Both Japan and Tennessee have had incredible runs to this point, and both have yet to lose in Williamsport. Making it thus far is something to be proud of, but doing so without losing a game is that much more impressive. It wasn’t easy, though.
The championship game on Sunday will be played at Lamade Stadium at 3:00 p.m. ET. The game can be viewed on ABC or online via ESPN3.
Let’s take a deeper look at Japan and Tennessee, how they’ve gotten to this point, which players to watch and who will go back to school as Little League champions.
How They Got Here Japan
Japan has been the most impressive team in Williamsport this year, featuring deep pitching and outstanding hitting. They won their opening-round game easily over Curacao and then defeated Chinese Taipei in a classic duel. A win over Panama clinched them a berth into the international championship game, and they ended up taking on Panama yet again.
The Japanese champions scored early and often against Panama on Saturday, backed by two home runs by their star player, Kotaro Kiyomiya. A strong four innings by Yuta Ishida propelled them to a 10-2 victory to clinch a berth into Sunday’s title game. Hi-res-150732612_crop_exact Rob Carr/Getty Images
As great as the Japan offense has been, the pitching has been better.
They have used six pitchers who have combined for 50 strikeouts and just four walks in 27 innings of work. They’ve allowed just two earned runs in four games and those two came in their most recent matchup. Kiyomiya is expected to take the mound for Japan on Sunday since he hasn’t thrown since their opener.
Tennessee
Tennessee’s path to Sunday’s championship game has been about as crazy as they come. They defeated the Mountain West 12-1 in their opening-round matchup and then took down California 9-6 in a wild game. A 4-3 victory over Texas gave them the opportunity to play for the United States championship on Sunday against California.
If you missed the United States championship game on Saturday, you missed the game of the year. Tennessee took leads, but continued to allow the West champions back into the game. They led California 15-5 going into the last of the sixth inning.
No problem, right? Wrong. California struck for 10 runs in the inning to send the game into extra innings.
Tennessee wouldn’t pout about California’s comeback, though, and they erupted for nine runs in the top of the seventh to take another commanding lead. The Southeast champions wouldn’t allow another comeback as they would take the final 24-16. Hi-res-150739218_crop_exact Rob Carr/Getty Images
Tennessee clearly can hit, but will they be too tired from Saturday’s ridiculous game? That’s a major question going into Sunday and could be the reason that they don’t win it all.
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