OH, CANADA! . . . TEAM WINS WITH LONG BALL

Canada hit four homeruns in a 10-5 win over Japan in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 5,983.

The 10 runs for Canada came on a Sean Sargent solo homerun in the fourth, a Mike Erickson solo shot in the sixth, and two Jeff Duda blasts; a three run shot in the sixth and a game-winning, three run shot in the seventh.

Canada went into the top of the sixth down 5-1. Erickson lead of the inning with a homerun, and two base-on-balls later, Duda’s three-run homer tied the game at five.

In the top of the seventh, Tanner Mikesh led off with a walk. Erickson then bunted and was safe on a throwing error by Japan’s catcher Tomoyuki Okawa.

Sean Sargent came to the plate and hit his second homerun of the game to put Canada in the lead 8-5.

"I’m not really a homerun hitter," Erickson said. "I don’t know what came over me."

"We’ve been working hard with Jeff’s hitting at home," said Brian Sargent, manager of the Canadian team. "He has improved a lot."

Four batters after Duda’s homerun, pitcher Jordan Lennerton hit a two run shot to go ahead 10-5 and seal the victory.

"I haven’t had a solid hit in a while," he said. "It feels good to have it."

For Japan, Tetsuya Furukawa hit a grand slam in the third inning and a RBI double in the fifth to account for all Japan’s runs.The win by Canada puts them in good position to face Japan in Thursday’s International Championship Game. With a win tomorrow or a Europe loss this afternoon, they will play for a spot in the Little League World Series.

--Mark Rogoff
   Special Correspondent