The Little League World Series continued on Saturday with a slate of four exciting games from Williamsport, Pa. Here's a recap of the action, and what's on tap for Sunday:
Mexico 13, Italy 0
Behind a powerful punch at the top of its lineup and lights-out pitching, Mexico ran away with a 13-0 win over Italy via mercy rule.
Isaac Miranda catapulted the club to a commanding 5-0 lead with a three-run homer in the second, as part of a 2-for-3, four-RBI afternoon. Andre Garza followed with another three-run shot two batters later, and Mexico held on behind a stellar collective pitching performance, holding Italy hitless over the four innings of play.
Overcoming a Game 1 loss to Latin America, Mexico showed it looks every bit a contender in this tournament, with a wealth of pitching talent that should be significant in its push from the losers bracket.
With its second loss of the tournament, Italy was eliminated from LLWS contention.
Caribbean 8, Australia 7
The Caribbean (Dominican Republic) held off a fierce sixth-inning rally by Australia to avoid elimination.
Trailing by six runs in the bottom of the final inning, Australia plated five to make things interesting. But with runners on first and second and two outs, a ground ball to third ended the game.
With the win, the Caribbean remained alive in the tournament and will play again Sunday at 6 p.m. ET against the loser of that morning's game between Canada and Latin America.
Northwest 4, Midwest 3
Northwest (Walla Walla, Wash.) took an early lead and held off a sixth-inning rally by Midwest (Sioux Falls, S.D.) in an elimination game.
In the top of the first inning, Northwest scored three runs on a fielder's choice, a passed ball and a double by Caiden Thomsen, who went 3-for-3 with three RBIs.
Andrew Hall pitched six innings for Northwest to earn the win. He was charged with three runs on four hits, with five strikeouts against one walk.
Marcus Phillips went 2-for-3 and drove in all three runs for Midwest, and Ethan Bruns pitched all six innings. Bruns struck out six, walked one and allowed seven hits. Midwest rallied for two runs in the final inning but fell short.
Northwest remained alive and will play Sunday at 8 p.m. ET against the loser of that morning's game between New England (Fairfield, Conn.) and Southwest (Lufkin, Texas).
Mid-Atlantic 15, Great Lakes 5
In a game that was developing into a shootout, Mid-Atlantic (Jackson, N.J.) ran away to a 15-5 win over Great Lakes (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) behind nine runs in the fourth inning, propelled by two homers from Chris Cartnick.
Mid-Atlantic will try to work its way out of the losers bracket, while Great Lakes was eliminated from LLWS contention.
Sunday's schedule (all times ET):
Canada vs. Latin America, 10 a.m.
New England vs. Southwest, 11 a.m.
Asia-Pacific vs. Japan, 1 p.m.
Southeast vs. West, 2 p.m.