Little League Final Four Set in 2014 LLWS

By virtue of their victories in Williamsport today, Tokyo Kitasuna Little League (LL) from Japan and Jackie Robinson West LL of Chicago, Illinois earned the right to move on to Saturdays final four match ups in the 2014 LLWS. Japan shook off a lead-off home run from their opponents to secure their spot with a 12-1 victory over Mexico's Guadalupe Linda Vista LL in the days early game. In the evening US semi-final, Chicago capitalized on mistake filled first inning and withstood a gritty rally by Philadelphia's Taney Youth Baseball Association LL to hold on for a 6-5 win.

Today's outcomes set he stage for Saturday's action, which will decide both he United States and International champions, with the victors facing off on Sunday to be crowned world champion of the 2014 Little League World Series. Awaiting Japan will be the Asian-Pacific Region champions from South Korea, Seoul LL while the Chicago squad will square off with the formidable Mountain Ridge LL team, the Western Region entrants from Las Vegas, Nevada.

Mexico started the game off with a bang as shortstop (SS) Juan Garza led off the game with a home run to give his squad an early 1-0 lead. The excitement of Guadalupe Linda Vista fans was short-lived, however, as Japan answered back with two solo shot of their own in the bottom half of the inning, as Hayato Ueshima and Suguru Kanamori connected to give Tokyo Kitasuna a 2-1 lead they would never relinquish on their way to the 12-1 victory which was called on account of Little League's "mercy rule" in the fifth inning.

Kanamori ended the onslaught with his second homer of the game, a three run shot in the fifth which completed the scoring and ended the game. Little League rules dictate that if a team is winning by more than 10 runs at the completion of an inning, the game would be called so as to not subject the young players to further humiliation. The route was a shock for the highly skilled Mexican team who had played a much more competitive game when the two teams met earlier in the tournament, also a Japanese victory. Japan will try to avenge a prior defeat against the South Korean squad, who took the previous meeting 4-2. The game, dubbed the International Championship game, will be played on Saturday, August 23 at 12:30pm EST from Lamade Stadium in Williamsport, PA.

The nightcap featured the hard-hitting Chicago squad from the Great Lakes Region, Jackie Robinson West LL of Chicago facing off against the Mid-Atlantic Regional champion Taney Youth Baseball Association LL from Philadelphia. While much of the national media focus highlighted Chicago's home run slugger Pierce Jones and Philadelphia's female pitching phenom Mo'ne Davis, the contest shaped to be a consummate team game, as players from both squads fought it out hard until the bitter end.

Philadelphia got things going early off of Chicago's pitcher Marquis Jackson. The hard-throwing Jackson normally serves as a final-inning closer for Jackie Robinson West, but was given the starting nod today and showed his impressive stuff early, striking out the first two Taney batters to start the game. Following a walk to Jared Sprague-Lott and a double by Zion Spearman, Jack Rice singled to right field to bring home Sprague-Lott. Following this, a rattled Jackson delivered a wild pitch which brought a sprinting Spearman home and a two run lead for the Philadelphia squad. Jackson then settled down to retired the side and give Chicago its turn to bat.

Trey Hondras was one of many stars who shined Thursday in Chicago's 6-5 win over Taney LL of Philadelphia.

In the bottom half of thew inning, starting pitcher Erik Lipson showed the national audience watching on ESPN that Davis wasn't the only Taney pitcher with wicked stuff, as the southpaw showed impressive poise and placement, pitching a game that was far more impressive than the box score may indicate. He began the game by striking out Jones, but the ball got away from catcher Scott Bandura, enabling the slugger to hustle to first and set the stage for a four run inning. First baseman Trey Hondras singled to left, and following an error and hit batsman, Lipson was faced with a bases loaded situation. It appeared Tanney may get itself out of the jam, as a beautifully executed double play eased fan tension, but the flood gates opened as a Joshua Houston single, double by Brandon Green and Taney LL's second error of the inning led to a 4-2 lead for Chicago after two innings.

Down 6-2 entering the fourth, Philadelphia showed the grit and talent that brought them to the position of being one of the top six little league teams on the planet, scoring twice in the fourth and once in the fifth to make it a one-run game. It was not to be for the Taney Dragons, however, as Rice flew out to Jones in right field to end the game and provide Jackie Robinson West an opportunity to play in Saturdays final. Chicago manager Darold Butler would be hard pressed to award a game ball to any one individual player, as the entire team contributed to the win, although Hondras delivered two clutch hits for the squad and was equally impressive in the field, stretching out to make a key grab at first.

With the victory, the Great Lakes champs will try to avenge their only defeat in the LLWS as Jackie Robinson West LL of Chicago will play in the US Championship against the undefeated Mountain Ridge LL Western Regional squad from Las Vegas, Nevada. Las Vegas was dominant in their first meeting, with an impressive 13-2 victory over a Chicago team that hopes to ride a wave momentum and turn the tables Saturday at 3:30pm EST from Lamade Stadium.

All across the world, more than a million 11 and 12-year-old boys and girls began the spring with a goal to make it to Williamsport and bring glory and honor to their towns and villages. Months of hard work, effort and sacrifice on the part of players, parents and volunteers alike has all come down to the final four Little League squads, who will do battle over the weekend to determine the world champion of the 2014 LLWS.

“So did the little girl the media was fawning over make it?”

The Philly team that Mo’ne Davis is on lost on Wednesday night to Nevada (in a game she pitched a couple of innings) and lost to Chicago last night. Last nights game was overall a very good game to watch with excitement on both sides. I did not see most of Weds. game.

I have no real problem with the media fawning over Mo’ne as it got more people to watch the game and positively talk about Little League baseball. My only concern was that the spotlight may have put some pressure on her. If we see her performing with the boys in future years we will know she is the real deal. FYI, she was not a great hitter(most of the hits she did get were into the infield for easy outs — but we could say the same for the Red Sox last night).

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.