Game 17: New England Region vs. Northwest Region (9:00 a.m., ESPN) (Prediction: New England)
Game 18: Canada Region vs. Australia Region (11:00 a.m., ESPN) (Prediction: Australia)
Game 19: Great Lakes Region vs. West Region (1:00 p.m., ABC) (Prediction: Great Lakes)
Game 20: Panama Region vs. Mexico Region (2:00 p.m., ESPN) (Prediction: Mexico)
MLB Little League Classic: New York Mets vs. Seattle Mariners (7:00 p.m., ABC and ESPN) (Prediction: Mets)
The winners from Saturday’s games will turn around and be faced with staving off elimination one more time Sunday.
New England’s Braintree American LL from Massachusetts threw up seven runs in their victory Saturday and if they can muster that offensive firepower again Sunday, will set themselves up to advance against a Northwest Region team out of Washington that was hit around and outmatched in their first appearance in the tournament, a 5-3 loss to the juggernaut squad out of Las Vegas.
Canada was shut out in its tournament debut, losing 4-0 to the Puerto Rico Region representative. If they struggle, expect Australia to repeat its performance from 24 hours earlier, when they hung five runs on the Europe-Africa team from Czechia and sent them home.
The Great Lakes representative from Illinois has not yet impressed to the level that would suggest they are a legitimate threat to win this year’s series. Still, coming off a 3-2 victory Saturday and squaring off with a California team that dropped its first game of the tournament to Connecticut, 5-1, they should advance.
Mexico found its bats Saturday, scoring 11 against Puerto Rico to set up their game against Panama, who struggled en route to an 8-2 loss to the Caribbean representative. Against so-so defense from the Panamanian team, El Swing Perfecto Little League should earn the win.