Tournament Results:
Opening Round (Saturday, June 29):
Musashi Fuchu 6, Hiroshima Saiki 3
Kishiwada 8, Sapporo Shirioshi 0
Owari Ichinomiya 6, Kumamoto Chuo 5
Sendai Aoba 2, Omiya 0
Yokohama Aoba 9, Hamamatsu Minami 2
Chofu 3, Ehime Tobe 2
Miyagino 6, Matsudo 2
Ueda Minami 16, Takarazuka 5
Quarterfinal Round (Saturday, June 29):
Musashi Fuchu 11, Kishiwada 1 (5 innings)
Sendai Aoba 15, Owari Ichinomiya 5
Yokohama Aoba 12, Chofu 4
Miyagino 7, Ueda Minami 6
Semifinal Round (Saturday, July 6):
Musashi Fuchu 8, Sendai Aoba 5
Miyagino 17, Yokohama Aoba 6 (5 innings)
Championship Game (Saturday, July 6):
Musashi Fuchu 11, Miyagino 6 (TITLE)
Summary:
Shunpei Takegi and Takuma Gomi homered, and their Musashi Fuchu Little League broke to an early lead en route to an 11-6 victory over Miyagino Little League in the Japanese Region championship game at Edogawa-Ku Stadium.
The victory gave Musashi Fuchu its third-ever Japanese title, and advanced the Tokyo league to the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Musashi Fuchu went on to win the 67th annual Little League World Series title with a 6-4 championship game victory over Eastlake Little League (Chula Vista, Southern California).
Miyagino struck first in the title game, scoring a single run in the top of the first inning, but Musashi Fuchu answered with two in the bottom of the inning and four in the second. Miyagino eventually narrowed its deficit to a 6-4 margin, before Musashi Fuchu cemented its victory with five runs in its final two at-bats. Seiya Nishino earned the victory for Musashi Fuchu, while relievers Keita Saito and Kyousuke Kobayashi stifled Miyagino's comeback attempts.
The victory gave Musashi Fuchu its first Japanese championship since 2003, when the league also won the Little League World Series. Musashi Fuchu had reached the Japanese Region tournament five times in the interim period, with a pair of semifinal round appearances and one runner-up finish during that span.
Musashi Fuchu advanced to the Japanese Region tournament following four wins in as many games against Tokyo-area leagues, then swept past four opponents in the sixteen-team Japanese championship tournament. The Tokyo champions opened with a 6-3 victory over Hiroshima Saiki Little League, and later the same day, dispatched Kishiwada Little League in a mercy rule-shortened quarterfinal round encounter. Takegi homered twice in the victory over Hiroshima Saiki, and Sho Miyao also cleared the fences in support of starting pitcher Kazuki Ishida. Musashi Fuchu broke a scoreless tie with three runs in the third inning, and added two more in the fourth after Hiroshima had narrowed the score.
Later that day, Musashi Fuchu struck for six runs in the bottom of the second inning, snapping a 1-1 tie and setting the stage for an 11-1, five inning victory. Keita Saito surrendered a run to Kishiwada in the first inning, but combined with reliever Tatsuki Nagano to keep the Kansai representative off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game. Musashi Fuchu added two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, and ended the game when two more runs in the fifth invoked the 10-run rule. Gomi paced the Musashi Fuchu attack with the first of three home runs he would hit in the region tournament.
Musashi Fuchu returned to action the following weekend alongside three other semifinal qualifiers, and moved into the championship game following an 8-5 victory over Sendai Aoba Little League. Sendai grabbed a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning against Ishida, but Musashi Fuchu's offense responded with three runs in the bottom of the frame and four more in the second to take control. Ishida and Gomi each homered for Musashi Fuchu, while Nagano and closer Ryutarro Takeo combined to close out the win.
The victory propelled Musashi Fuchu into the Japanese championship game for the fourth time, and the first since the league's 2006 edition finished as the runner-up to Kawaguchi Little League. They would face Miyagino, a first-time qualifier for the Japanese Region tournament. Miyagino had trailed early in its quarterfinal round encounter with Ueda Minami Little League, and faced a 6-1 deficit entering the bottom of the fourth inning and a 6-4 deficit entering the bottom of the sixth. But the Tohoku representative rallied to extend its tournament run, and then overpowered Yokohama Aoba Little League, 17-6 in five innings, in the semifinal round. Yokohama led 3-1 after 2-1/2 innings, before Miyagino struck for three runs in the third, eight in the fourth, and five in the fifth to claim the walkoff victory.
Musashi Fuchu's championship game victory advanced the Tokyo league to the Little League World Series for the third time. In South Williamsport, Musashu Fuchu toppled a surprisingly tough South Moravia Little League (Brno, Czech Republic), 7-3, in the opening round, and edged Chung-Ping Little League (Taoyuan, Chinese Taipei) by a 3-2 margin. A pair of victories over Mexican champion Municipal de Tijuana Little League gave the Japanese team the international championship, and Musashi Fuchu closed out the tournament with a win over Eastlake. Musashi Fuchu became the ninth Japanese league to win the Little League World Series championship, and the tenth league ever to claim multiple titles in the tournament's 67-year history.
Linescores:
Opening Round |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
|
R |
Hiroshima Saiki |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
|
|
|
3 |
Musashi Fuchu |
0 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
x |
|
|
|
6 |
|
|
Opening Round |
Kishiwada |
1 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
|
|
8 |
Sapporo Shiroishi |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
Opening Round |
Owari Ichinomiya |
1 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
6 |
Kumamoto Chuo |
0 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
5 |
|
|
Opening Round |
Omiya |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
0 |
Sendai Aoba |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
x |
|
|
|
2 |
|
|
Opening Round |
Hamamatsu Minami |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
|
|
2 |
Yokohama Aoba |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
x |
|
|
|
9 |
|
|
Opening Round |
Ehime Tobe |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
|
|
2 |
Chofu |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
x |
|
|
|
3 |
|
|
Opening Round |
Matsudo |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
|
|
2 |
Miyagino |
0 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
x |
|
|
|
6 |
|
|
Opening Round |
Ueda Minami |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
11 |
|
16 |
Takarazuka |
0 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
5 |
|
|
Quarterfinal Round |
Kishiwada |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
1 |
Musashi Fuchu |
1 |
6 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
11 |
|
|
Quarterfinal Round |
Owari Ichinomiya |
0 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
5 |
Sendai Aoba |
2 |
5 |
0 |
2 |
7 |
|
|
|
|
16 |
|
|
Quarterfinal Round |
Yokohama Aoba |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
5 |
|
|
|
12 |
Chofu |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
|
|
|
4 |
|
|
Quarterfinal Round |
Ueda Minami |
4 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
6 |
Miyagino |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
|
|
|
7 |
|
|
Semifinal Round |
Sendai Aoba |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
|
|
|
5 |
Musashi Fuchu |
3 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
x |
|
|
|
8 |
|
|
Semifinal Round |
Yokohama Aoba |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
|
|
|
|
6 |
Miyagino |
1 |
0 |
3 |
8 |
5 |
|
|
|
|
17 |
|
|
Championship Game |
Miyagino |
1 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
|
|
|
6 |
Musashi Fuchu |
2 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
x |
|
|
|
11 |
|
|
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Last revision: 05/18/2014