2012 Little League World Series - Baseball The MagPage 40 • • Baseball The Magazine Issue 4,...

• www.batwars.com • www.baseballthemag.com Baseball The Magazine Issue 4, 2012 • Page 39

2012 Little League World SeriesGame 1 • Japan 7, Caribbean 0 • Japan received outstanding pitching from Kotaro Kiyomiya and Noriatsu Osaka and put together some offense early in the contest to defeat Willemstad, Curacao, the Caribbean champion, 7-0.• Kiyomiya struck out seven batters and allowed no hits in two-plus innings before Osaka en-tered in the third and gave up one hit while also fanning seven.• Japan scored six runs in the first two innings, including two on a dropped third strike to take a 3-0 lead in the first. Osaka drove in two runs in the second frame to give his team a 6-0 advan-tage before Japan added another tally in the fifth.

Game 2 • West 6, New England 4• The West Regional champions from Petaluma, California, jumped out to a big lead and held off the resilient New England champs from Fairfield, Con-necticut, in a 6-4 victory.• West pitcher Bradley Smith hit a two-run homer in the top of the third to give his team a 3-1 lead. The team from Petaluma then added two more runs in the fifth to take a 5-2 advantage when Austin Paretti drove in Danny Marzo and Bradley Smith with a single.• New England scored its first run in the first inning on a solo home run by Biagio Paoletta. The Fairfield team then rallied for two runs in the fifth when Will Lucas stroked a triple to right field to score Daniel Kiernam.

Game 3 • Asia-Pacific 14, Europe 1• Asia-Pacific, represented by Taoyuan, Chinese Taipei, pounded the European champions from Ramstein, Germany, by scoring often between the second and fourth innings to emerge with a 14-1 run-rule victory that ended after the fourth.• Asia-Pacific took the lead in the second inning when Li-Wei Chiang crushed a three-run homer over the center field fence. The team added six runs on four hits along with an error and a handful of passed balls before five more players crossed the plate in the fourth on four hits for the 14-0 lead.• Li-Wei Chang paced Asia-Pacific by going 2-for-2 with a home run and a double with four RBIs. Feng Chen had three hits in as many at-bats and drove in three runs.• Europe scored its lone run in the bottom of the fourth when Jus-tin Wilson led off with a walk before crossing the plate two batters later on an error.

Game 4 • Southeast 12, Midwest 1• The Southeast champions from Good-lettsville, Tennessee, gradually built a lead throughout the game and emerged with a 12-1 victory over Kearney, Nebraska, champi-ons of the Midwest.• Southeast scored a run in the first inning on Cole Carter’s RBI single. Ryan Lyle swat-ted a two-run homer in the second inning to give his team a 3-0 lead before Brock Myers equaled the feat with a two-run blast in the fifth frame. RBI singles by Colin O’Berry and Jonathan Seals, home runs from Jake Rucker and Jayson Brown and a run-scoring double by Luke Brown gave the Tennesseans an insurmountable advantage.• Midwest scored its lone run in the fifth inning when Zane Schmidt drove in Nathan Murray with a single.

Game 6 • Southwest 5, Mid-Atlantic 2• Jordan Cardenas led off the bottom of the first inning with a home run to give Southwest an early advantage over Mid-Atlantic and set the stage for a 5-2 victory.• The Southwest champions from San Antonio, Texas, added three runs in the second inning, including an inside-the-park home run by Tyler Vitt to center field, to take a lead they would not surrender to the squad from Parsippany, New Jersey. Two runs also scored when Zachary Sanchez singled to right field and advanced to third on an error by the outfielder to give Southwest a 4-0 advantage. • Mid-Atlantic had a chance to pull closer with the bases loaded and one out late in the game but was unable to score. The New Jersey team also hurt itself by committing three errors, which led to three unearned runs for Southwest.

Game 7 • Latin America 9, Middle East-Africa 3• Latin America, represented by Aguadulce, Panama, put together a five-run rally in the bottom of the second and cruised to a 9-3 victory over the Middle East-Asia representative from Lugazi, Uganda.• Pitcher Julio Goff gave Latin America an early lead with his line drive single that plated his team’s first tally. Shortstop James Gonzalez added a line drive double in the bottom of the third to give the Panamanians a large lead. MEA scored two of its three runs on a home run by Daniel Alio in the top of the sixth inning.• Even though none of the parents or family members of the Uganda team were able to make the trip to the United States, MEA received the bulk of the support from the crowd. Team manager Henry Odong said after the game, “It was something else to hear everyone cheering for us. Even when we were losing they still cheered.”

Game 8 • Great Lakes 4, Northwest 0• Great Lakes, represented by the team from New Castle, Indiana, scored all four of its runs on five hits in the bottom of the fifth inning to defeat the Northwest representatives from Gresham, Oregon, 4-0 on Friday night at Lamade Stadium.• Cory Murphy started the rally with a single to center field before advancing to second on a bunt by Blake Burris and reaching third on a passed ball. After Brett Matney reached first on a bunt, Murphy scored on the second passed ball of the inning. Three more runs came across on two singles, a double and a walk.• Both teams received strong pitch-ing throughout the contest. The Great Lakes’ hurlers combined to strike out 11 batters while allowing only two hits. Northwest starter Greg Mehlaff fanned seven batters in 4 1/3 innings of work.

Game 5 • Canada 13, Mexico 9• Offense was the name of the game when Canada, represented by Vancouver, British Columbia, pounded out a 13-9 triumph over the champions from Nuevo Laredo, Tamauli-pas, Mexico.• Canada sent 13 batters to the plate in the first inning and scored seven runs to take an early lead. The team from north of the border added another tally in the top of the second on an RBI single from Matteo Porcellato.• Mexico tried to remain within striking dis-tance by scoring once in the first on an RBI single from Ramon Ballina and then added a two-run homer from Gerardo Moreno and a three-run shot from Eduardo Abrego in the second. Ballina followed with a home run before Erasmo Gonzalez tied the contest at 8-8 with an RBI single.• Canada regained the advantage in the third when Carson Ho and Steven Moretto scored. Canada increased its lead to 11-8 in the fourth on Nicholas Williams’ RBI single before Mexico’s Eduardo Ballina added another home run in the bottom of the frame. Canada’s final two runs came in the sixth with bases-loaded walks.

Page 38 • www.batwars.com • www.baseballthemag.com Baseball The Magazine Issue 4, 2012 • Page 39


Game 14 • Southeast 9, West 6• Jayson Brown snapped a 5-5 tie in the top of the

sixth inning with a two-RBI triple to guide the South-east team from Goodlettsville, Tennessee, to a 9-6

victory over the West representative from Peta-luma, California. Brown came through with his

big hit with two strikes and two outs to give Southeast the game-deciding tallies.

• Brock Myers followed Jayson Brown’s triple with a two-run homer to left field

to give Southeast a 9-5 advantage. Myers’ blast was the only home run

hit by Southeast. • Despite suffering the loss,

West hit four home runs in the contest, the last one being a

solo shot in the bottom of the sixth by Porter Slate.

In addition to Slate, West received homers from

Bradley Smith, Kempton Brandis and Cole To-mei. The setback put the California club in the losers’ bracket and an elimination game against Mid-Atlantic.

2012 Little League World SeriesGame 9 • Caribbean 14, Europe 2• The Caribbean champions from Curacao scored 14 runs over four innings to take a 14-2 victory over Europe and advance to the next round of the losers’ bracket in Wil-liamsport.• Caribbean scored eight runs on seven hits in the top of the first inning with the biggest blow being a three-run homer by Christopher Koeiman. The Germans did not pro-vide much resistance by committing four errors. Caribbean plated five more runs on three hits in the top of the third inning prior to putting together another tally in the fourth to create the 10-run mercy run.• The Germans scored their runs in the bottom of the third when Justin Wilson singled to score Jerry Van-Sickle, who led off the inning with a walk. Kyle Glenn added an RBI single that plated Nico Decosta, who had a single earlier in the frame.

Game 10- New England 12, Midwest 0• New England scored three runs in the third inning before adding six more in the fourth to build a 9-0 advantage on its way to a 12-0 triumph over Midwest at Lamade Stadium.• The team from Fairfield, Connecticut, scored its first run when Will Lucas walked with the bases loaded to plate Henry Prestegaard. Kevin Oricoli then came through with a two-RBI double for the 3-0 advantage. In the fourth, New England received back-to-back RBI doubles from Chris Meyers and Patrick Steed before Biagio Paoletta contributed a two-RBI triple and Will Lucas swatted a two-run homer.• Biagio Paoletta and Will Lucas struck again in the fifth inning with run-scoring doubles to give New England its final margin of victory in a game that was halted due to the mercy rule.

Game 11 • Mexico 12, MEA 0• Mexico eliminated Middle East-Africa from the Little League World Series with a 12-0 vic-tory that concluded after four innings due to the mercy rule at Volunteer Stadium. Despite the setback, the squad from Lugazi, Uganda, was the first team from an African nation to compete in the Williamsport tournament.• The team from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, scored five runs in the second inning to take a com-manding lead. Andres Carrillo began the offensive outburst with a solo home run before Joel Turrubiates added a three-run shot later in the frame.• Mexico then added seven runs in the third inning, including back-to-back home runs by An-dres Carrillo and Felix Diaz. The victory advances Mexico to the loser of the Japan/Asia-Pacific contest, while MEA will play a consolation game against the loser of the Mid-Atlantic/North-west matchup.

Game 12 • Mid-Atlantic 10, Northwest 4• Five runs in the first two frames and a four-run rally in the top of the fifth

inning enabled the Mid-Atlantic team from Parsippany, New Jersey, to pull away from the Northwest champions from Gresham, Oregon, and

post the 10-4 victory at Lamade Stadium.• Shortstop Emil Matti started the scoring for Mid-Atlantic with a

leadoff home run in the first inning. Right fielder D.J. Pico added a two-run homer and Emil Matti hit his second blast of the game in

the second inning to give the New Jersey team a 5-0 lead.• Second baseman Daniel Ruggiero’s two-run double

started the scoring in the fifth for Mid-Atlantic. Ruggiero scored the third run of the frame before Bener Uygun plated the fourth tally.• Northwest scored two runs in the sec-ond inning on right fielder Ezra Sam-peri’s single. First baseman Tyler Linch added another two-RBI single in the third inning to pull the Oregon team to within one run at 5-4.

Game 13 • Latin America 8, Canada 3• Carlos Flavio hit a home run to start the second inning be-fore shortstop James Gonzalez crushed a grand slam to give Latin America a 6-0 lead. The team from Aguadulce, Panama, cruised the rest of the way to defeat the Canadian champs from Vancouver, British Columbia, 8-3, at Volunteer Stadium.• James Gonzalez added another home run, a two-run blast in the bottom of the fourth inning, to give his team an 8-1 lead. The offense supported a strong pitching effort for Latin America, whose hurlers fanned 13 batters, including the first three Cana-dian hitters in the first inning by Edisson Gonzalez.• Canada, which dropped into the losers’ bracket with the loss, received runs in the fourth and fifth innings from Cortez D’Alessandro and Thomas Neal before adding a third tally in the

sixth on a bases-loaded walk.



Game 16 • Japan 2, Asia-Pacific 0, 9 innings• Hajime Motegi hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth with a runner on second base to give Japan a 2-0 extra-in-ning victory over the Asia-Pacific champions from Chinese Taipei at Lamade Stadium.• Pitching dominated the contest with the hurlers combining to strike out 30 batters. The two starters, Yuta Ishida of Japan and Chun-Hsiao Chen of Asia-Pacific, had 22 strikeouts between them while tossing six innings apiece. Chen al-lowed only two hits in six shutout innings while Ishida gave up three in the same scoreless span.• Noriatsu Osaka of Japan relieved Ishida at the start of the seventh inning and threw three shutout innings before Hajime Mo-tegi produced the game-winning home run. The loss sent Asia-Pacific into the losers’ bracket against Mexico while Japan advances to face Panama, the Latin America champions. Game 17 • Midwest 17, Europe 1

• After rain delayed the game following the first inning, the Midwest team from Kearney, Nebraska, put together a 15-run second frame to defeat the team from Ramstein, Germany, 17-1, in a consolation game at Lamade Stadium. Nebraska’s 15-run frame broke the Little League World Series record for most tallies in an inning, breaking the previous mark of 14 set by the Asian team from Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei, against EMEA in 2004.• Middle infielders Matt Masker and Jared Wegner started the scoring for Mid-west in the first inning with RBI singles. Wegner then concluded the second inning with a three-run homer to give his team a 17-0 advantage. All 15 runs scored by Midwest in the second inning were unearned.• Europe managed only two hits in the game. First baseman Tyler Woodberry hit a sacrifice fly in the third inning to score center fielder Nico DeCosta from third base for the Germans’ lone run.

2012 Little League World Series

Game 15 • Southwest 13, Great Lakes 3• Southwest scored six times in the fourth inning to break open a close game and defeat Great Lakes, 13-3, at Volunteer Stadium. Two runs scored on bases-loaded walks before Carter Elliot stroked an RBI single. Mason Moore followed with another RBI single and Tyler Vitt brought home two more with a double. The scoring outburst concluded when Mason Moore crossed the plate on a wild pitch. • Southwest started the scoring in the first inning when Zachary Sanchez hit a two-run homer and Tyler Vitt added an RBI double that sent Jack Scarborough across the plate. The team added two more runs in the fifth when Jordan Cardenas hit a home run with a runner on base.• Great Lakes kept the contest close early on when Hunter McCubbins’ two-run homer in the bottom of the second pulled the team within one at 3-2. The team nearly added another run in the bottom of the third but South-west’s Kevin Fleisher made a great catch at the right field wall to prevent Great Lakes from tying the contest.

Game 18 • Caribbean 4, Canada 3• The Caribbean champions from Willemstad, Curacao, scored three runs in the fifth inning to post a come-from-behind 4-3 vic-tory over Canada in an elimination game at Volunteer Stadium. Trailing 3-1 upon entering the frame, Christopher Koeiman hit a sacrifice fly to left field that scored both Jurickson Fecunda and Daytan Biegel. Carson Ho, the left fielder for Canada, made an impressive catch but fell upon completing the play, allow-ing the runners on second and third to score.• After Caribbean’s Mildward Baranco hit a solo homer in the second inning to give his team a 1-0 lead, Canada tied the game with an RBI single from Steven Moretto and then took a 3-1 advantage on a two-run homer by Noah Hanson-Stafford in the bottom of the fourth.• Canada tried to rally in the sixth but fell short. Despite being eliminated from the championship competition, the team’s manager, Vito Bordignon, was pleased with his team’s performance. “Our defense was really good today and throughout the whole tournament,” Bordignon said. “They represented Canada well and had a great showing here in Williamsport.”

Game 19 • West 5, Mid-Atlantic 4, 8 innings• Danny Marzo led off the bottom of the eighth with a solo home run to give the West representatives from Petaluma, California, a come-from-behind 5-4 win in extra innings over the Mid-Atlantic champions from Parsippany, New Jersey.• The boys from New Jersey took an early lead by scoring on an error in the sec-ond inning and adding another tally on a solo home run by Anthony Scannelli in the fourth. The California club responded with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Hance Smith provided the big hit, a single to left field that brought home a pair of runs.• After Mid-Atlantic tied the game at 4-4 in the top of the sixth, Logan Douglas relieved Bradley Smith on the mound for West and silenced the New Jersey team for two-plus innings before Marzo delivered his game-winning shot. With the loss, Mid-Atlantic was eliminated from the tournament while West will play the winner of the New England/Great Lakes contest.



Game 22 • Middle East-Africa 3, Northwest 2• The Middle East-Africa champions from Lugazi, Uganda, rallied from a two-run deficit to defeat the Northwest rep-resentative from Gresham, Oregon, 3-2, in a consolation game. With runners on first and second, Felix Enzama reached first on a fielder’s choice, allowing the deciding run to score in the process. The play gave MEA its lone victory at the Little League World Series.• Northwest scored its runs in the top of the fourth inning when Hunter Hemenway hit a triple with two runners on base to give his team a 2-0 advantage.• MEA tied the game in the bottom of the fourth when Daniel Alio scored from third on a wild pitch before Felix Enzama tied the contest on a passed ball.

2012 Little League World SeriesGame 20 • Mexico 4, Asia-Pacific 3• Mexico scored three runs in the third inning to take the lead and held on to defeat Asia-Pacific, 4-3, at Volunteer Stadium. The team from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, plat-ed its second run of the game on an RBI single by center fielder Fernando Bernaivdes that shortstop Meng-Chun Sung narrowly missed. Bernavides and Joel Turrubiates scored the deciding runs later in the inning on an error by the pitcher to take a 4-2 advantage.• The two teams traded solo home runs in the first inning. Third baseman Chun-En Lin hit a big fly for Asia-Pacific while Mexico right fielder Omar Cervantes tied the game with his one-run blast in the bottom of the opening frame.• Asia-Pacific added single tallies in the second and fourth innings. Second baseman Ting-Yu Liu stroked an RBI single to give his team a 2-1 lead before first baseman Chun-Hsiao Chen also had an RBI single two innings later to pull the team to within one run at 4-3. With the loss, Asia-Pacific was eliminated from the tournament while Mexico advanced to face the Caribbean champs from Curacao.

Game 23 • Mexico 6, Caribbean 2• Mexico put together a five-run third inning to take a 5-1 advan-tage and maintained that lead for the rest of the contest to post the 6-2 victory over the Caribbean team from Willemstad, Curacao. Joel Turrubiates started the scoring in the deciding frame with an RBI single before Ramon Ballina slugged a three-run homer and Eduardo Abrego added a solo shot to give the team from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, a lead it would not surrender.• Caribbean took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a bases-loaded walk and added its second run in the bottom of the third when Richelon Julliana scored on a wild pitch. Caribbean would have dented the scoreboard more in the bottom of the third if not for a diving catch in right field by Mexico’s Omar Cervantes.• Mexico added its final run in the sixth inning on a passed ball that scored Felix Diaz.

Game 21 • New England 4, Great Lakes 0• The Fairfield, Connecticut, team received a complete game no-hitter from pitcher Will Lucas, enabling the New England team to shut down the Great Lakes representative from New Castle, Indi-ana, 4-0, in an elimination game. Lucas’ gem represented the first no-hitter thrown at the Little League World Series this year.• New England took a 2-0 lead in the second inning when Matt Kubel hit a solo home run and Henry Prestegaard added an RBI single. The Connecticut club added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth when Will Lucas’ double plated Ryan Meury and Biagio Paoletta.• Will Lucas said he was aware of the no-hitter during the latter part of the game. “It felt really good. I started getting nervous, but I was just trying to throw strikes. Coach said, ‘Miss small, aim small,’ and I think that worked tonight.”



Game 24 • West 5, New England 0• The West champions from Petaluma, California, and the New England represen-tatives from Fairfield, Connecticut, met for the second time in the Little League World Series. West won for the second time in as many outings behind an out-standing pitching effort from Quinton Gago to post the 5-0 victory in an elimi-nation game at Lamade Stadium.• Quinton Gago allowed only two hits over 5 1/3 innings. Gago’s pitching was aided by timely hitting, with West scoring single runs in the second and fifth innings and Hance Smith crushing a three-run homer in the bottom of the third to give his pitcher all the run support he would need.• New England received a solid showing from starting pitcher Matt Kubel, who gave up seven hits over five innings. The Connecticut team, how-ever, committed several miscues, which West used to win the game and eliminate New England from the tournament.

Game 25 • Japan 4, Latin America 1• Japan scored three runs in the first in-ning and maintained that advantage for the remainder of the contest to defeat Latin America, 4-1, at Lamade Stadium and advance to the international champi-onship game. Latin America fell into the losers’ bracket and will face Mexico to determine which team will meet Japan.• Kotaro Kiyomiya hit a long home run onto the hill beyond the center field fence in the first inning to give Japan a 2-0 lead. Shun Oshima followed shortly thereafter with another home run to give Japan the 3-0 advantage.• Latin America scored in the top of the fifth inning when Daniel Cruz plated Ed-win Nieto with an RBI double. Japan got the run back in the bottom of the frame when Shun Oshima drove a triple to left field that scored Danji Takahashi.

Game 26 • Southeast 4, Southwest 3• Goodlettsville, Tennessee, representing Southeast, advanced to the United States championship game by beating the Southwest champs from San Antonio, 4-3, at Lamade Stadium. Southeast en-tered the sixth inning trailing, 3-2, but tied the game on an error by the Southwest catcher before Cole Carter stroked an RBI single to center field to score Jayson Brown with the deciding run.• Southwest scored an unearned run in the bottom of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead before Southeast took a 2-1 advan-tage in the third on back-to-back home runs by Jayson Brown and Brock Myers.• Southwest re-took the lead in the bottom of the fifth by scoring twice before falling behind again for the final time in the sixth. As a result, Southwest fell into the losers’ bracket and will face West for a chance to have a rematch with Southwest in the U.S. championship contest.

2012 Little League World SeriesGame 27 • Latin America 2, Mexico 1• The Latin America team from Aguadulce, Panama, received a two-run homer in the first inning from James Gonzalez and used strong pitching and defense to outlast Mexico, 2-1, at Lamade Stadium to advance to the International championship game against Japan.• The game featured a pitchers’ duel between Mexico’s Ramon Ballina and Latin America’s Edison Gonzalez, with both hurlers throwing complete games. Ballina struck out 12 batters and allowed five hits, including the two-run homer over the left field fence in the first inning. Gonzalez surrendered only one run and five hits while fanning 11 batters.• Mexico scored its lone run in the bottom of the fifth when Eduardo Abrego doubled and then scored on a single to center field by Marcelo Perez. Mexico also had a runner on second base with two outs in the bottom of the sixth but failed to tie the game when Edison Gonzalez recorded his final strikeout to end the game.

Game 28 • West 11, Southwest 1• Shortstop Hance Smith hit a grand slam in

the first inning to set the stage for West’s 11-1 victory over Southwest at Lamade Stadium. The win advances the team from Petaluma,

California, into the United States champion-ship game.

• Second baseman Porter Slate scored West’s first run on a wild pitch be-fore Hance Smith followed with his four-bag blast. First baseman Quin-ton Gago then added a solo shot to give his team a 6-0 advantage at the end of one inning of play. Smith added another home run in the third inning.• Southwest scored its lone run in the top of the third when catcher Jordan Cardenas hit a solo homer to make the score 6-1. West re-

sponded in the bottom of the fifth with four runs on an RBI double

by Quinton Gago and RBI singles by James O’Hanlon

and Logan Douglas. Those hits gave West

a 10-run lead, which ended the game on

the mercy rule.

Game 29 • Japan 10, Latin America 2• Japan scored in each of the first five in-nings to pull away from the Latin America champions from Aguadulce, Panama, and win the International championship with a 10-2 victory. The team from Tokyo advanced to the final game of the Little League World Series to play the winners of the United States.• Japan scored two runs in the first in-ning on back-to-back homers by Kotaro Kiyomiya and Satoru Aoyama. After Latin America plated a run in the bottom of the first on an RBI single by Edisson Gonzalez, Japan built a 4-1 advantage when Danji Takahashi scored on a wild pitch and Takuto Miyashita had an RBI single.• The team from Panama tried to stay close with an RBI double by Daniel Fernandez in the bottom of the sec-ond but Japan continued to dent the scoreboard with a solo home run by Rintaro Hirano in the top of the third. Kotaro Kiyomiya hit his second round-tripper of the game in the fourth to increase Japan’s lead to 7-2. Noriatsu Osaka then put the game out of reach in the fifth inning by crushing a three-run homer.



Game 30 • Southeast 24, West 16, 7 innings• In what proved to be the most remarkable game of the 2012 Little League World Series, South-east defeated West, 24-16, in seven innings after the team from California rallied for 10 runs in the sixth inning to send the contest into extra innings.• West trailed 15-5 in the sixth before the first six batters reached base, leading to four runs. After two more runs scored and Southeast recorded its second out of the in-ning, Bradley Smith cut the deficit to three with an RBI double. Kempton Brandis followed with a two-run homer before Hance Smith did the unthinkable by swatting a solo shot to tie the contest at 15.• Southeast kept its composure in the top of the seventh by scor-ing nine runs. The top of the order did most of the dam-age for the Tennessee team before the pitch-ing staff limited the San Antonio squad to one run in the bottom of the frame to send Southeast to the United States championship and an appearance in the finale against Japan for the Little League World Series title.

Game 31 • West 12, Latin America 4• West scored four runs in each of the first two innings and cruised to a 12-4 victory over Latin Amer-ica, 12-4, in the Little League World Series consola-tion game at Lamade Stadium.• After Latin America took a 1-0 lead on an RBI single by shortstop James Gonzalez, Bradley Smith started the first-inning rally for the Petaluma, California, team with an RBI double that scored second baseman Porter Slate. The next runs

scored on a bases-loaded walk and a wild pitch before Quin-

ton Gago gave his team a 4-1 advantage with a sacrifice

fly. • The Latin America

team from Aguadulce, Panama, scored once in the top of the sec-

ond on a sacrifice fly by Rafeal Eysseric before

West added another run on a wild pitch. Bradley

Smith followed with a two-run double. Brandis then contrib-

uted an RBI single to make the score 8-2. Edisson Gonzalez hit a solo homer in the third to pull Latin America to within five

runs.• West scored three more

runs late in the contest on a passed ball that

plated Cole Tomei, an RBI single by Logan

Douglas and an RBI single by

Austin Paretti.

2012 Little League World Series

Championship Game • Japan 12, Southeast 2• Noriatsu Osaka hit three home runs and a triple and drove in four runs while going 4-for-4 at the plate to lead Japan to a 12-2 victory over Southeast and emerge as the 2012 Little League World Series champions. Osaka’s final big fly, a two-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the fifth inning, put the mercy rule into effect at Lamade Stadium to give the team from Tokyo the triumph over the boys from Goodlettsville, Tennessee.• Japan also received a stellar pitching performance from starter Kotaro Kiyomiya. Appearing to be unhittable for much of the game with his overpowering fastball, Kiyomiya struck out eight Tennessee batters over

four innings and surrendered only one hit. Noriatsu Osaka worked the fifth inning from the mound and allowed one hit and struck out two batters.• The lone hit surrendered by Kotaro Kiyomiya was a Ruthian blast beyond the left-field wall in the fourth inning by Brock Myers. Kiyomiya congratu-lated Myers after the latter crossed home plate.


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