Tournament Results:
Opening Round (Saturday, July 2):
Seya 5, Tokyo Kitasuna 4 (7 innings)
Matsusaka 16, Kasaoka 5 (4 innings)
Osaka Ibaraki 17, Sapporo Shinkotoni 1 (4 innings)
Sendai Higashi 13, Chiba City 7
Koshigaya 4, Yamagata 1
Miyakonojou 2, Osaka Yogogawa 1
Chofu 13, Niihama 2 (5 innings)
Hamamatsu Minami 13, Suzaka 1 (6 innings)
Quarterfinal Round (Saturday, July 2):
Seya 22, Matsusaka 6 (4 innings)
Osaka Ibaraki 8, Sendai Higashi 4
Koshigaya 13, Miyakonojou 12
Hamamatsu Minami 3, Chofu 1
Semifinal Round (Saturday, July 9):
Seya 2, Osaka Ibaraki 0 (8 innings)
Hamamatsu Minami 11, Koshigaya 1
Championship Game (Saturday, July 9):
Hamamatsu Minami 14, Seya 3 (6 innings; TITLE)
Summary:
A pair of fast starts on the tournament's second day helped to lift Hamamatsu Minami Little League to victory in the Japanese Region tournament.
Hamamatsu led 8-0 after an inning and a half in a semifinal round win over Koshigaya Little League, and held a 9-0 advantage at the same point in a 14-3 championship game victory over Seya later in the day.
The wins gave Hamamatsu its first-ever Japanese championship. Hamamatsu advanced to the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where it finished as the runner-up.
Catcher Taiga Iwamoto helped to spark Hamamatsu's championship game victory, singling in the first run in what would become a six-run flurry in the top of the first inning. Gaishi Iguchi also added a key hit in the inning, and Hamamatsu added three more runs in the second to essentially decide the game's outcome.
Hamamatsu collected six extra-base hits in the championship game, including Sotaro Yoshida's triple. Seiya Fujita and pitcher Yoshiki Suzuki each doubled twice, while leadoff hitter Mitsuhiro Uchida also doubled.
Suzuki earned his second victory of the region tournament with the win. He also earned the win in Hamamatsu's 3-1 quarterfinal round win over Chofu Little League.
Hamamatsu's 11-1 semifinal round victory over Koshigaya was stopped after five innings due to the mercy rule. Hamamatsu scored four runs in each of the first two innings, then added one in the fourth and two more in the fifth to clinch the victory. Uchida tripled twice and Suzuki doubled for Hamamatsu, while Shoto Totsuka threw a complete game.
Koshigaya, which reached the semifinal round only after overcoming a six-run deficit in the bottom of the sixth inning of a 13-12 quarterfinal round win over Miyokonojou, had reached to the Japanese championship tournament for the first time since 1995.
Uchida helped to key Hamamatsu's quarterfinal round victory over Chofu with a homer and a double. Takakura also doubled and relieved Suzuki on the mound before closing out the win over the longtime Tokyo power.
Hamamatsu Minami had opened the region tournament with a 13-1 victory over Shinetsu winner Suzaka Little League. Suzuki drilled a pair of home runs in the win, while Iwamoto added one of his own and also tripled.
Seya had reached the championship game after using a walkoff home run to edge Osaka Ibaraki Little League, 2-0 in eight innings, in its semifinal round meeting. The Kanagawa winner also finished as the Japanese runner-up in 1994 and 1998, while winning the Japanese championship and reaching the Little League World Series in 1997.
Hamamatsu became the first Japanese champion from the Tokai region since Matsusaka Little League in 1996. The team later won the international championship at the Little League World Series before eventually falling 2-1, to Ocean View Little League (Huntington Beach, California) in the championship game. It marked the second summer in a row in which Hamamatsu Minami was eliminated by the eventual Little League World Series champion: in 2010, eventual Series winner Edogawa Minami Little League defeated Hamamatsu by a 2-0 score in the Japanese Region semifinals.
Linescores:
| Opening Round |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
|
R |
| Tokyo Kitasuna |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
4 |
| Seya |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
|
5 |
|
|
| Opening Round |
| Matsusaka |
4 |
7 |
2 |
3 |
|
|
|
|
|
16 |
| Kasaoka |
2 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
5 |
|
|
| Opening Round |
| Osaka Ibaraki |
8 |
5 |
0 |
4 |
|
|
|
|
|
17 |
| Sapporo Shinkotoni |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
|
| Opening Round |
| Chiba City |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
|
|
|
7 |
| Sendai Higashi |
3 |
3 |
4 |
0 |
3 |
x |
|
|
|
13 |
|
|
| Opening Round |
| Yamagata |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
1 |
| Koshigaya |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
x |
|
|
|
4 |
|
|
| Opening Round |
| Miyakonojou |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
2 |
| Osaka Yodogawa |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
|
|
1 |
|
|
| Opening Round |
| Chofu |
4 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
|
|
|
|
13 |
| Niihama |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
2 |
|
|
| Opening Round |
| Hamamatsu Minami |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
6 |
4 |
|
|
|
13 |
| Suzaka |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
|
|
1 |
|
|
| Quarterfinal Round |
| Matsusaka |
0 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
6 |
| Seya |
9 |
2 |
11 |
x |
|
|
|
|
|
22 |
|
|
| Quarterfinal Round |
| Osaka Ibaraki |
0 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
|
|
|
8 |
| Sendai Higashi |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
|
4 |
|
|
| Quarterfinal Round |
| Miyakonojou |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
1 |
|
|
|
12 |
| Koshigaya |
2 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
7 |
|
|
|
13 |
|
|
| Quarterfinal Round |
| Hamamatsu Minami |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
|
|
3 |
| Chofu |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
1 |
|
|
| Semifinal Round |
| Osaka Ibaraki |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
| Seya |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
2 |
|
|
| Semifinal Round |
| Hamamatsu Minami |
4 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
11 |
| Koshigaya |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
|
| Championship Game |
| Hamamatsu Minami |
6 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
|
|
|
14 |
| Seya |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
3 |
|
|
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Last revision: 04/14/2012
