Ji Hwan Hong crushed a solo home run as South Korea handled Canada, 7-0 at the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pa.
Teammate Ji Hoo Lee smacked an RBI single to open the scoring in the second. Hong then recorded the first home run of the event with his blast to left in the third.
The team from Seoul then got two more runs on a double by Jae Hyun Maeng, before manufacturing three more runs in the fourth inning on a fielder’s choice, a sacrifice fly and an error by its opponents from Vancouver, British Columbia.
Hong closed out the win on the mound, pitching a scoreless sixth with three strikeouts. He was preceded by three hurlers, including Seo Jun Park, who went three scoreless innings with five strikeouts.
Washington 2, Alabama 0
A scoreless deadlock ended in extra innings, as the team from Tacoma, Wash., emerged with the victory over its Phenix City, Ala., opponents thanks to a Kasen Workman RBI single.
With Tyler Landry on third and Artie Hinzman on second in the seventh inning, Workman singled, and an error brought Hinzman home as well. It was Workman’s only hit of the day.
Washington pitchers Frankie McCabe and Winston Weaver held Alabama scoreless and surrendered a single hit.
Alabama starter Kinley Rasmus was just as effective, surrendering a single hit and striking out eight in her six innings.
Nicaragua 2, Dominican Republic 1
Two early runs proved enough, as the team from Leon held on to defeat its opponents from Santiago.
Clemente Sevilla Pichardo scored Moises Estrada Juarez from second with a first-inning, two-out double to make it 1-0 Nicaragua.
Sergio Jiron Fuentes doubled the advantage by drawing a bases-loaded walk in the second.
Sevilla Pichardo went 5 and 2/3 innings, giving up one run on four hits with 12 strikeouts. He hurled a shutout until Ethan Estevez broke it up with an RBI double in the fifth.
Nicaragua won despite missing two players due to visa problems.
New Jersey 2, Massachusetts 1
Mason Rincon belted a walk-off home run as the Bayonne, N.J., team snuck past the Bridgewater, Mass., squad.
New Jersey had taken a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a wild pitch. The club was denied a second run an inning later, when officials ruled that a runner had left the bag early.
That opened the door for Massachusetts’ Anthony Sullivan to tie the game with a homer in the third.
Neither team could punch in another run until Rincon’s blast in the sixth. He also pitched 4 1/3 innings and struck out eight in the win.
–Field Level Media
