SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Brock Myers hit a tie-breaking double, and Goodlettsville, Tenn., gave up a 10-run lead in the bottom of the sixth before scoring nine in the seventh in a 24-16 victory over Petaluma, Calif., on Saturday for a berth in the Little League World Series title game.

Only California’s 10-run comeback to send the game into extra innings tied at 15 could overshadow Tennessee slugger Lorenzo Butler’s extraordinary day at the plate. Butler set a single-game record with nine RBIs, and tied a record with three homers to lead Tennessee.

Cole Tomei had a two-run double in the sixth, and Hance Smith’s solo shot with two outs gave California an improbable 15-15 tie.

Tennessee finally held on in the bottom of the seventh.

Tennessee will face Tokyo on Sunday. Tokyo beat Aguadulce, Panama, 10-2 in the international final.

Luke Brown’s strikeout to end the game set off a wild celebration at the plate, before the two teams exchanged customary postgame handshakes.

California and Tennessee played a Little League classic.

The teams combined for 40 runs and 35 hits in a game that lasted more than three hours.

But only Tennessee gets to move on to Sunday’s World Series title game against Japan.

The U.S. title game looked as though it might also be a blowout with Tennessee leading 15-5 in the sixth.

That’s when Petaluma powered up at the plate.

Every run that drew California closer turned up the intensity in the Lamade Stadium stands. “Petaluma! Petaluma!” California’s fans pleaded throughout the sixth.

Smith’s homer finally completed the comeback.

And soon enough, Tennessee surged ahead again with nine runs in the seventh.

Logan Douglas scored on an error for California in the bottom of the seventh with two outs to make it 24-16, and anxious fans wondered again if Petaluma could pull off another miraculous rally.

It wasn’t to be after Brown’s game-ending strikeout.

Tennessee players converged near third base, throwing their gloves in the air before collapsing to the ground in delight.



Japan 10, Panama 2

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Japan’s big bats helped the team from Tokyo earn a trip to the Little League World Series title game.

Japan hit five homers, including two from 13-year-old slugger Kotaro Kiyomiya, to beat Aguadulce, Panama, 10-2 Saturday for the international championship.

The 6-foot Kiyomiya is imposing at the plate. The left-handed hitter has become so known for his power that fans sitting on the hill beyond the right-field fence started holding a “Kotaro Target” sign near a bright red bull’s-eye. Kiyomiya’s first-inning homer sailed deep down the right-field line.

Kiyomiya saw the target walking down to the stadium from the dorms before the game, but manager Yoichi Kubo squashed any talk about taking aim with the long ball.

“I would have like to have hit, but I couldn’t come close,” Kiyomiya said through an interpreter after chuckling.

Edisson Gonzalez had an RBI single in the first while Daniel Castro added a run-scoring double in the second for Panama. Those runs got Panama within 4-2 going into the third.

But Japan didn’t let up.

Rintaro Hirano homered to center in the third before Kiyomiya went deep again in the fourth, this time the opposite way to left-center to make it 7-2.

Starter Yuta Ishida allowed four hits and struck out six over four innings, while three relievers combined for two shutout innings to close out the game.

“Yes we can! Yes we can,” Panama’s fans chanted in Spanish through the sixth, down by eight.

The game was such a big deal for Panama that Mario Jaramillo, the country’s ambassador to the United States, watched the game at Lamade Stadium.

Panama had two runners in scoring position with two outs in the sixth, but reliever Hajime Motegi got a strikeout to escape the jam.

After exchanging handshakes at the plate with Panama, Japan’s players smiled and posed for a picture at the mound with their new prize — the international championship banner.

Proud family members and friends stood shoulder to shoulder for snapshots from behind the plate.

An even bigger prize awaits on Sunday, though coach Junji Hidaka would rather his team not rely so much on the long ball.

“We only scored on home runs today, I would advise the players not to try for more homers” Sunday, Hidaka said. “We need to string our hits together.”

Panama committed four errors on the day, including two in the second that led to another Japan run. Still, Panama showed signs of keeping up with Japan’s powerful offense after Castro’s double made it 4-2 in the second.

Ishida shut them down from there and didn’t allow a base runner over his final 2 1-3 innings.

“It was a difficult game against a good pitching team,” manager Luis Gonzalez said. “The team had confidence after scoring in the first inning but (two errors in the second) really stopped our momentum.”

Japan got the best of Panama again, similar to the teams’ 4-1 meeting on Wednesday.

A traditional World Series powerhouse, Japan has won the international bracket five times in the past seven years. But they’ve won the World Series title game just once during that span, in 2010.

Keep hitting home runs as they did on Saturday, and the boys will be taking home another championship banner to Tokyo.