Posted on 08/30/2015 8:33:59 AM PDT by FlJoePa
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT -- This is it. The last two unbeaten Little League teams in the entire world.
While Red Land powered through districts, sectionals, states, regionals and the first four games of the Little League World Series en route to its first U.S. championship, Kitasuna from Tokyo was finessing its way through to the world championship.
And now they meet at 3 p.m. today at Lamade Stadium in South Williamsport, the LLWS 2015 title up for grabs. The game will be televised live on ABC.
Red Land hopes to become the first U.S. team to win the overall title since Huntington Beach, Calif., in 2011, and the first Pennsylvania team to win it all since Levittown in 1960.
Kitasuna Little League is looking to add a third title to its mantle, as the Tokyo outfit won championships in 2001 and 2012. Japan's nine overall titles rank second among countries/states to Taiwan's 17. Pennsylvania has four, but all of those came in the early years of the Series.
Here are some keys to victory for each side:
KITASUNA (manager Junji Hidaka)
• Employ that late-game swagger: Japan might be unbeaten, but it's not like the LLWS has been a cakewalk. (Not sure how "cakewalk" translates...) But after a pair of two-run victories over Chinese Taipei (7-5) and Mexico (3-1) in the first two rounds, Japan must have decided to make things even more tense for Hidaka and the coaching staff.
First, in the winners' bracket final vs. Venezuela, Japan forced extra innings with a run in the bottom of the sixth. Then, after Venezuela went ahead with two runs in the eighth, Japan answered with three runs in the bottom of the eighth for the 5-4 win.
Saturday afternoon in the International championship vs. Mexico, Japan didn't even have a hit through six scoreless innings. Yugo Aoki delivered the first hit to lead off the bottom of the seventh, and he would eventually score the winning run on Koki Jo's fielder's choice grounder for the 1-0 triumph. It's been entertaining baseball. And very clutch.
• Ride that pitching staff: Five pitchers have combined to post a 4-0 record and 1.78 ERA over 27 LLWS innings, with just three walks against 43 strikeouts. The only pitcher who won't be eligible is ace Kabu Kikuchi, who went the distance Saturday vs. Mexico (7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 K).
Word in South Williamsport is Japan has a plethora of arms to choose from, including several who haven't thrown here yet. But based on the numbers we've seen in this tournament, Sunday's starter could be LHP Nobuyuki Kawashima, who won his only start in the first game vs. Mexico with four scoreless innings.
A lefty would make sense, too, with left-handed sluggers in Red Land's lineup with Cole Wagner, Jake Cubbler, Zack Sooy and Adam Cramer. Daiki Fukuyama has served as Japan's closer, with two saves in the four games.
RED LAND (manager Tom Peifer)
• Bring the lumber: From what we've seen of Japan, the pitching staff is clearly very good. But nobody has appeared unhittable. If Kitasuna has a pitcher like South Carolina's Alex Edmondson, who threw this Series' only no-hitter, then we haven't seen him.
Japan has shown it doesn't give up too many free bases (notice those three walks in four games), so perhaps Red Land's tendency to be aggressive could pay dividends. But it should be mindful to keep it somewhat under control, realizing it doesn't have to swing for the fences every time.
Japan will take advantage of overaggressiveness, and their fielding has been strong. So find the holes in the infield and gaps in the outfield and go station to station, hoping to feast on any mistakes the pitching staff might make if/when they get frustrated or tired. Red Land talks about advancing to the Little League World Series championship game (Part 2) Red Land talks about defeating Texas and advancing to the Little League World Series championship game against Japan.
• Find another jewel: Cramer was the (mildly) surprising starter Wednesday vs. Pearland West, Texas, and the lefty was brilliant with 13 strikeouts in five scoreless innings. It was the best start of his 13-year-old life.
And while Cramer (and fellow lefty Wagner) is unavailable to pitch this one, Peifer could give a shot to Saturday's walk-off hero, Chayton Krauss. The right-hander has thrown just 1.2 innings of relief in this tournament, and that was more than a week ago. But his overall numbers this summer have been pretty good: 3-0, 0.71 ERA in 17 innings, with nine walks and 20 strikeouts.
If he runs into any trouble, Jaden Henline is ready to go. Henline has thrown a piece in every Red Land win this tourney, compiling three wins and a save. If one or both can turn in something special against a lineup with a tendency to strike out -- Japan has whiffed 35 times with nine walks -- it could be 21-0 for Peifer's club this summer.
• Keep soaking in that crowd: Red Land's Red Sea broke a single-game LLWS record Saturday when 45,716 filled the seats and hills at Lamade Stadium. And, yes, it matters. The players and coaches love seeing all that red, hearing the ovations, feeding off the energy.
"It was awesome," Peifer said of Saturday's population crush. "I mean, to look as far as you can see up on that hill, there's people. They're loud. I kept saying, let's give them something to cheer about.
"But it's a huge help, a huge help for us to know we have a home-field advantage throughout this tournament with whatever team we play. It's a huge testament to the community, and not just the Red Land community, but the whole Harrisburg area that I think they were all there [Saturday]. I mean, it seemed like it."
The Japanese team has two 10.5 hour practices per week - on the weekend. The rest of the week is all school and family.
Yes , but they also play on the baseball club at school which practices practically every day all year long .
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