Little League World Series: Day 4 Recap

Day 4 of the Little League World Series ended with the teams spending the evening watching the big leaguers play in MLB’s Little League Classic. There was plenty of action during the day, including another big day from North Carolina’s Carson Hardee.

Sunday’s Results:
Canada 7, Venezuela 3
Texas 6, Connecticut 3
Japan 4, South Korea 1
North Carolina 16, California 0 (5 inn.)

Monday’s Games (Elimination Games):
11 a.m.—Michigan vs. Italy (Consolation Game) (ESPN)
1 p.m.—South Korea vs. Mexico (ESPN)
3 p.m.—California vs. New Jersey (ESPN)
6 p.m.—Venezuela vs. Dominican Republic (ESPN 2)
8 p.m.—Connecticut vs. Washington (ESPN 2)

North Carolina’s Carson Hardee (Photo by Alex Trautwig/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

U.S. Player of the Day—Carson Hardee, North Carolina
Hardee followed up his perfect game-ending strikeout from Friday with a big day at the plate and in the field. He was 2-for-4 with three runs scored. His second-inning grand slam broke open the game for North Carolina in a blowout win over California. Hardee added a fifth-inning RBI single, giving him five RBIs for the game. He also starred in the field behind his dominant pitching staff, making four sensational plays at shortstop to help preserve North Carolina’s second straight no-hitter in Williamsport. The boys from the Tar Heel State move on to face Texas on Wednesday.

International Player of the Day—Riku Goto, Japan
The Japanese pitcher used all 85 of his allotted pitches to lead his squad to a win over South Korea. After loading the bases in the first inning and surrendering his only run of the game, Goto settled in and shut down the South Koreans the rest of the way. He finished the complete game with seven strikeouts and one earned run while retiring seven of the final eight batters. Japan will take on Canada on Wednesday.

BA Intern Conor Hynes contributed to this report