SPORTS
September 21, 2015
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 9
Asians in American sports w Asian Americans in world sports
Japan continues legacy of Little League dominance
By Mike Street
Special to The Asian Reporter
or the fourth straight year, and the fifth time in the
last six years, an Asian team won the Little
League World Series (LLWS). This year the team
from Tokyo overcame an early deficit to win the highest-
scoring final game in LLWS history.
Japan flexed its offensive muscle early in the
tournament’s International Bracket, knocking two solo
home runs in the first inning of its opening game against
Chinese Taipei. Japan batted around in the bottom of the
second, adding four more runs to build a lead its opponent
could not overcome.
In the next game, against Mexico, Japan took another
early lead. With two outs in the first, Kabu Kikuchi drove
home two runs; Fukutaro Kiyomiya added a solo shot in
the fifth to make the score 3-0. On the mound, Nobuyuki
Kawashima held Mexico scoreless on just three hits, and
reliever Daiki Fukuyama gave up only one run to seal
Japan’s second win, 3-1.
The next opponent, Venezuela, came the closest to
defeating Japan, galvanizing them for the challenge of the
finals. Venezuela and Japan traded runs in the third, and
Venezuela took a one-run lead in the top of the fourth, a
lead they held until the bottom of the sixth.
With one out remaining before a potential defeat,
Shingo Tomita drove home the tying run on a single to
center, sending the game into extra innings. Venezuela
took the lead again in the eighth inning with back-to-back
solo homers, but Japan refused to give up.
Nobuyuki Kawashima led off with a double, Masafuji
Nishijima followed with a single, and two batters later,
Shoho Yanagishima doubled home Japan’s first run of the
inning. With one out, Venezuela intentionally walked
Shingo Tomita to set up a game-ending double play.
But right fielder Yuma Watanabe was hit by a pitch,
tying the score and bringing shortstop Yugo Aoki to bat
with the bases still loaded. Aoki played the hero, rapping
an RBI single to give Japan the win.
In the International Bracket championship, Japan
faced Mexico a second time, and again needed extra
innings to take home the victory. Kabu Kikuchi whiffed 10
batters in seven innings, holding Mexico scoreless on just
four hits and no walks. His counterpart from Mexico,
Armando Verdujo, also pitched the entire game and also
struck out 10 batters, surrendering just two hits and a
walk.
Verdujo didn’t give up any of those hits until the
seventh, when the scoreless game reached extra innings.
If his teammates had pushed past just one run before
then, Verdujo would have had a no-hitter and a win.
Instead, Verdujo gave up a leadoff single to Aoki and a
double to Kengo Tomita. He struck out Kikuchi, but the
Japanese pitcher reached first base on a dropped third
strike to load the bases.
Verdujo fanned the next hitter, Kawashima, bringing
Koki Jo to the plate with one out. Jo hit a ground ball to the
shortstop, Jorge Armenta, who could get only one out.
Aoki scored and Japan advanced to the Little League
World Series final game.
In the final, Japan faced Red Land Little League from
Pennsylvania, who had trounced their opening-round
opponent, Webb City Little League from Missouri, 18-0,
but then faced more formidable opponents in successive
games. They squeaked past Northwood in the second
round, 9-8, and beat Pearland West twice, 3-0 and 3-2, to
reach the final game.
Japan got on top quickly in the final, taking a 2-0 lead in
the top of the first on a two-run double by Kabu Kikuchi,
but Pennsylvania roared back in their half of the frame.
Their leadoff hitter reached on an error, and Daiki
Fukuyama walked the next two batters to load the bases.
The following two hitters singled to tie the game, so man-
ager Junji Hidaka brought in Nishijima to pitch.
This move didn’t pay immediate dividends, but it
proved essential to Japan’s comeback. With the bases
loaded, Nishijima struck out the first batter he faced, but
he walked the next, giving Red Land the lead, 3-2.
Nishijima got the ball over the plate to the third batter,
who launched it over the fence for a grand slam. A double,
single, and another home run stretched Red Land’s lead to
10-2 before Nishijima finally retired the side.
In between innings, manager Hidaka reminded his
players that “it doesn’t end until it ends,” and Japan began
to fight back. With one out in the second, shortstop Aoki
slammed a three-run homer, and Kengo Tomita followed
with a solo shot. Red Land recorded another out before
Shingo Tomita hammered Japan’s third home run of the
inning to cut Pennsylvania’s lead down to three runs,
F
REMARKABLE RUN. Japan’s Masafuji Nishijima, left, rounds third after hitting a three-run home run off Lewisberry, Pennsylvania’s Jaden
Henline in the third inning of the Little League World Series championship baseball game in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Japan’s string of
excellence — four titles in six years — is the best run by any international team in almost 25 years. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
by two runs, 11-13. It would be their final tally of the
game.
Japan padded its lead with a five-run sixth inning that
saw Nishijima drive in his team-leading sixth RBI,
validating his manager’s decision to bring him into the
game and sealing the victory for Japan. The two teams
combined for 29 runs and 30 hits, both records for a Little
League World Series final. The eight-run deficit that
Japan overcame was also a record.
Japan’s string of excellence — four titles in six years —
Continued on page 16
10-7.
But Japan wasn’t finished. Kikuchi reached on an error,
Watanabe rapped a single, and Fukuyama plated them
both with a ringing double. The lead was now just a single
run. Tom Peifer, Pennsylvania’s manager, later
commented, “They just put the bat on the ball … They hit
pitches I’ve never seen kids, especially 12-year-olds, hit.”
Those hits kept coming. In the top of the third, Shingo
Tomita smacked a game-tying home run, and Nishijima
gave Japan the lead again on a three-run bomb. Red Land
plated a run in their half of the third, but they still trailed
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