Sumiyama does it with arm and bat

In the inaugural game of the 1999 Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, Osaka, Japan defeated Victoria, British Columbia seven to three. Japan’s Kazunori Morishita hit a three-run home run in the fourth to help secure the victory in front of 7,200 at Howard J. Lamade Stadium.

In addition to the seven-run offensive performance, the pitching was also great. Starting pitcher Kazuki Sumiyama threw five innings of no-hit baseball; pitching to only one more batter than the minimum. Sumiyana was relieved in the sixth by Kazutoshi Adachi. “I understood fully that that he had a no-hitter,” said manager Tsutomu Kameyama through an interpreter, “but I wanted to get the butterflies out of my other pitcher. He’ll be on the hill for the next game.”

For Canada, it was their first lost in all post-season tournament play. They carried a record of 15-0 going into the game. “We’re gonna have to hit if we want to be successful this week,” said manager Kelly Carter. “We should have hit his fastball, yet he mixed it up really well.”

Japan’s offensive performance included three hits each by Sumiyama and Masato Ikeda. Tsuyoshi Minamisako added two hits of his own.

--Mark Rogoff
   Special Correspondent