SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) — It may have been the best game at the Little League World Series so far. Greenville, North Carolina, and Lufkin, Texas, played into extra innings on Wednesday in a thriller that ended with 2-1, walkoff Greenville victory.
The two teams will meet again on Saturday, this time with a berth in the championship game on the line. The winner faces the victor of the international championship being played Saturday between Mexico and Japan.
STORY SO FAR: Dominant is an understatement when describing Greenville’s pitching. In three games, the pitching staff has allowed only one hit and one run in 18 innings.
Hard-throwing Matthew Matthijs has led the charge on the mound for the Southeast region champs. He has racked up 20 strikeouts in nine innings on the mound in the tournament. Matthijs struck out 11 batters in a row the first time these two teams met.
Lufkin, on the other hand, has shown the world how much they love the long ball. The Southwest regional winner has cracked seven home runs and scored 26 runs in four games at the LLWS.
Four different players have hit home runs and 11 of Lufkin’s 13 players have scored at least one run in the tournament.
WHO TO WATCH: Carson Hardee leads Greenville in RBIs (six), runs scored (five) and home runs (two). He hit a homer in the first inning of Wednesday’s game against Lufkin.
Hardee has five hits in nine at-bats in the LLWS and is slugging 1.222. Look for him to be the offensive catalyst for his team.
For Lufkin, Collin Ross has been one of the scariest matchups for any pitcher in the tournament. Ross has hit three home runs and racked up six RBIs at the LLWS.
DID YOU KNOW?: Greenville began the tournament with a perfect game and a no-hitter back to back. It’s the first team in U.S. history to throw two consecutive no-hitters at the LLWS.
Lufkin manager Bud Maddux has been coaching youth baseball for 41 years and has led his teams to 10 championships at various levels. This year is his first appearance at the LLWS.
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SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) — Mexico is two wins away from claiming its fourth Little League World Series title, but it has to go through powerhouse Japan and one of the two remaining U.S. teams to accomplish that feat.
Mexico next plays 10-time Little League World Series champion Japan in the international championship game on Saturday, and through three contests, Japan has shown hardly any signs of weakness.
STORY SO FAR: Japan, which has won four of the last seven Little League World Series titles, has outscored opponents 22-1 in this year’s tournament, cruising the whole way. The Japanese team, which is from Tokyo, downed Australia, South Korea and Canada in that order.
Mexico has played five games so far, and has scored 29 runs while allowing six, though four of those came in its lone loss against Venezuela in the tournament’s opening match. Since then, the Mexicans from Reynosa, along the Texas border at Hidalgo, have defeated Italy, South Korea, Venezuela in a rematch, and Canada.
This year’s Little League World Series has a special significance for Mexico, as it marks the 60th anniversary since the 1957 Mexico team became the first international team to win the tournament.
WHO TO WATCH: Andre Garza (Mexico) is batting .571 with three home runs and six RBIs over his five tournament games. What’s more impressive is he has recorded only seven official at-bats, as he has walked in his six other plate appearances.
Natsuki Yajima (Japan) is 6 for 10 (.600) in three Little League World Series games, with three doubles, a home run and five runs scored.
DID YOU KNOW?: There have been eight shutouts in this year’s Little League World Series, five of which belong to either Japan or Mexico.
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Matt Martell is a journalism student at Penn State. Penn State is partnering with The Associated Press to supplement coverage of the 2017 Little League World Series.
Jack Dougherty is a journalism student at Penn State. Penn State is partnering with The Associated Press to supplement coverage of the 2017 Little League World Series.