Japan is on to the world championship game at the Little League World Series. Behind a stellar effort on the mound from starting pitcher Kabu Kikuchi, Japan beat Mexico, 1-0, on Saturday in Williamsport in seven innings to win the international bracket at the Little League World Series. Japan now plays the winner of Pennsylvania vs. Texas.
Japan wins international bracket at 2015 Little League World Series
Pitcher Kabu Kikuchi was the star for Japan on Saturday.
Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the seventh inning when Koki Jo grounded into a fielder’s choice with the bases loaded that scored the game-winning run. Japan did not have a hit in the game until the seven inning.
The game featured an incredible pitching matchup between Mexico’s Armando Verdugo and Japan’s Kikuchi. Verdugo struck out 10 in the loss, while Kikuchi also fanned 10 hitters and limited Mexico to only four hits. Both starting pitchers lasted the entire game.
Japan’s Yugo Aoki broke up Verdugo’s no-hitter with a hard ground ball to the shortstop in the bottom of the seventh inning and eventually scored the game-winning run.
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