Little League World Series 2018: Wednesday Schedule, TV Info, Bracket Prediction
Rain washed out Tuesday's action from the 2018 Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
As a result, Wednesday's slate will now feature two elimination games and two winners' bracket games, and it will also mean zero rest for each of the teams who advance to play on Thursday.
Assuming rain is not an issue again, by the end of the day on Wednesday, the field will be trimmed to just six teams still in the hunt for the title.
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Here's a look at the full schedule for Wednesday:
Little League World Series Wednesday Schedule
Caribbean (Puerto Rico) vs. Canada (3 p.m., ESPN3)
Great Lakes (Michigan) vs. Southeast (Georgia) (3 p.m., ESPN)
Japan vs. Asia-Pacific (South Korea) (7 p.m., ESPN3)
Mid-Atlantic (New York) vs. West (Hawaii) (7 p.m., ESPN)
Bracket Predictions
Rained-Out Games
In yesterday's prediction article, we already picked Puerto Rico and Georgia as the winners of the two elimination games that will now start Wednesday's action.
Puerto Rico got a brilliant start from Eric Rodriguez in its opener against South Korea, as he struck out eight batters over 5.1 scoreless innings. He's had the requisite rest to take the mound again, which should give Puerto Rico the advantage.
As for the United States side of the losers' bracket, both Georgia and Michigan won their last game in walk-off fashion. They've now had a day to process emotional wins from Monday, and this one does look like anyone's game.
A 6-5 victory for Georgia was our original prediction, and we'll stick with it.
International
Moving on to the games that were originally scheduled to be the only ones on today's slate—a meeting of the two teams on each side of the bracket who have started the tournament with a 2-0 record.
We'll start on the international side, where the team from Japan will take on the Asia-Pacific Region representative from Seoul, South Korea.
Japan needed just five innings to secure an 11-1 win in their opener against Spain, with Shisei Fujimoto racking up 10 strikeouts while allowing just five hits and one run over five innings. He's available to start again on Wednesday.
That was followed by a 4-2 win over Panama in which Fujimoto was again the star with a two-run home run.
Meanwhile, South Korea scored a 4-2 victory over the Puerto Rico team that is still standing in their opener. Yeong Hyeon Kim struck out 13 batters in 4.2 innings as the starter but didn't factor into the decision, as the game went nine innings before South Korea finally pushed across two runs.
A 5-1 victory over Mexico in their second game kept them in the winner's bracket, as Ji Hyung Choi went 2-for-3 with a home and two RBI.
With two excellent starters on the mound, this one could be a pitcher's duel.
Prediction: Japan 3, South Korea 2
United States
On the American side of the bracket, the team from Staten Island, New York will look to keep things rolling against Hawaii.
The Mid-Island team out of the Mid-Atlantic Regional outscored opponents by a staggering 138-16 margin during regional play. They beat the Michigan team that's still fighting in the losers' bracket by a 5-2 score in their opener, then snuck past Houston, Texas in a 2-1 win in their second game.
Gregory Bruno threw a perfect game in the Mid-Atlantic Region final and struck out seven in 2.2 innings of relief work in the opener against Michigan and then allowed one run in 5.1 innings as the starter in the team's second game. That means he won't be available for this one, so someone else will need to step up on the mound.
As for the team from Hawaii, they twirled a nine-inning shutout in their opener with a 2-0 victory over the Georgia team that will play in Wednesday's early slate.
Aukai Kea was the starter for that game, striking out 10 and allowing just two hits in 6.1 innings of work, and he's now had the necessary rest to start again.
That was followed by an 8-3 victory over Michigan—the other team playing in the early game. A six-run bottom of the second proved to be the difference in that one, as Hawaii has shown they can do it with pitching and offense.
With Kea rested up for Hawaii and Bruno unavailable for New York, it looks like the West Region representatives hold the advantage.
Prediction: Hawaii 6, New York 2
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