Hawaii shuts out South Korea to capture the LL World Series
It only took one pitch for Mana Lau Kong to deliver Hawaii its first Little League World Series title in a decade.
Against a South Korea team that hadn’t surrendered a home run in the tournament, Kong drove the first pitch his team saw over the center field fence.
“It was great,” pitcher Ka’olu Holt said, “because we all knew that pitcher was tough to hit.”
Holt took it from there, throwing a two-hitter to lead Hawaii to a 3-0 victory in the Little League World Series championship, the first shutout in a title game since 2002. It was Holt’s first-ever complete game.
The team from Honolulu allowed just three runs in the entire tournament, shut out four of its five opponents and struck out 53 batters in 34 innings.
The victory marks the first time a Hawaiian team has won the Little League World Series since 2008. It is now one of seven U.S. states with at least three LLWS titles. All of Hawaii’s championships have come in the past 13 years.
Seoul, South Korea, has played in the three of the last six LLWS title games, but won only once — in 2014.
WNBA
STORM WIN GAME 1 >> League MVP Breanna Stewart scored 19 of her 28 points in the first half, Jewell Loyd added 23 — including Seattle’s final seven points — and the Storm held on to beat the Phoenix Mercury 9187 in Game 1 of their WNBA semifinal series.
After posting the best record in the league during the regular season, Seattle got a week of rest before opening the semifinals at home. For the most part there was no rust from the long layoff, but Phoenix made the final minutes uncomfortable after cutting a 16-point deficit to two, but got no close.
• Stewart was announced before the game as the WNBA MVP after a season where she finished second in scoring. Stewart finished with 372 total points in the voting, easily outpacing Dallas’ Liz Cambage, who finished second with 231 points. Stewart received 33 of 39 first-place votes.
Washington’s Elena Delle Donne
finished third in the voting and Los Angeles’ Candace Parker was fourth. MYSTICS HOLD OFF DREAM >> Elena Delle Donne had 32 points and 13 rebounds, Ariel Atkins added 15 points and the Mystics beat the Dream 8784 in the first game of a best-of-five WNBA semifinal.
College football
USC NAMES QB >> Freshman J.T. Daniels has won the competition to start at quarterback for No. 15 USC. Daniels will be the first true freshman to start at quarterback for USC since Matt Barkley in 2009.
The 18-year-old Daniels graduated from Mater Dei High School one full year early to enroll at USC. The Trojans open the regular season at home against UNLV on Saturday, followed by consecutive road trips to No. 13 Stanford and No. 23 Texas. NEBRASKA TO START TRUE FRESHMAN AT QB >> Adrian Martinez has been named Nebraska’s starting quarterback for the opener against Akron on Saturday. He will be the first true freshman in program history to start an opener at quarterback.
Martinez, from Fresno’s Clovis West High, was the prize of Scott Frost’s first recruiting class at Nebraska, signing with the Cornhuskers after de-committing from Tennessee. WOLVERINES LOSE KEY WR >> Michigan wide receiver Tarik Black is out indefinitely with an injured right foot. Black, one of the top receivers in practice, had 11 receptions for 149 yards and a touchdown in three games last season before needing surgery on his left foot.
Soccer
SOUNDERS KEEP WINNING >> An own goal in the 76th minute lifted Seattle past Portland 1-0, extending the Sounders’ club-record winning streak to seven games.
Seattle (11-9-5) also pushed its unbeaten streak to 10. The Timbers (107-7) have lost four straight after a 15game unbeaten streak.
Motor sports
VETTEL WINS BELGIAN GRAND PRIX >> Sebastian Vettel made a crucial early overtaking move on Lewis Hamilton to win the crash-marred Belgian Grand Prix and trim his rival’s overall lead.
Hamilton started from pole position for a record fifth time at Spa, But Vettel nudged his Ferrari past Hamilton’s Mercedes on the first lap with a smart move down the left. It came moments after Fernando Alonso’s McLaren flew through the air and landed on top of Charles Leclerc’s Sauber. Leclerc, unharmed, was likely spared a head injury by the protective halo device surrounding the cockpit area of F1 cars.
“What is clear is the significant tire marks on the chassis and the halo,” FIA race director Charlie Whiting said. “It doesn’t take much imagination to think the tire marks could have actually been on Charles’ head.”
Vettel finished about 12 seconds clear of Hamilton, with Max Verstappen third.
Vettel’s 52nd career win closes the gap to Hamilton to 17 points heading into next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza — Ferrari’s home. MOTOGP CANCELS >> The British Grand Prix became the first MotoGP race to be canceled in 38 years on Sunday after heavy rain left standing water on parts of the new track at Silverstone.
NASCAR TRUCK PLAYOFFS >> Justin Haley took the lead after Noah Gragson and Todd Gilliland collided on the final turn in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series playoff opener at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.