Hawaii heads to LLWS title game
Cohen Sakamoto hadn’t allowed a run in the entire Little League World Series. But in the fourth inning of a Little League World Series semifinal Saturday, a run was in and there was a baserunner on second with just one out.
Cohen wasn’t worried. He struck out the next two batters and Hawaii was cruising again, on its way to a 5-1 win over Tennessee and a spot Sunday in the LLWS championship.
“I didn’t feel any pressure because I knew I had a great defense behind me,” Cohen said. “Even if I didn’t, I knew someone was going to pick me up.”
Hawaii will play Curacao on Sunday in the Little League World Series championship.
Cohen finished with seven strikeouts and Ruston Hiyoto hit a two-run homer to put the game out of reach, making Hawaii the winners of U.S. bracket. The Honolulu team will play Curacao, 1-0 winners over Taiwan in the international bracket earlier Saturday.
Cohen’s stats, like his club’s, have been stellar throughout the 20-team tournament. In 13 ⅔ innings he struck out 24 batters and the two hits he gave up Saturday were the only ones he allowed. He can’t throw Sunday under pitch-limit rules.
“Hats off to Cohen for buckling down when we really needed to buckle down,” Hawaii manager Gerald Oda said.
Hawaii has outscored its opponents 47-2. It has already topped last year’s squad, which finished third at the LLWS, and now will try to match the teams from 2005, 2008 and 2018 that ended the season with a championship victory in Lamade Stadium.
Auto racing: The NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway was rained out Saturday night and rescheduled for Sunday. The 400-mile race, the regular-season finale that will decide the last two playoff spots, will now begin at 9 a.m. CDT.
Golf: Hye-Jin Choi shot a 5-under 66 to join fellow South Korean rookie Narin An atop the leaderboard Saturday in the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open. Choi matched second-round leader An at 16-under 197 at Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club. An had a 68. Paula Reto owas a stroke back after a 67.
NBA: Former NBA player Terrence Williams has pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit health care fraud and identity theft in connection to a multimillion-dollar scam against the basketball league’s health plan, authorities said. Williams, 35, entered his plea in federal court in Manhattan on Friday. He is scheduled to be sentenced in January, and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for the conspiracy charge, and a mandatory minimum of two years in prison for the identity theft.
Tennis: Serena and Venus Williams have been given a wild-card entry for women’s doubles at the U.S. Open. This marks their first tournament as a team in more than four years. Serena announced this month that she is preparing to end her playing career and, while she did not explicitly say the U.S. Open would be her final event, she has indicated it will be. Serena turns 41 next month. Venus turned 42 in June. They have won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles together. That includes two championships at Flushing Meadows, in 1999 and 2009.