The linescore suggests that Tokyo Kitasuna Little League easily dispatched Toyonaka Little League in the Japanese Region championship game. Tokyo Kitasuna scored three or more runs in each of its offensive innings, it got a complete game shutout from pitcher Joichiro Fujimatsu, and its offense was powered by a trio of home runs, including two from Takume Takahashi.

All of this was true, and Tokyo Kitasuna's 12-0, four inning victory lifted the league to its fourth-ever Japanese championship, and into the Little League World Series. But reaching the championship game required Tokyo Kitasuna to navigate very difficult waters.

The Tokyo champions won their opening and quarterfinal round games by slim 2-1 margins. With rain wrecking havoc on the tournament schedule, Tokyo Kitasuna entered the semifinal round having essentially exhausted the availability of Takahashi, their top pitcher.

This was little worry for manager Yoichi Kubo's team. Tokyo Kitasuna swept to a pair of mercy rule-shortened wins on the tournament's final day, subduing Osaka Ibaraki Little League, 12-2 in a four inning semifinal round game, and then topping Toyonaka in the championship game.

Takahashi homered three times on the tournament's final day, including once in the semifinal round and twice in the title game. Arata Nishikawa also homered in the championship game, as Tokyo Kitasuna broke to a 6-0 lead after one inning before adding three more runs in each of the next two innings.

In the semifinal round, Tokyo Kitasuna led 3-2 before scoring seven times in the bottom of the third inning to pull away. Suguru Kanamori threw a complete game to lift his team into the Japanese championship game for the second time in three years.

Tokyo Kitasuna opened the tournament with 2-1 victories over Niigata Minami Little League in the opening round, and Miyagi Rifu Little League in a quarterfinal round encounter. After Takahashi pitched his team to the opening round win -- Tokyo Kitasuna pushed across the winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning -- rain washed out the team's second round game before the first inning could be completed, and, with the tournament scheduled over two weekends, pushed the game back to the following weekend. The weather-related postponement had two additional effects: it meant that Miyagi Rifu's 2-0 lead would be erased, as the game would revert to the beginning since the first inning was not completed, and it meant that both Takahashi and Miyagi's top pitcher, Yoshihide Oiwa, would be available to pitch when the game was restarted.

Oiwa, a left-hander, had pitched in Rifu's come-from-behind victory over Ageo Nishi in the opening round, and he kept Tokyo Kitasuna's offense in check in his team's second game. Oiwa allowed only one key hit -- Nishikawa's two-run homer in the top of the fourth inning -- but that blow snapped a scoreless tie and gave Tokyo Kitasuna all the offense it would need. Takahashi surrendered one run in the bottom of the fourth, but he soon handed the ball over to Kanamori, who closed out the win.

The win lifted Tokyo Kitasuna into the semifinal round, where they eased past Osaka Ibaraki. Toyonaka outlasted defending Japanese champion Musashi Fuchu Little League, 5-4 in eight innings, in the other semifinal round game. Toyonaka trailed after Musashi Fuchu scored four runs in the bottom of the third inning, but drew level in the fifth and then plated the eventual winning run in the top of the eighth inning. The win made Toyonaka the first Kansai team to reach the Japanese championship game since Izumisano Little League finished as the Japanese runner-up in 2009.

Tokyo Kitasuna's championship game victory lifted the team into the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The Japanese champions won three of four games to reach the international championship game, but then fell to Seoul (South Korea) Little League, 12-3.

Linescores:

Opening Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8		R
Niigata Minami	0	0	0	0	0	1				1
Tokyo Kitasuna	1	0	0	0	0	1				2
Opening Round
Ageo Nishi	1	1	1	0	2	1				6
Miyagi Rifu	0	2	0	0	3	2				7
Opening Round
Osaka Ibaraki	4	3	5	2						14
Ehime Konan	0	0	2	0						2
Opening Round
Chita	0	0	0	0	0	0				0
Ushiku	0	0	0	0	0	1				1
Opening Round
Shirakawa	3	2	1	0	4	11				21
Nagasaki Kita	0	0	0	0	3	2				5
Opening Round
Hiratsuka	0	0	0	0						0
Musashi Fuchu	4	0	6	x						10
Opening Round
Hamamatsu Minami	0	4	0	0	0	0				4
Hiroshima Aki	2	0	0	1	0	2				5
Opening Round
Toyonaka	0	0	0	0	0	3				3
Asahikawa Chuo	0	0	0	0	0	0				0
Quarterfinal Round
Tokyo Kitasuna	0	0	0	2	0	0				2
Miyagi Rifu	0	0	0	1	0	0				1
Quarterfinal Round
Osaka Ibaraki	1	0	1	1	0	6				9
Ushiku	5	0	1	2	0	0				8
Quarterfinal Round
Shirakawa	0	0	0	0	0	0	3			3
Musashi Fuchu	0	0	0	0	0	0	4			4
Quarterfinal Round
Hiroshima Aki	0	0	0	0	2	0				2
Toyonaka	2	1	0	0	1	x				4
Semifinal Round
Osaka Ibaraki	0	0	2	0						2
Tokyo Kitasuna	3	0	7	2						12
Semifinal Round
Toyonaka	2	0	1	0	1	0	0	1		5
Musashi Fuchu	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0		4
Championship Game
Toyonaka	0	0	0	0						0
Tokyo Kitasuna	6	3	3	x						12

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