in an elimination game over Colorado. 

Colorado started the game in control with two runs in the bottom of the first. Four of the first six outs recorded by starting pitcher Danny Demoss came via strikeout. 

The third inning served as a wake-up call for Arkansas' bats. Jackson Henderson got the scoring started with an RBI double. Christian Carnal followed that up with a sacrifice fly to tie the score. 

Arkansas' pitching was excellent in the win. Henderson started the game for his team and came within one out of a complete game. He finished with 11 strikeouts and just one hit allowed in 5.2 innings. 

Colorado did threaten in the bottom half of the sixth inning before Jace Johnson got Austin Seymore to pop up for the final out.

South Carolina 10, Florida 2

A potent offensive attack and solid pitching carried South Carolina to a 10-2 victory over Florida. 

South Carolina wasted no time putting pressure on the Florida team with two runs in the first inning on Tripp O'Neal's RBI single. The offense would score at least one run in each of the first four innings and five of the six innings overall. 

It was a balanced showing for South Carolina's hitters with six hitters having at least one hit and five with at least one RBI. 

O'Neal also served as South Carolina's starting pitcher in the game. He battled his way through three innings, allowing seven hits and two runs before giving way to Bryce Harder. 

Harder was terrific over the final three innings with five strikeouts and one hit allowed. He also went 2-for-4 and scored two runs. 

New Mexico 6, Texas-West 5

New Mexico held off a late rally by Texas-West to earn a 6-5 victory that also kept its hopes of winning the Southwest Regional alive. 

This game started out as a pitching duel early with both teams scoreless after two innings. New Mexico finally broke through in the third inning when Nate Hernandez connected for a two-run homer off Javier Moreno. 

The New Mexico squad would add two more runs in the fourth and fifth innings to take a 6-0 lead. Alek Guzman's single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth cut the deficit to one run with no outs. 

Jeremyah Dominguez took over on the mound for New Mexico, recording the last three outs to preserve the win. 

Georgia 1, Tennessee 0

Chase Fralick's walk-off single in the bottom of the sixth gave Georgia a 1-0 win over Tennessee in the Southeast Regional's first game. 

Georgia's pitching duo of Jansen Kenty and Tai Peete combined on a five-hit shutout in the victory. 

Starting the game for Georgia, Kenty tossed a masterpiece with 13 strikeouts on 85 pitches over five innings. 

Tennessee appeared to put itself in a great position to get a run in the top of the sixth when Max Weyenberg hit a double off Kenty. Peete took over after that and appealed the call by throwing to first base when the umpire called Weyenberg out for missing the base. 

Peete needed just four pitches to get the final two outs of the inning. 

Tennessee pitcher Yuvraj Chauhan was also brilliant in defeat. He allowed just three hits and had eight strikeouts with no walks. 

Virginia 12, West Virginia 5

Virginia used two big innings to earn a 12-5 victory over West Virginia. 

Following a scoreless first frame, Virginia exploded for six runs in the bottom of the second. Shawn Arneja had the big hit of the inning with a two-run double that increased the lead to 5-0. 

West Virginia made a valiant effort to climb back into the game with three runs in the top of the third. 

After West Virginia was able to cut the deficit to 7-5 going into the bottom of the fifth, a two-run double by Chad Yates and a two-run single by Arneja sealed the victory for Virginia. 

Looking ahead to Saturday's games, Virginia and Georgia will play in the winner's bracket. Tennessee and West Virginia will meet in the first game of the day, with the winner getting to play on. 

Alabama 12, North Carolina 2 (4 Innings)

Alabama overcame an early two-run deficit to score 12 unanswered runs and defeat North Carolina via the mercy rule in four innings. 

Things started great for North Carolina with three of the first four hitters reaching, capped off by Tyler Sparrow's two-run single. 

After a scoreless second inning, Alabama took control of things by tying the game in the third. Aden Malpass kept the momentum going the following inning with a two-run homer that gave his team the lead for the first time. 

During Alabama's 10-run fourth inning, a total of 11 batters reached base. The top four hitters in the lineup combined to go 5-for-11 with seven RBI, four walks and six runs scored.