Day 2 of the 2019 Little League World Series was a busy one, with the majority of teams making their tournament debuts in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Rain held Thursday's action to only one game, creating a full schedule of seven games Friday as teams try to move one step closer to a championship. Adding in the talent on the field and the pressure coming from being on national television, there is a lot of excitement throughout the slate of games.
Here is a breakdown of what you need to know about Friday's Little League games.
Little League World Series Schedule/Results: Aug. 16
Game 2: Virginia def. Rhode Island, 3-0
Game 3: South Korea def. Venezuela, 10-3
Game 4: Minnesota def. Kentucky, 2-1
Game 5: Japan def. Italy, 20-0
Game 6: Hawaii def. Louisiana, 5-2
Game 7: Mexico def. Canada, 5-0
Game 8: New Jersey def. Oregon, 6-2
Full bracket available at the tournament's official website.
Virginia 3, Rhode Island 0
Liam Thyen, Justin Lee and Chase Obstgarten combined for a no-hitter as Virginia earned a 3-0 victory.
Thyen and Lee each threw 2.2 innings and are available for their next games, while Thyen really shined with a game-high six strikeouts.
The battle was a great pitcher's duel for four innings, but Brady Yates changed the game with a two-run home run in the fifth.
The moment also featured some of the best parts of the Little League World Series:
Virginia tacked on another run in that inning to take a 3-0 lead.
Rhode Island's Alex Anderson had pitched well to that point but couldn't keep up with the pitchers from Virginia.
Although the New England champions are still alive in the double-elimination tournament, they have a long road back to win the U.S. title. Meanwhile, Virginia showed it can be a top contender with its elite pitching.
South Korea 10, Venezuela 3
A big offensive showing helped South Korea earned a 10-3 win in their first game in Williamsport.
Jinwon Na came through in the biggest moments for the Asia-Pacific squad, totaling two hits and five RBI in the win. Been Hyun also had a couple of big hits with two RBI.
The squad also showed heads-up plays throughout the game, including a tag-up run following an excellent play in foul territory by Venezuela's Brando Fernandez:
The team from South Chungcheong, South Korea, went 7-0 in qualifying and clearly has a big enough offense to be a threat in the international tournament.
Minnesota 2, Kentucky 1
A hard-fought game featuring quality pitching and defense ended with a 2-1 Minnesota victory.
Jameson Kuznia did most of the heavy lifting for Coon Rapids, Minnesota, throwing 4.2 innings while allowing just two hits and one run. He also totaled five strikeouts in the winning effort.
Despite four errors behind him, he was able to keep Kentucky from getting runs on the board. Plays like this also went a long way:
Minnesota also had some trouble offensively with only two hits in the game, but the Midwest representatives were able to scratch two runs across in the second inning and it was enough to close out the win.
Chaze Huff pitched four solid innings for Kentucky with only one hit allowed, yet couldn't get the support he needed to pull out a victory.
Japan 20, Italy 0
A fifth-inning offensive explosion led to an early end of a 20-0 blowout win for Japan.
The game was close for the first few innings, but the team from Chofu City scored four in the fourth inning and then 14 in the fifth.
Yuto Misaki hit a grand slam in the inning as part of his five-RBI day, while Yuto Kakeba had four hits and five RBI in the win. The squad totaled 18 hits in an onslaught that couldn't be matched.
Ritsu Nishikawa did his job on the mound, throwing three scoreless innings with four strikeouts.
Italy couldn't match up with the juggernaut, and the team is now one loss away from elimination.
Hawaii 5, Louisiana 2
Jaren Pascual threw a complete game for Hawaii, allowing just two unearned runs despite giving up nine hits.
The West winners got most of their offense in the first inning, scoring four runs as Duke Aloy drove in two. Pascual did the rest, and Hawaii was able to stay in front for a 5-2 win.
Marshall Louque had been one of Louisiana's best players through qualifying, but he had a rough day. As a pitcher, he allowed four runs in the first inning and was taken out after 1.2 innings. He helped as a hitter with a triple, but he couldn't put his team over the top when he made the final out with the bases loaded in the sixth inning.
Hawaii is one step closer to repeating as LLWS champions after a team from Honolulu won last year.
Mexico 5, Canada 0
Santiago Leija pitched a complete game gem for Mexico, striking out 11 and allowing two hits in his team's 5-0 win over Canada.
Even with Leija's performance, Canada hung around. Mexico held a narrow 1-0 lead through four innings with Canada's Matt Shanley tossing 3.2 innings and allowing one earned run on one hit along with seven strikeouts.
While the game was tight once it started, the players on both teams were loose prior to the first pitch:
The difference came in the top of the fifth when Mexico when Ivan Sauceda reached base on an error, which allowed Elliot Sanchez to score. Sauceda then scored to make the lead 3-0 on another fielding error by Canada.
The top of the sixth brought more of the same, as Emiliano Ondarza bunted into a fielder's choice to plate Alan Gutierrez followed by Daniel Orozco scoring due to a Canada fielding error.
As a result, Canada will face Italy Saturday in an elimination game.
New Jersey 6, Oregon 2
Jayden Capindica's single to score Sal Garcia and J.R. Rosado sparked a five-run fifth inning for New Jersey and propelled them over Oregon.
Prior to that, a couple of wild pitches began the scoring for both sides. In the top of the second, New Jersey took a 1-0 lead when Jaime Tamayo came home on a wild pitch. Oregon took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second with Spencer Shortis scoring on a wild pitch and Sullivan Puckett singling home Cameron Van Kempen at the same at-bat.
However, New Jersey's fifth inning was too much for Oregon to overcome.
Rosado took over on the mound for New Jersey with two outs and one on in the bottom of the fifth and shut down any hopes Oregon might have had for a comeback—striking out three of the five batters he faced.
Oregon will now face a must-win situation against Louisiana on Saturday.
Little League World Series Schedule: Aug. 17
Game 9: Australia vs. Venezuela, 1 p.m. ET
Game 10: Rhode Island vs. Kentucky, 3 p.m. ET
Game 11: Italy vs. Canada, 6 p.m. ET
Game 12: Louisiana vs. Oregon, 8 p.m. ET
Full schedule available at the tournament's official website.
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