SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT - Offense is what led Chula Vista, Calif., to the Little League World Series, and the West champions finally put their big bats on display yesterday.
Jake Espinoza, Micah Pietila-Wiggs, Michael Gaines and Grant Holman all homered in a mercy rule-shortened 15-3 victory over Newark, Del.
Holman was the one to cap an eight-run fourth inning, by hitting the first pitch he faced over the fence in center for a game-ending grand slam.
Now that's more like it, Chula Vista manager Rick Tibbett said, referring to a team that average 11 runs in six games to clinch the West championship.
"That's what we do best," Tibbett said, whose team needed an extra inning to pull out a 3-0 victory over Grosse Pointe, Mich., in the series opener. And Tibbett certainly wasn't bothered yesterday, when his team trailed 2-0 after the top of the first inning.
"Yeah, two runs is not going to keep us down. It just doesn't," Tibbett said. "Normally, we score 8-10 runs a game. It didn't bother us one bit."
Chula Vista (2-0) advanced to play Westport, Conn. (2-0), on Wednesday. The winner of that game advances to play in the U.S. bracket final. Westport hung on for a 9-7 win over Sammamish, Wash., earlier in the day.
Newark's Jack Hardcastle had a two-run double and Brandon Sengphachanh had a two-out home run in the fourth for Newark. The Mid-Atlantic champions (1-1) will face Nashville, Tenn., in a U.S. loser's bracket game today.
Espinoza hit a two-run homer in the first to tie it. Pietila-Wiggs hit a three-run shot in the second inning. Gaines hit a solo home run as part of a two-run third.
Though there were concerns that the mound at Volunteer Stadium was too slick, Newark manager John Ludman wouldn't blame that on the game's outcome.
"I don't want to make excuses," Ludman said. "They smoked us and that's the bottom line."
That doesn't mean there wasn't a problem with the mound. And Tibbett also complained of it being slick, forcing starter Nick Mora to adjust his motion.
Ludman was forced to pull his starter, Hardcastle. He said, he was advised by a trainer that by slipping on his plant foot, Hardcastle was putting pressure on his Achilles' tendon.
In the other U.S. game:
* Winning pitcher Harry Azadian had three hits and four RBI and Westport, Conn., held off Sammamish, Wash., 9-7, to remain unbeaten.
In international games:
* Ramon Mendoza hit two of Tijuana, Mexico's five home runs in a 13-0 four-inning win over Aguadulce, Panama. The game was stopped because of the 10-run rule. Mexico is one win away from the international championship game and is off until Wednesday. Panama dropped into the losers' bracket.
* Takuma Gomi hit a two-run homer in the top of the sixth inning in Tokyo's 3-2 victory over Taoyuan, Taiwan. After allowing one of Taiwan's two runs in the bottom of the sixth, Kyousuke Kobayashi got Chen-Hsun Lee to fly to center for the final out with a runner on first. Japan improved to 2-0, and advanced to face Mexico on Wednesday. Taiwan (1-1) remains alive in the two-loss elimination tournament. It will face San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico, today.