LLBWS roundup: Connecticut, Taiwan advance to respective finals

The teams from Fairfield, Conn., and Taiwan won their Little League World Series contests by 7-3 margins on Wednesday and are the sole undefeated squads remaining in the competition in Williamsport, Pa.

The Tung-Yaun LL squad (3-0) defeated Barquisimeto, Venezuela, in the first game of the day, while the Fairfield National LL team (4-0) edged the Mountain region representative from Las Vegas.

The Asia-Pacific representatives scored twice in the opening inning off of a pair of bases-loaded walks by Andres Reyes Querales.

They scored once in the same fashion in the fourth inning, then broke the game open with a three-run fifth when Chen Qi-Sheng hit a bases-clearing double. He was 2-for-2 with two runs and three RBIs.

The Cardenales LL squad representing the Latin America region tried to battle back, scoring three times in the bottom of the fifth. Abraham Rodriguez capped the uprising with an RBI single.

Connecticut 7, Nevada 3

In the second game between undefeated Fairfield and Las Vegas, the Summerlin South LL squad from Nevada took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Cache Malan hit a three-run homer over the center field fence.

But Connecticut struck back for three runs in the top of the third inning on an RBI single by Luca Pellegrini and a run-producing single by SJ Taxiltaridis. Pellegrini put Connecticut ahead 4-3 with another base hit in the fifth, and the Metro region representative added three more runs in the sixth, highlighted by Tommy D'Amura's solo home run.

Connecticut banged out 12 hits by eight different players. Taxiltaridis pitched 5 1/3 innings, yielding three runs on seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts to earn the victory.

Taiwan and Connecticut have advanced to the International and United States finals, respectively, while Venezuela and Nevada face elimination games on Thursday.

--Field Level Media