SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — 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 Saturday over Petaluma, Calif., for a berth in the Little League World Series title game.
California’s 10-run comeback sent the game into extra innings tied at 15-15, nearly overshadowing Tennessee slugger Lorenzo Butler’s extraordinary day at the plate. Butler set a single-game record with nine RBI, and tied a record with three home runs 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 held on in the bottom of the seventh to win the U.S. championship.
Tennessee will face Tokyo today after Japan beat Aguadulce, Panama, 10-2 in the international final.
Luke Brown’s strikeout to end the game set off a wild celebration on the field, before the two teams exchanged customary post game handshakes.
The teams combined for 40 runs - another World Series record - 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.
Smith’s home run completed the comeback.
But, 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, but that was it for California. Brown’s strikeout ended the game.
Tennessee players converged near third base, throwing their gloves in the air before collapsing to the ground in delight.
Butler hit 3 three-run home runs, including the final one the opposite way to right in the sixth to make it 15-5.
Japan relied on the bats in the early game, too, getting five home runs, including two from 13-year-old slugger Kotaro Kiyomiya, for the international championship.
Kiyomiya is imposing at the plate, 6-feet tall, and he set the tone early with a first-inning home run that sailed deep down the right-field line.
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 to 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.
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.
Japan has won the international bracket five times in the past seven years. But it has won the World Series title game only once during that span, in 2010.
Sports, Pages 34 on 08/26/2012