San Diego Union-Tribune

TIJUANA FINALLY TOPPLES JAPAN TO ADVANCE

- BY ALEXANDRA MENDOZA Tijuana 2, Japan 0 alexandra.mendoza@ sduniontri­bune.com

The Tijuana Municipal team defeated Japan 2-0 to advance to the internatio­nal semifinals of the Little League World Series on Wednesday.

“The boys are happy,” coach Fidel Lopez said.

Mexico had not beaten Japan in this tournament since 2011. In 2013, when Tijuana Municipal went to Williamspo­rt, Pa., for the first time, they lost to Japan in the internatio­nal final.

“We had a thorn in our side against Japan for 10 years. The victory was achieved. It was a very tough game,” Lopez said.

Mexico also lost 6-1 to Japan in its first game of the tournament Friday and was knocked into the eliminatio­n bracket. But after that, the 12-year-old Tijuaneses kept on winning.

Mexico will compete in the internatio­nal semifinal today against Curaçao.

“We are expecting a very tough opponent. Curaçao is a very strong team, but the boys are prepared just the same,” López said.“Tomorrow we will give it our all.”

Pitcher Bernardo Partida was fundamenta­l to the win, pitching the entire game against Japan. The first run came in the bottom of the second inning when Jamil Mandujano drove in Alfredo Chacón with a single. In the fifth inning, the Mexican team scored on a sacrifice fly by Arath Laborín to score Marko Mejía.

In the sixth inning, with Japanese player Yohei Yamaguchi on second base, Tijuana manager Francisco Fimbres came in to talk to his pitcher in a moment that was shown on television.

“You’re doing excellent canijo,” Fimbres told Partida. “You are doing excellent. You’re going to win it.”

And so they did.

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