LITTLE LEAGUE Saturday's games

Sunday, August 20, 2006 Columbus, Ga. 3, Staten Island 2 The boys from Staten Island have a flair for the dramatic, even in defeat. The Mid-Island squad from New York used walkoff home runs in its two previous games to qualify for the Little League World Series. The late heroics provided a bit of a diversion from the first-place Mets and Yankees in the baseball-crazed Big Apple. Staten Island has even been given a fitting nickname by fans which have been emblazoned on the back of T-shirts: "Cardiac Kids." Staten Island lost its World Series debut, falling in seven innings to Columbus, Ga. Even that one was a tight, well-played contest. "They're let down, but that was a great ballgame," Staten Island manager Nick Doscher said. "They left everything on the field. Sometimes, it doesn't work, and today was one of those days." The night game between Portsmouth, N.H. and Columbia, Mo. was postponed by rain. It will be made this afternoon. Columbus won with one out in the bottom of the seventh after Josh Lester singled home Ryan Lang from second base, drawing raucous cheers from its fans. The game was delayed in third inning for over two hours because of rain. Both teams still pitched well and played good defense coming out of the stoppage. Georgia manager Randy Morris said he thought his team was tired after the rain delay and the long game. Catcher Cody Walker disagreed. He smiled widely and nodded affirmatively when asked if he could play again. Kawaguchi City, Japan 11, Moscow, Russia 0, 5 innings Ryoya Sato threw the first no-hitter of this year's tournament, and Japan rapped out 17 hits in a game shortened by the 10-run, mercy rule. Sato struck out 10 and walked two. Jin Ohkuma hit a three-run homer for Japan (1-0), the Asia region-winners. Russia (0-1) qualified for the series by winning the EMEA-region bracket. Phoenix 1, Lemont, Ill. 0 Shaun Chase tossed a one-hit shutout and accounted for the one run with a homer for the Ahwatukee American from Phoenix (1-0), which won the West region. He struck out 10 and walked two. Lemont (0-1), the Midwest winner, also got a dominating performance from Josh Ferry, who allowed two hits, struck out 11 and retired his final 12 hitters. Matamoros, Mexico 3, Willemstad, Curacao 2 Jose Ortiz doubled home two runs with one out in the bottom of the sixth to rally Mexico (1-0) from a late two-run deficit. Mexico starter Omar Zamora struck out 12 and allowed three hits for the win. Rayshelon Carolina doubled home two runs in the third for Curacao's Pabao Little League squad, which lost in the finals last year. Curacao (0-1) won this year's Caribbean bracket. Associated Press Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.