As the 2015 international tournament kicked into gear with a full slate of games during Japan's traditional Golden Week holiday period in early May, Tokyo Kitasuna Little League and Hachioji Little League met in an opening round game of the Tokyo district tournament. Twenty-two Tokyo teams began tournament play among some 175-odd Japanese entrants in the international tournament, and Tokyo Kitasuna started their campaign on the right foot, leveraging three home runs by Kabu Kikuchi and rallying from a two-run deficit in the fourth inning to top Hachioji, 6-4.

Ten weeks later, Tokyo Kitasuna and Hachioji met again, but this time there was much more at stake. Tokyo Kitasuna had won eight more games -- five in the Tokyo district tournament, and three in the Japanese Region tournament -- while Hachioji had collected ten win-or-go-home victories on the trot to earn a rematch opposite Tokyo Kitasuna in the Japanese championship game.

With a berth in the Little League World Series on the line, Tokyo Kitasuna settled matters early in its second meeting with Hachioji.

Tokyo Kitasuna Little League sent twelve batters to the plate in the top of the first inning of the Japanese Region championship game, tallying eight runs before the first opposing batter stepped to the plate, and rolling to a 20-3 victory in four innings. The win gave Tokyo Kitasuna its second consecutive Japanese championship, its third in four years, and its fifth overall. More importantly, the win sent Tokyo Kitasuna on their way to South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where the Japanese champions went on to claim the 2015 Little League World Series championship.

The initial meeting with Hachioji proved to be one of Tokyo Kitasuna's more difficult matches against Japanese competition. Tokyo Kitasuna surrendered more than those four runs in only one other game, and in the region tournament at Shirakawa City (Fukushima Prefecture), Tokyo Kitasuna scored in 12 of its 19 offensive innings, and outscored four opponents by a 44-4 margin.

Kengo and Shingo Tomita -- both returnees from Tokyo Kitasuna's 2014 Japanese championship team -- paced the team's offense in the title game. Kengo Tomita collected four hits in as many at-bats, while his brother slammed a two-run homer. Yuma Watanabe also homered in the game, while Fukutaro Kiyomiya had three hits and drove in five runs.

Tokyo Kitasuna added to its large early lead with a ten run burst in the third inning, and then tallied two runs in the top of the fourth. Hachioji homered twice and scored its three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning of the mercy rule-shortened game.

The win made Tokyo Kitasuna the first league to repeat as Japan's champion in consecutive years since Chofu Little League won its fifth consecutive national championship in 1975.

Tokyo Kitasuna opened the Japanese championship tournament with a 10-0 victory over Ehime Konan Little League, and later in the same day, moved into the semifinal round with a 10-0 win over Fuji Little League. Shingo Tomita homered twice against Ehime Konan, and Raito Sugimoto did the same against Fuji. In both contests, Tokyo Kitasuna scored multiple runs in four of its five offensive innings. Masafuji Nishijima threw a complete game shutout in the opener, while four pitchers combined on a shutout in the quarterfinal round win.

The next day, Yugo Aoki's first inning home run sparked a four-run first inning rally as Tokyo Kitasuna defeated Nagano Minami Little League in the semifinal round. All of the game's scoring occurred in the first inning, as Nagano tallied one run in the top of the frame before Tokyo Kitasuna claimed the lead in its half of the frame. Shingo Tomita and Daiki Fukuyama combined to hold Nagano Minami scoreless after the initial run scored.

Hachioji took a similar route to the title game, overwhelming Sapporo Shinkotoni Little League 16-0 in the opening round and then topping Owari Ichimiya Little League, 15-2, in the quarterfinals. Hachioji sealed the first game with an eleven run rally in the first inning, and later scored all 15 of its runs against Owari Ichimiya in the third inning. In the semifinal round, Hachioji rode a pair of home runs to a 4-2 victory over Hiratsuka Little League.

Tokyo Kitasuna won all five of its games at the Little League World Series to become Japan's tenth-ever champion. In the international bracket, the Japanese champions won four games by a combined six runs, including extra inning wins over Cardenales Little League (Barquisimeto, Venezuela) and Seguro Social Little League (Mexicali, Mexico) in its final two games. In each of these victories, Tokyo Kitasuna's only lead came after pushing across the winning run for a walk-off victory in extra innings.

In the championship game, Tokyo Kitasuna upended local favorite Red Land Little League (Lewisberry, Pennsylvania), 18-11, to win the Little League World Series. Tokyo Kitasuna jumped to an early 2-0 lead, but quickly fell behind in the bottom of the first inning as Red Land scored ten times to take a commanding lead. But the Japanese champions quieted the potent Pennsylvania offense for the remainder of the game, as reliever Nobiyuki Kawashima entered in the second inning and surrendered just one run and two hits over the next five innings.

While Kawashima silenced the Red Land bats, Tokyo Kitasuna's offense chipped away at the deficit: three consecutive home runs in the second inning sliced the deficit to three runs, and Nishijima's double narrowed the score to 10-9. The next inning, Shingo Tomita homered with two outs to level the score, and after a pair of singles, Nishijima drilled a three-run homer to put the Japanese team in front. Eleven different Tokyo Kitasuna players hit safely in the game, with six players collecting multiple hits.

With the win, Tokyo Kitasuna became just the second league to win three Little League World Series championships. The league's two prior titles came in 2001 and 2012.

Linescores:

Opening Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7		R
Shirakawa	2	0	0	0	3	2			7
Hiratsuka	1	1	0	0	7	x			9
Opening Round
Ushiku	0	0	0	1	0	3			4
Kaizuka	0	0	0	0	0	0			0
Opening Round
Sapporo Shiroishi	0	0	0	0					0
Hachioji	11	1	4	x					16
Opening Round
Urawa	0	0	0	1	0	2	0		3
Owari Ichimiya	3	0	0	0	0	0	1		4
Opening Round
Okayama	0	0	0	1	0	0			1
Shiogama	1	0	3	0	3	x			7
Opening Round
Nagano Minami	0	0	2	0	0	1			3
Keina	0	2	0	0	0	0			2
Opening Round
Fuji	0	0	0	0	1	0	0		1
Miyakonojou	0	0	0	1	0	0	1		2
Opening Round
Tokyo Kitasuna	3	2	3	0	2				10
Ehime Konan	0	0	0	0	0				0
Quarterfinal Round
Hiratsuka	2	0	2	0	2	3			9
Ushiku	0	0	2	0	0	0			2
Quarterfinal Round
Owari Ichimiya	2	0	0	0					2
Hachioji	0	0	15	x					15
Quarterfinal Round
Shiogama	0	0	0	0	0	0			0
Nagano Minami	0	1	3	4	0	x			8
Quarterfinal Round
Tokyo Kitasuna	0	2	3	3	2				10
Miyakonojou	0	0	0	0	0				0
Semifinal Round
Hiratsuka	0	0	0	1	0	1			2
Hachioji	0	2	0	2	0	x			4
Semifinal Round
Nagano Minami	1	0	0	0	0	0			1
Tokyo Kitasuna	4	0	0	0	0	x			4
Championship Game
Tokyo Kitasuna	8	0	10	2					20
Hachioji	0	0	0	3					3

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