Columbus, Japan advance to title game
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Clutch hitting and timely defense – the Little Leaguers from Columbus, Ga., sure are well-schooled in the art of playing winning baseball.
Good pitching and colorful home-run trots are the hallmarks of the undefeated team from Kawaguchi City, Japan.
It should be interesting when the two teams meet for the Little League World Series championship.
Go Matsumoto homered and got starter Seigo Yada out of a bases-loaded, sixth-inning jam with some sharp relief pitching in Japan’s 3-0 win on Saturday night over Mexico to capture the international championship.
Earlier, Brady Hamilton drove in two runs and J.T. Phillips struck out eight to help Columbus defeat Beaverton, Ore., 7-3 to win the United States championship.
The kids from Georgia and Japan will play for the title today.
Hamilton broke a 3-3 tie by flaring a pitch from starter Jace Fry just out of the shortstop’s reach to score Phillips from second in the fifth inning. Columbus got some breathing room with three more runs in the sixth.
Cody Walker tracked a popup in foul territory and stumbled to the ground on his back just after catching it for the final out. Jubilant teammates started piling on top of him as parents cheered and snapped pictures.
“It’s a dream come true,” 12-year-old outfielder Ryan Lang said.
After receiving their championship banner, the Columbus boys raced to the Beaverton dugout and invited their opponents to accompany them on the honorary victory lap around Lamade Stadium.
But only Columbus gets to play in the title game.
“I said after the semifinals that everything is gravy,” happy Columbus manager Randy Morris said.
The Columbus Northern league team looked like it’d be an easy winner at first against Beaverton’s Murrayhill league team. The Georgia fans chanted, “Here we go Southwest, here we go!” as their team returned to the dugout after a three-run first inning.
Momentum changed in the fourth.
Beaverton’s Austin Perry had an RBI single to cut the lead to 3-1 before Trevor Nix homered to left.
The 13-year-old pumped his fist after watching the ball land over the fence for a two-run shot that tied the game.
Beaverton’s fortunes changed quickly when Columbus returned to the plate in the fifth and Hamilton’s looping single over shortstop Derek Keller drove in the go-ahead run.
“You couldn’t place that ball any better,” said Derek’s father, Beaverton manager Jeff Keller.
Columbus put the game away in the sixth. Josh Lester’s RBI single highlighted a three-run inning and made the score 7-3.
In the nightcap, Yada started for Japan and dominated until tiring in the sixth, when Mexico managed three straight singles to load the bases with nobody out.
In came Matsumoto to close the door.
The lanky, 5-foot-10 reliever with the long delivery struck out the first two batters he faced, then ended the game by getting a weak groundout to first.