Wei Hung-chou pitched a one-hit shutout as Taiwan eliminated Uganda 5-0 at the Little League World Series on Monday.
Wei struck out 14 and walked none, including a stretch of eight consecutive strikeouts from the first through third innings. Wei finished at 80 pitches, struck out the side to end the game and got two of his team’s six hits while at the plate.
The only Uganda baserunners were Frances Alemo on a first-inning single and Joshua Olara on a fourth-inning hit batsman.
Photo: AP
Wei and Cheng Yu-yang scored twice each for Taiwan, who were to play Mexico yesterday in another elimination game.
Uganda finished 1-2 in the nation’s second tournament appearance. A team from Lugazi played in 2012, but did not win either of their first two games before being eliminated.
Eli Burwash scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fifth inning then earned the save pitching as Bowling Green, Kentucky, avoided elimination by beating Taylors, South Carolina, 4-3.
“I’ve closed out before, but this was the biggest one yet,” said Burwash, who said his previous home run was in regionals.
Ty Bryant earned the win, leaving after 84 pitches, and will be eligible for all of the weekend should Bowling Green progress that far. Burwash needed only 14 pitches for the save.
“Ty pitched outstanding and it was picture-perfect the way we laid it out,” Bowling Green manager Rick Kelley said. “We wanted Eli to close it out and have him for tomorrow and it worked out perfect.”
Should Burwash face Bonita in a save situation, the California players might well turn again to their rally monkey, a red, white and blue knit puppet with a stars and stripes pattern, something player Walker Lannom credited for the win on Monday after an early 2-0 deficit.
“It’s our rally monkey, it represents us,” Lannom said. “We’re a team, but we need something to represent us and that’s the rally monkey.”
Elsewhere, Mexico eliminated Australia 9-0, Portland, Oregon (1-2), won a consolation game 7-3 against the Dominican Republic.
The Oregon players might be done playing, but they are not leaving yet.
“These kids earned their way here. None of the teams here won the lottery to get here, so we want the kids to experience all of the World Series,” Portland manager Matt Farr said about his team staying through Sunday’s world title game. “It was really important to us that they stay and root on the other teams and friends they’ve made and see them battle for the championship.”
Little League was to induct former New York Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera into its Hall of Excellence last night. Also, former slugger Gary Sheffield was to make a promotional appearance. Sheffield played in the 1980 LLWS for Tampa, Florida, along with former major leaguer Derek Bell.
Jacob Baptista hit a go-ahead grand slam and Levi Mendez struck out 11 as Bonita, California, advanced defeating Cranston, Rhode Island, 10-3 in an elimination game.
Bonita reached the US Final 4 and were to play Bowling Green yesterday in another elimination game.
Bonita overcame a two-run deficit in the third inning. Baptista capped the six-run rally when he drilled a first-pitch fastball out to center for a 6-2 lead.
Mendez went three-for-three and shut down Cranston over the final five innings.
Cranston scored two first-inning runs on a Caleb Harris lead-off home run and Cam Ademac RBI single, but Mendez allowed only one more hit and struck out the side in both the fourth and sixth.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to