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Right from the beginning, Lufkin, Tx. put a bad memory of a game-ending error to end.
And now, the Southwest champion will get a chance to make up for it in the USA championship game.
Cleanup hitter Colin Ross ripped a three-run homer, igniting an eight-run rally in the first inning Thursday that carried Lufkin past Fairfield, Conn., 14-4 and into the USA final of the Little League World Series.
Clayton Wigley roped a bases-loaded, two-run single to end the game early by the 10-run rule in the fifth inning.
Eighth-place hitter Blake Slaga delivered a two-run single to cap Lufkin’s first-inning outburst, and Lufkin added to its lead when Charlie Deaton and Malcolm Deeson scored on consecutive wild pitches in a three-run third inning.
Lufkin, the hometown of Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant, will face Southeast champ Greenville, North Carolina in the USA title game at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Lamade Stadium in a rematch of Wednesday night’s winner’s bracket thriller.
Mexico, which handled Canada 6-2 on Thursday, will face Japan in Saturday’s International final at 12:30 p.m.
The two winners will meet for the Little League World Series championship at 3 p.m. Sunday, while the losing teams will play a consolation game beginning at 10 a.m. Sunday.
The first meeting between the USA title contenders went to extra ininngs, where Greenville escaped with a 2-1 victory when the winning run scored on a Lufkin error with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning. That sent 3-0 Greenville — which allowed its first run of the LL World Series to Lufkin after opening play with a perfect game and no-hitter — straight into the USA championship game and forced Lufkin into an elimination game Thursday against Fairfield.
Lufkin wasn’t about to let its first loss of the tournament, or doubt about Thursday’s outcome, linger for long.
Deeson finished with two RBI and a run scored, Chandler Spencer scored twice and Chip Buchanan went 2 for 2 with two runs scored as Lufkin beat Fairfield for the second time in four days. The two also met Sunday, when Lufkin pulled out a 6-3 win.
Fairfield, the New England champ, got on the board when Michael Iannazzo cracked a two-run homer in the third inning Thursday. Fairfield pulled within 12-4 on Sean O’Neal’s RBI double in the fourth inning and Matthew Vivona’s solo homer in the fifth, but couldn’t come closer.
Greenville, N.C. 2, Lufkin, Tx. 1 (7 innings)
Cash Daniels-Moye scored the winning run when Thomas Barrett’s bases-loaded grounder was misplayed in the bottom of the seventh inning, lifting Greenville into the USA championship game in a battle of 2-0 teams played Wednesday night.
Pitching was strong on both sides, but Greenville took advantage of some shaky fielding in the final inning.
Daniels-Moye reached base on an error to start the seventh, and after Matthew Matthijs singled, Carson Hardee was intentionally walked to fill the bases with nobody out.
Barrett then sent a grounder to first base that was also mishandled, allowing Daniels-Moye to score.
Greenville grabbed an early lead when Hardee homered in the first inning. But Lufkin tied it in the top of the third inning, when Mark Requena ripped a double and Zack Phipps, who pinch-ran for him, scored when Chandler Spencer was safe on a fielder’s choice.
Requena’s blow is the only hit Greenville has allowed in three Little League World Series games and led to the only run Greenville has allowed.
Matthijs relieved starter Chase Anderson on the mound and earned the win, striking out 12 batters over 4 1/3 hitless innings.
Lufkin starter Hunter Ditsworth scattered six hits and struck out eight over the game’s first five innings.
Mexico 6, Canada 2
Jorge Lambarria and Jorge Garcia both blasted home runs in the sixth inning, pretty much securing victory for Guadalupe Trevio Kelly Little League and a spot against Tokyo Kitasuna, Japan in the International final of the Little League World Series at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
With Mexico nursing a 3-2 lead, Garcia began the sixth with a shot over the left field wall. After Andre Garza drew a walk, Lambarria lined a two-run shot to center field to set the final score.
Mexico grabbed an advantage when Isaac Miranda scored on Saul Soto’s ground out in the first inning, and made it 2-0 in the second when Carlos Jaime Garcia scored on another ground out.
Canada cut its deficit in half when Robert Orr launched a solo homer in the third inning, then tied it in the fourth when Ty Fluet singled, stole second, and raced all the way home on an overthrow.
Mexico went ahead to stay in the bottom of the fourth, when Francisco Elizondo singled and eventually scored on a passed ball.
Then came the big blasts from Lambarria and Garcia in the sixth, as Mexico rallied to its fourth consecutive victory in the Little League World Series after dropping its opener to Latin America in the opening game.
Jorge and Carlos Garcia both led Mexico with two hits, while Andre Garcia and Samuel Juarez combined for 12 strikeouts on the mound. Andre Garcia picked up the victory by fanning seven and holding Canada to three hits and two runs over his four innings. Juarez earned the save, striking out five of the six outs over the final two frames.